In recent years there has been increasing interest in the impact of culture on early human development. In any culture, children are shaped by the physical and social settings within which they live, culturally regulated customs and child-rearing practices, and culturally based belief systems ͑Harkness & Super, 1995͒. During infancy, complex cultural influences are mediated to the child's early development most often by family practices and relationships, by parental values, beliefs, and socialization goals, and through parent-infant interactions. Concepts such as the developmental niche have been introduced to describe the multiple levels of the impact of culture on infant development ͑Super & Harkness, 1997͒.
By now, two scientifically based, compelling, conclusions have to be faced. First, the cultural aspect should always be taken into account both in research and practice in the field of infant mental health. We all need to realize how tied we are to cultural practices which are not neutral; they come packaged with values about what is natural, mature, morally right, or aesthetically pleasing ͑Lewis, 2000͒. Secondly, our knowledge about the impact of culture is still too limited. In the field of infant mental health the research focus has been either on seeking to identify the universal features ͑common to all humanity͒ or on evaluating individual ͑parent-infant͒ qualities; different levels of ͑cultural͒ subgroups are only beginning to penetrate our awareness. Yet, the need for identification of culture-specific developmental pathways has been recognized ͑Keller et al., 2004͒.
Research on cultural context and infant development has been most prominent in the U.S., and therefore, in one way or another, the viewpoint has been dominant culture versus minorities. Only gradually have the foci of research projects become broader, and crosscultural research on early human development has also started in different parts of the world.
Nevertheless, it has been claimed that Western cultural bias both in conducting research in other societies and in our general scientific knowledge continues to be a real concern ͑Saarni, 1998͒. Wider understanding is essential since immigration, a vastly growing mixture of cultures, rapidly changing cultural contexts, and the new culture of technology pose demanding challenges to families and parenting. Due to rapid globalization, parents and infants all over the world may now face problems such as those associated with immigration.
Families are the first, and arguably most important, vehicle for the transmission of cul-This forum was supported in part by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.