Geographers have much to contribute to research on social development. Development measures and indicators begin to reveal patterns, but the geographer's unique perspective sheds new light on patterns of development. The processes and relationships associated with social development are many and varied. They are economic, social, cultural, legal, historical, political, and psychological. Geographers are trained to view the processes as a system within a spatial context. The element of place is not merely one more factor that effects social development. It is the context that impacts all that occurs.