Considered are the developmental and prognostic implications of early peer relations. Evidence concerning peer difficulties as risk factors is reviewed along with research dealing with family relations and peer relations in social development. In preference to a stepping-stone model of the development of social deviance, a conjunctive feedback model is advanced to account for the manner in which troubled family relations are followed by troubled peer relations, problems with self-regard, narrowed alternatives in choosing friends, and manifestations of social deviance. It is argued that the origins of these conjunctive cycles appear in early childhood, and therefore require attention in program design and management for young children. (RH)