The book is divided into three parts: the first considers the way in which the child becomes a social being and the influences upon them of the family, the peer group and the mass media; the second deals with the sociology of schooling and looks at different types and stages of schools, as well as the attitudes and forms of interaction within them; and finally the third traces the relationship between education and social institutions, and looks at the balance between the preservation of social stability and the introduction of change.