ABSTRACT
The development of social behaviour is a continuous process occurring throughout the lifespan: from infancy to senescence. It is, however, during the earlier phases of lifespan development that the roots of social behaviour are established through both biological and environmental factors. This chapter considers the importance of having a multi-varied theoretical approach to understanding social development. It discusses the main themes and debates surrounding social development including: biological–environmental explanation; continuity–discontinuity and individual–cultural influences. The chapter provides an understanding of the main perspectives that have been developed in order to examine social development including: biological and behavioural genetics; structural–organismic; learning; contextual; dynamic systems and finally ethological and evolutionary. The contribution of biological and behavioural genetics provides a context in which the child develops socially. In order to understand the contribution of biology to the developing child, it is necessary to describe prenatal development and the consequences of genetic abnormalities for behavior.
