Discusses conceptual and methodological difficulties associated with the use of the form-content distinction in moral development literature. It is suggested that use of this distinction should be restricted to the analysis of social environmental influence on moral judgment. An empirical strategy for distinguishing form from content is then…

From the moral development scale scoring manual, Kohlberg's published works, and the research of his collaborators and others, an analysis was made of the evidence supporting the hierarchy of moral reasoning and the claims put forth for the cross-cultural universality of the cognitive-developmental theory. (Author/CS)