LAUSR

Abstract Taking its point of departure from sociocultural perspectives, the present study examines 2–3-year-old children's responses to peers' crying in a regular Swedish preschool. By analyzing video recordings of the children's everyday activities and frequent situations of crying in peer play conflicts, the study identifies the broad range of children's responses to peer distress. Children's orientation towards a crying peer is discussed in relation to their social concerns, relationships, and the institutional characteristics of preschool play activities. The children's most common orientation to peer's crying was to stay away from the child in distress by simply observing him (looking at him), or by continuing play. Children actively engaged with the crying child by continuing the conflict or, on rare occasions, showing compassion (trying to verbally and nonverbally alleviate the crying child's distress). Children's responses to peer's crying are discussed in terms of collective socialization practices, related to children's peer group play concerns, and institutional concerns of educators. We argue that responses to children's crying constitute sites for emotion and moral socialization and (re)-produce specific cultural values about compassionate conduct, the normative appropriateness of crying, and caregiver–child responsibilities for alleviating another's distress.