ABSTRACT
The area of social competence made a dramatic entrance into developmental psychology only a few decades ago. The strategies used by children in acquiring social functioning along with the idea that children can—and do—influence their own world views became fertile topics of inquiry. Theorists and researchers alike endorsed new perspectives of what the child's true make-up was. As such, minority group psychologists became especially interested in social competence for at least two reasons. First, the traditional, almost exclusive, concern with intellectual competence has led to an underestimate of the ability of minority group members to cope with the challenges of the society at large. Second, and more important, it is only when an analysis includes the social and environmental bases of behavior that one can hope to construct a reasonably comprehensive psychology of the experience of minority group members. The researchers in the preceding section offer new data, theories, and methodologies, which not only contribute to understanding developmental determinants for a special group of children, but also significantly improve the quality of behavioral research as it applies to all children.
