ERIC Number: EJ790735
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 17
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1533-8916
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Available Date: N/A
"I like to Treat Others as Others Would Treat Me": The Development of Prosocial Selves in an Urban Youth Organization
Deutsch, Nancy L.
New Directions for Youth Development, n108 p89-105 Win 2005
The field of moral development has moved toward an identity-based model suggesting that moral action stems not only from moral reasoning but from a desire to act in ways consistent with one's self-concept. Moral identity, in turn, is rooted in social relationships. This idea, that one's sense of self drives moral behavior and that this identity is constructed through connections to others, influences the ways in which people envision adolescent development and how they nurture morality and ethics in teens. The notion that moral identity is embedded in their relationships has both practical and theoretical implications for the field of youth development and for how they design settings for adolescents. This article is drawn from an in-depth study of an urban youth organization. The most dramatic finding is the high level of prosocial traits, especially respect, that youth report as integral to their identities. For many, these traits are tied to their experiences at the center and the relationships they build there. Their narratives describe a process of transformation and self-construction reminiscent of the literature on moral identity. Educators must pay attention to this phenomenon and seek to understand the contextual and relational factors that enhance the development of prosocial identities in adolescents. Youth organizations, if designed appropriately, may provide a setting for social interactions and relationships in which youth can enact and receive validation for moral behaviors and develop prosocial selves. (Contains 41 notes.)
Descriptors: Adolescent Development, Adolescents, Ethics, Urban Youth, Moral Development, Moral Values, Self Concept, Social Values, Social Influences, Youth Programs, Prosocial Behavior, Interpersonal Relationship, Identification (Psychology), Individual Characteristics
Jossey Bass. Available from John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774. Tel: 800-825-7550; Tel: 201-748-6645; Fax: 201-748-6021; e-mail: subinfo@wiley.com; Web site: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/browse/?type=JOURNAL
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
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