The theme of the conference session reported in this booklet was the impact of community violence on infants, toddlers, their parents, and practitioners in education. The booklet contains the edited transcript of the session, which included presentations by three speakers. Clementine Barfield described the impact of urban violence on her family…

The normal, biologically adaptive development of attachment between the human infant under 3 years of age and mother/caregivers contrasts with the Anglo-Saxon cultural belief that babies should be accustomed to unpleasantness. Separation of hospitalized children from their mothers, as frequently done in the past, has resulted in psychological…

Discussed are adults' egocentric attitudes about children, particularly toddlers, and ways in which such attitudes can creat unnecessary stress in the caregiver and toddler. Emphasis is given to: (1) hostile myths about toddlers that obscure reality and muddy relationships; (2) misunderstandings about ways in which toddlers think; (3) young…