The causal process is circular

From Contexts of Optimal Growth in Childhood by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Persons who are willing to invest attention in the creation of a community are likely to trust their neighbors, to have a sense of autonomy, initiative, and industry - in fact, they are likely to be those individuals whose childhood conditions resembled the ideal. So the causal process is circular: an effective problem-solving community is needed to provide optimal conditions for childhood growth, but optimal childhood conditions are needed to have an effective community. In organic systems this is often the case; one must somehow cut into the circle of causality to get the process on the right track, and then keep it going.