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The development and spiritual potential of a democratic society largely depends on the content of psychological and educational education provided to these children. As each child lives in a society, he or she strives to have a unique place and an independent position in it, so he or she demonstrates unique aspirations, abilities and activism, examples of intellectual labor. There are a number of pedagogical disciplines that study the interactions between children and the role of each individual in society and the nature of his or her different social relationships, among which psychology has a special place.

Child related problems in Indonesia have demonstrated more serious concerns both in the variety of cases as well as its incidences and intensities. The data reported by the Indonesian Child Protection Commission recently indicates significant increases of child related problems influenced by parental divorce, children unfriendly television show, violence happened at school, and social media related pornography. Being the victims of the problems stated above, affected children are at higher risk to become perpetrators of physical, psychological, and sexual violence in the future. These days, children are also prone for trafficking and exploitation (both as factory workers and as prostitutes through online prostitution). Research findings and professional practices of child psychology in Indonesia have contributed to the management of problems mentioned above, for the development of promotion and prevention programs, and for being involved in creating specific intervention. Postgraduate students undertaking professional psychology in Indonesia have been given internship or placement opportunities to be involved in managing children's problems aiming for optimizing the children's development and for developing suitable interventions. However, the field of child psychology in Indonesia is facing bigger challenges to take more important roles, in particular suggesting vital government policies as preventive and protective actions which address the above concerns.

AbstractChildhood Studies is a dynamic and still‐growing subject, bringing a child‐focused, rights‐based and (usually) constructionist perspective to children's lives. Its early days were also marked by wariness of, even hostility to, developmental psychology. Yet it is increasingly recognised that some mainstream developmental psychology is opening itself to more contextualised understandings of children and childhoods, and that other psychologies offer further opportunities for dialogue between disciplines. We aim to explore these opportunities, to consider what (and whether) these fields of study can learn from one another and how this might enrich and further challenge research and practice.

The chapters of this volume were originally presented at the 29th Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology. The focus of this symposium on cultural processes in child development emerged from the growing recognition among those at the Institute of Child Development and many others in the field that more needs to be known about the processes linking individual development and the contexts in which it occurs, and that this is no longer a luxury but essential for good science and good policy in an increasingly interconnected and pluralistic world. The chapter authors in this volume chronicle the