Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive and critical overview of current knowledge about family, school and cultural influences on children's relations with others and the emergence of social competence. Ongoing research in these areas is considered in the light of recent advances in the field of child development, especially the enhanced appreciation of the ways these context factors operate in conjunction with characteristics of the individual and with the process of development. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in psychology, human development, family relations, special education and sociology.