How- and when- do children distinguish right from wrong? Several prominent psychologists and a moral philosopher join in these essays to confront this issue and related questions and to clarify the controversies surrounding them. Introducing cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary viewpoints, the resulting volume is a landmark in the study of moral development.
"The Emergence of Morality in Young Children is one of very few scholarly books concerning the development of moral tendencies in the early years. In its pages, a diverse group of eminent social and behavioral scientists address this fascinating topic and struggle with issues of inquiry that have persistently plagued this field."—Nancy Eisenberg, Harvard Educational Review "This is a welcome and immensely provocative book. For those of us who favor ethical theorizing done in close proximity to psychology and anthropology, it provides new and illuminating theory and research relevant to perennial debates about the origins of moral sense, its psychological organization, and the objectivity and unity of the moral."—Owen Flanagan, Ethics The contributors are Augusto Blasi, Lawrence Blum, Judy Dunn, M. Ann Easterbrooks, Carolyn Pope Edwards, Robert Emde, Carol Gilligan, Charles C. Helwig, William F. Johnson, Jerome Kagan, Melanie Killen, Sharon Lamb, Manamohan Mahapatra, Joan G. Miller, Edward Mueller, Richard A. Shweder, Catherine Snow, Elliot Turiel, and Grant Wiggins.
Inhaltsangabe:Zusammenfassung: Diese theoretische Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit Thema, inwieweit entwicklungspsychologische Forschungsbemühungen im Bereich der sogenannten „frühen Moral“ Aufklärung zu der Frage beitragen, ob Kinder in der Lage sind, moralische von konventionellen Normen zu unterscheiden bzw. sich diesen Unterscheidungen entsprechend zu verhalten. Ausgegangen wird dabei von den Arbeiten Lawrence Kohlbergs, der die These vertrat, jüngere Kinder (unter 10 Jahre alt) seien in ihrem sozialen Verhalten nahezu ausschließlich daran orientiert, Strafe zu vermeiden bzw. in egozentrischer Weise ihre Ziele zu verfolgen. Fähigkeiten zur Perspektivenübernahme seien nicht vorhanden; echtes moralisches Verhalten (nach Kohlberg die Orientierung des Handelns an Maßstäben der Gerechtigkeit) sei somit bei ihnen nicht möglich. Innerhalb verschiedener Forschungsansätze wurde diese Sicht der moralischen Kompetenz jüngerer Kinder in Frage gestellt. Es stellte sich heraus, dass Kinder unter bestimmten Bedingungen sehr wohl Entscheidungen treffen können, die sie mit Rückgriff auf moralische Normen begründen. Sie sind auch fähig, konventionelle von moralischen Normen zu unterscheiden, indem sie moralische Verhaltensregeln beispielsweise als weniger veränderbar betrachten als Konventionen. In meinem Überblick stelle ich die verschiedenen theoretischen und methodologischen Vorgehensweisen der Ansätze dar und arbeite heraus, welche Unterschiede in den Forschungsmethoden zu welchen Unterschieden in der Beurteilung der moralischen Entwicklung von Kindern führen. Dabei stellt sich unter anderem heraus, dass bestimmte Untersuchungsdesigns geradezu verhindern, dass Kinder innerhalb dieser Untersuchungen moralisches Verhalten zeigen können. Es ergibt sich ein durch die neueren Ansätze erweitertes und differenzierteres Bild in bezug auf die moralischen Fähigkeiten von Kindern, als das von Kohlberg propagierte. Wie ich aufzeige, bedeutet dies jedoch in keiner Weise, dass Kohlberg durch die neueren Ansätze „widerlegt“ wurde. Es wird vielmehr deutlich, dass Einseitigkeiten bzw. blinde Flecken in den Forschungsansätzen sowohl bei Kohlberg als auch bei seinen Kritikern zu den dargestellten unterschiedlichen Ergebnissen geführt haben, und dass es darum notwendig ist, die unterschiedlichen Ansätze zu integrieren. Abstract: In this diploma thesis I want to consider several approaches in the area of moral development research. Given the theory of Lawrence Kohlberg, young [...]
