This article revisits Kohlberg's cognitive developmental claims that stages of moral judgment, facilitative processes of social perspective-taking, and moral values are commonly identifiable across cultures. Snarey [Snarey, J. (1985). "The cross-cultural universality of social-moral development: A critical review of Kohlbergian research."…

This study explored the relationship between children's sense of justice for a criminal offender and their cognitive level. Subjects were 60 children, 10 boys and 10 girls at each of the following developmental or cognitive levels: preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Each child was individually pretested for cognitive…

In this excerpt from his forward to "Readings in Moral Education," Dr. Kohlberg asserts that cognitive-developmental moral education goes back to Socrates, but that the demand for it today stems from Watergate and My Lai--a demand that the United States return to its original principles of justice. (SJL)

Examined students' self-descriptions of situations, individuals, and incidents that evoked feelings of guilt to determine developmental and gender differences in guilt. Content analysis revealed changes in percentage of students at three grade levels who spontaneously mentioned a situation as guilt producing. Striking and distinctive patterns in…

Discusses an approach to moral education that is based on developmental theory and involves creative dramatics and role playing of themes in children's books. Guidelines for preparatory exercises, an outline of the dramatization process, and a list of books classified according to feelings, emotions, and character traits illuminated in the stories…

The debate between objectivists, who see right and wrong as fixed, and the subjectivists, who see moral positions as the result of human needs and desires, is often neglected in studying moral development and the goals of moral education. Surveys involving 2300 respondents show the importance of this dichotomy. (IS)

This document examines some of the major theoretical considerations and pedagogical applications of values education. In six chapters, the author reviews relevant developmental psychology literature and explores the major sociological dimensions of values education. "The Development of Values as an Educational Objective" summarizes…

Moral contradictions and cross-purposes in society make formal moral training in the schools difficult. A discussion is presented of the pressure on the schools to provide values education at a time when society itself is unclear about values. The examples provided by parents, television, and other influences in the lives of young people are…

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) has been subjected to construct validation in a number of studies relating it to the development of moral judgment and to measures of cognitive development and political attitudes. The DIT has been found to have significant positive correlations with the Comprehension of Social-Moral Concepts Test for a variety of…