Chapter 12
Moral Development
A. Moral development involves one’s thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors regarding standards of right and wrong: both for oneself and for
other people.
B. Moral issues have taken a center stage in everyday events
concerning children and adolescents.
1. For example, morality issues are involved in cheating,
lying, criminal behavior, and sexual behavior, just to name a few areas.
C. Psychologists differentiate between moral thinking, (cognitions and intentions about moral
matters), moral behavior, and moral feelings (such as empathy, guilt, and
shame). All three are a part of moral
development. Further, all are
influenced by culture and community values (what is right and wrong?).
1. Cognitive theorists (Jean Piaget, Martin Hoffman) note that,
during adolescence, acts are judged according to intentions as well as
consequences; and that standards of right and wrong increasingly are seen as relative
(determined by individuals and groups, not necessarily authority figures)
D. Cognitive psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg
believed that moral development unfolds in a series of three levels and six
stages. (review text, p. 394-395)
1.
Before adolescence, moral reasoning is based on gaining reward and
avoiding punishment (Preconventional Reasoning: Level 1).
2.
During adolescence, two stages of moral reasoning (stages 3 and 4)
predominate. These are part of Level 2:
Conventional Reasoning. Adolescents
abide by standards learned from parents or dictated by society (laws)
Stage 3: mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships, and interpersonal conformity
Children adopt the
moral values of their parents to be seen as good children and also take into
account being loyal and trustworthy people
Moral judgements are
made on the basis of an understanding of law, justice, duty, and keeping social
order
Some college students (estimates suggest
10% or less) engage in “higher order” moral reasoning
Stage 5: social contract or utility and individual rights
Laws are evaluated in
terms of the degree they preserve fundamental human rights and values
3. Criticisms of /comments on Kohlberg’s
theory and methods
May explain moral
reasoning but not moral behavior
Through experience
and training people can be taught to think at higher levels
The “moral dilemmas”
Kohlberg studied are not those important to adolescents
Most moral dilemmas for adolescents
involve friendship situations
It is culture
specific and focuses on the value of what is best for the individual (rights
and justice) not what is best for society and community, spirituality, etc.
It does not stress
the interconnectedness among people, care and concern for others (writings of
Carol Gilligan)
Note that the idea that men value
individually-oriented achievement and women value relationships is a key
element of the popular book “Men are from Mars and women are from Venus.”
D. Behavior theories put emphasis on moral behavior
Basic ideas
1. Moral behavior is learned via reward and punishment
Moral
development of children is greater when parents use reason and explanation (induction discipline) rather than force control or withdraw love.
2. Moral behavior is learned via imitation of moral people we
value
We
learn by watching important others but we may not produce the behavior unless
there are environmental contingencies (rewards and punishments)
3. Moral behavior is situationally dependent
E. Feelings: while
historically psychology has emphasized “negative” moral feelings, increasingly
research is studying the development of positive feelings
1. empathy: reacting to
another’s feelings with a similar emotional response
Empathy appears to
develop in early adolescence (age 10-12) and depends on the ability to take the
perspective of another
The empathy of
children is related to the empathy of their parent(s)
2. altruism: unselfish
interest in helping others
There is more
altruism in adolescent than childhood behavior. The development of altruism is heavily based in religious norms
of “reciprocity” (“do unto others…”)
3. forgiveness:
releasing the injurer from behavioral retaliation
F. Should schools teach morals?
1. This is a hotly debated topic. Clearly, many moral behaviors are directly taught through the
posting of school rules, norms, and the encouragement of activities. Also, morals are taught indirectly through
the behavior of educators and peers that adolescents observe.
2. Character education.
A direct approach to teaching some widely “accepted” moral behaviors
(e.g., kindness, trust). This is a
major part of Governor Hodges education
agenda and George Bush’s education agenda. Unlike, “values clarification” it teaches students what their
values should be.
3. Service learning. A
form of education that promotes service to one’s community as a basic value
(students get education credit for community work with younger children, the
elderly, disadvantaged, etc.).
a. in last 25 years college students have shown increased
concern with personal satisfaction and advancement (e.g., financial goals);
service learning helps raise awareness and importance to the needs of others
G. Religion
1. Evidence is clear that individuals raised “religiously” tend
to keep this religious orientation throughout life. Throughout the adolescent period religious concepts and behaviors
continue to be endorsed (e.g., beliefs in God, importance of prayer, attending
religious events, etc.) If religion is questioned, it is during
adolescence.
2. However, one sees clear developmental differences in how
religious ideas and principles are processed and understood (impact of formal
operations thinking).
3. Adolescents begin to analyze and question the validity of
religious concepts and consider alternative views. Ultimately, they are able to reconcile inconsistencies (or at least
live with them) within religious beliefs or between religious beliefs and
societal beliefs (e.g., origins of humankind, roles of women and minorities,
etc). See also Fowler’s stages of
religious development.