Compared with children, adults are widely assumed to possess more mature moral understanding thus justifying deference to their moral authority and testimony. This paper examines philosophical discussions regarding this child-adult moral relation and its implications for moral education, particularly accounts suggesting that the moral status of…

nChildren's moral judgments of resource distributions as having "fair" or "unfair" origins play an important role in early social cognition. What factors shape these judgments? The present study advances research on this question in two primary ways: First, while prior work has typically assigned children to an advantaged or…

The article presents the results of an analysis of the moral value judgments of adults (parents, teachers, educators) that directly concern the socialization process of the young generation in the modern metropolis. This paper follows the model study by Jean Piaget that investigated the moral value judgments of children. A comparative analysis of…

This study examined conceptions of the right to literacy in children, adolescents, and young adults living in rural Zulu villages in the mountains of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, as one instantiation of the development of conceptions of human rights in a developing world setting. Of human rights, literacy was chosen because of its familiarity to…

Investigated 4-, 8-, and 11-year-olds' ability to categorize intentionally false and true statements as lies and truths. Found that older children were more likely to categorize false statements as lies and true statements as truths than were 4-year-olds. Antisocial lies were rated as most serious, and "white lies" as least serious.…

Questions child welfare policy of maintaining a child with natural parents at all costs. Research on the moral development of children in group homes indicated that placement in stable, democratic, and caring group homes was preferable to leaving the child in a severely disturbed family. (Author/DB)

Middle school students (N=25) with exceptional educational needs were matched with regular students and assessed for their level of moral reasoning using the Objective Assessment of Moral Development. Results indicate exceptional students select types of reasoning typical of younger children, and become less like their peers with age. (RC)

Uses data from studies comparing Western and Non-Western societies to support the argument that study of intracultural diversity in concepts of rights and duties will contribute to the study of diversity between cultures. Notes that individuals participate in multifaceted social experiences, developing distinct goals, interests, and perspectives;…

Compared the moral judgment of violence, portrayed in story cards, by 20 physically abused and 20 non-maltreated 8- to 13-year-old boys. Findings showed no significant differences between the two groups. Main effects of the offender's motive and the action's consequences were found, but there were no effects for the kind of violence (physical or…

Evaluates the growth of social-cognitive knowledge in deaf and hearing children during the early- and middle-school years and assesses the relative importance of language in two domains of social cognition. In addition, separately examines the child's ability to evaluate the concepts of good and bad and to take another person's perspective. (RH)

Third and fourth graders (N=72) participated in psychoeducational interventions focused on feeling and feeling content, moral dilemmas and conflict resolution, or combination of both. Combination condition manifested significantly greater gains in moral development than did other conditions. All conditions as a whole exhibited significant gains in…

While research on prosocial behavior has dramatically increased during the last 20 years, there are few studies examining the role of self-evaluative emotions such as pride and guilt as consequences of and motivations for helping others. This study examined how children attribute pride and guilt for actions germane to the moral or competence…

Examines environmental moral reasoning and values in African American children and their parents in Houston and Brazilian children in a large city and in a river village along the Amazon. Finds similarities of moral concerns and obligations to the environment in all three communities, structured by concerns for human welfare, fairness, and rights.…