A state-of-the-art review of the research in this area, this collection covers children's understanding of family, school, economics, race, politics and gender roles. Recent changes and trends in research are summarised. This is explained in terms of a progression from the Piagetian stages model of development to the current emphasis on socially-mediated sources of information, socio-cultural context and children's own naiive theories about societal phenomena. Bringing together some of the most prominent and active researchers in this field this volume presents an advanced overview of developments in this under-represented area of social psychology.