The Integration of a Child into a Social World

This is an account of the early development and socialisation of children. The process by which an infant becomes a competent member of the social community and development the fundamental human attributes of speech, social communication, thought, self-reflection and consciousness is examined. An infant is not fully social at birth, but is a biological organism with biological propensities and organisation, who becomes social through encounters with social adults. Throughout development there is an essential tension between the biological and the social. The infant and the social world are in constant interaction. Thus any serious study of child development is interdisciplinary, moving outwards from psychology towards both biology and sociology, and it is this interdisciplinary approach that unites the contributors to this volume. The interplay of psychological and social factors is discussed against a background of development biology.