The Handbook of Moral Development is the definitive source of theory and research on the development of morality. Since the publication of the first edition, ground-breaking approaches to studying the development of morality have re-invigorated debates about what it means to conceptualize and measure morality in early childhood, how children understand fairness and equality, what the evolutionary basis is for morality, and the role of culture. The contributors of this new edition grapple with these questions and provide answers for how morality originates, changes, evolves, and develops during childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood. Thoroughly updated and expanded, the second edition features new chapters that focus on: infancy neuroscience theory of mind moral personality and identity cooperation and culture gender, sexuality, prejudice and discrimination Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the study of moral development, this edition contains contributions from over 50 scholars in developmental science, cognitive psychology, social neuroscience, comparative psychology and evolution, and education.
William Damon offers the first, much-needed overview of the evolution and nurturance of children's moral understanding and behavior from infancy through adolescence, at home and in school. Drawing on the best professional research and thinking, Professor William Damon charts pragmatic, workable approaches to foster basic virtues such as honesty, responsibility, kindness, and fairness—methods that can make an invaluable difference throughout children's lives.
Diploma Thesis from the year 2001 in the subject Psychology - Developmental Psychology, grade: 1,0, Free University of Berlin, 95 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In this diploma thesis I want to consider several approaches in the area of moral development research.Given the theory of Lawrence Kohlberg, young children (younger than 10 years of age) seem to stay completely under the constraints of authorities and rules. According to Kohlberg, children's social judgments and behaviors are determined by instrumental aims to satisfy their own needs and wishes, or to avoid punishment. In this regard, the helping of others or meeting the needs of others is only motivated by instrumental considerations. Thus, in Kohlberg's view young children are not able to think or to act in a genuinely moral way. In reaction to Kohlberg, other researchers have suggested that young children are capable to make genuinely moral judgments and to act in a moral way. Eisenberg (e.g. 1986) has suggested that young children can have empathic or altruistic feelings which lead them to conduct prosocial acts. Other researchers (e.g. Keller, 1996; Nunner-Winkler, 1993) assert that children under the age of ten years are able to understand and feel moral emotions, which they consider as constitutive or as indicators for morality. Turiel and his associates (e.g. Turiel, 1983) suggest that even children at about 2 years of age are able to differentiate between a moral, conventional, and personal domain of social knowledge, and that children subordinate the importance of personal and conventional rules under the importance of moral rules. These approaches to the morality of young children revealed differing results to differing aspects of morality. The aim of my work is to examine the above mentioned approaches in order to evaluate the obvious differences between their obtained results and the results of Kohlberg. My questions are: Is Kohlberg's approach of using authority dile
Abstract: Fundamental principles concerning the creation of respect by training and example are described. Development of a child's morals through the various age stages of moral reasoning is illustrated in a conversational format with numerous examples for parents and child psychologists. The 3 principal sections are: 1) laying the foundations of moral development from birth to age 3, 2) helping the child through the 5 stages of moral reasoning, from preschool to adulthood, 3) specific concerns that occur independent of age or stage of moral reasoning. These include getting the child to talk to you, the fairness appproach to resolving conflict, the pros and cons of television watching, and moral challenges such as sex, drugs, and alcohol. A list of recommended children's books, along with information and guidelines on moral research and drawing out a child's moral reasoning are appended. (wz).
Children and Social Exclusion: Morality, Prejudice, and Group Identity explores the origins of prejudice and the emergence of morality to explain why children include some and exclude others. Formulates an original theory about children’s experiences with exclusion and how they understand the world of discrimination based on group membership Brings together Social Domain Theory and Social Identity Theory to explain how children view exclusion that often results in prejudice, and inclusion that reflects social justice and morality Presents new research data consisting of in-depth interviews from childhood to late adolescence, observational findings with peer groups, and experimental paradigms that test how children understand group dynamics and social norms, and show either group bias or morality Illustrates data with direct quotes from children along with diagrams depicting their social understanding Presents new insights about the origins of prejudice and group bias, as well as morality and fairness, drawn from extensive original data
Although the work of Piaget dealt with the intellectual development of children, and that of Goldman with a child’s religious thought, there had hitherto been no comparable book on child morality to complete the developmental picture of the time. Originally published in 1968 William Kay’s book was designed to fill this gap, for he offers a complete description of the moral growth of children from infancy to adolescence. Dr Kay was writing specifically for students and practising teachers and carefully avoids specialist jargon where ordinary terms suffice. He concludes that the findings of research into attitude formation and change could provide teachers with those techniques to help their pupils become morally mature members of society. His book contains a valuable analysis of the development of ideas concerning moral growth, and is a bold contribution to the problems of moral education.
