Moral Development

Moral Development Module 11-1

What is moral development? • Changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviors regarding standards of right and wrong • Intrapersonal • Interpersonal – regulates social interaction & arbitrates conflict

Is there Universal Morality? • Yes, similar moral prescriptions are found in all major religions. • Civilizations will not success where there are no laws against murder, theft, and lies and no regulation of sexual behavior.

Does moral development require parental discipline? • Humanist Psychology says No - Hoffman (1970) • Cautions against Love withdrawal (anxiety) • Don’t like you; going to leave you • Cautions against Power assertion (hostility) • Spanking, threatening, removing privileges • Makes parents appear to have poor self-control • Recommends Induction • Reasoning, consequences • Works best with older children, middle SES

Other Psychologists Have Different Advice • Some strategies work better- Thompson • Warm-responsive parent-child relationships • Secure attachment linked to conscience development • Proactive strategies • Conversational dialogue • Other strategies – • Be a good role model • Foster an internal sense of morality • Tell them about expected behaviors • Use reason with punishment

Some Parenting Styles Work Better • Diana Baumrind • Authoritative • Authoritarian • Indulgent (permissive-indulgent) • Neglectful (permissive-neglectful)

Parenting Styles - Authoritative • Most successful Style • Involves • acceptance of and involvement with children, warm, attentive, sensitive • reasonable control and insistence on mature behavior • gradual granting of autonomy • Results in cooperative children with self-control, high self-esteem, social & moral maturity, & good school performance

Authoritarian Parenting • Low in acceptance/involvement, autonomy granting • High in coercive control – degrade, yell, command, criticize, punish • Children are anxious and unhappy. Boys become defiant. Girls become dependent. • In adulthood don’t take initiative. • Controlling strategies work for low-SES, African-American parents.

Indulgent (Permissive) Parenting • Warm and accepting • Overindulging or inattentive • Little control of the child’s behavior • Children are impulsive, disobedient and rebellious, overly demanding and dependent on adults • Tend to be non-achieving, especially boys

Neglectful (Permissive) Parenting • Low acceptance and involvement • Little control • General indifference • Emotionally detached, depressed • May become child neglect • Disrupts attachment, cognition, and emotional and social skills

How about Punishment Options? • Spanking • Considered necessary & desirable for centuries • 70-90% of American parents have spanked their children • Recent survey, 26% of parents of 3-4 year olds spank frequently • 67% yell at their children frequently • A number of countries have outlawed spanking

Objections to Spanking & Responses • Out of control model for handling situations • The “woodshed” was not out of control • Punishment can instill fear, rage or avoidance • This is temporary unless the parent-child relationship has other problems. Doe s the punishment fit the crime? • Punishment tells children what not to do rather than what to do • So? Tell them what to do along with the punishment.

Objections to Spanking & Responses • Punishment can be abusive • Abuse is abuse. It should not be disguised as punishment. • Are we talking about spanking, or all punishment? Remember Hoffman? • Are we thinking that children are “innately good?” Any evidence for this? • Do parents believe that they have lost the right to discipline? What is the basis of that right?

Reasoning About Rules • Social Conventional Reasoning • Social rules & conventions are arbitrary & created by people • Moral Reasoning • Moral rules are obligatory, widely-accepted, and somewhat impersonal • Ethics exist apart from social convention

Morality - Children & Rules • Turiel – 1978, 1983 • 5-year-old children conceptualize the social world in three separate domains • Moral • Social-conventional • Psychological (personal) • They realize that the rules for each of these have different levels of changeability.

Moral Behavior among Children • Factors (Behaviorist view) • Reinforcement & punishment • Depends upon consistency & timing • Models • Depends upon characteristics such as warmth & attractiveness • Situations • Children behave inconsistently depending upon peer pressure, likelihood of being caught, personal characteristics • Self-control • Convinced by reasoning, punishment

Social-cognitive Theory of Morality • Albert Bandura • Moral competence – knowledge, capabilities, skills, awareness of rules • Moral performance – motivation, rewards, incentives • Self-regulation – avoiding self-condemnation and fostering self-satisfaction & self-worth

Moral Emotion - Guilt • Sigmund Freud • The desire to avoid feeling guilty is the foundation of moral behavior. • Superego consists of: • Ego ideal – rewards by conveying a sense of pride and personal value • Conscience – punishes disapproved behaviors by making the child feel guilty & worthless

Moral Emotion - Empathy • Responding to another’s feelings with a similar emotional response • Examples of development of empathy • Some infants show global empathy • 1-2 years, may feel discomfort but cannot translate into action • Early childhood – add perspective-taking • 10-12 may feel social or humanitarian empathy

Kohlberg’s Theory • Heinz dilemma – • Wife near death • One drug might save her • Cost $200 to make; charged $2000 • Heinz raised $1000, offered to pay later • Druggist said no • Heinz stole the drug

Kohlberg’s Theory • Level 1: Preconventional • External rewards & punishments • Level 2: Conventional • Abide by internal standards of others (law or parents) • Level 3: Postconventional • Recognizes alternative codes, explores options, chooses one

Kohlberg - Preconventional • Stage 1 – heteronomous • Moral thinking is tied to punishment • Stage 2 – individualism, instrumental purpose & exchange • “live & let live” • Equity of exchange: “I do you a favor; you do me one.”

Kohlberg - Conventional • Stage 3: Mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships & interpersonal conformity • Value trust, caring & loyalty to others; children like “good girl; good boy” • Stage 4: Social systems morality • Understanding the social order, law, justice and duty

Kohlberg – Post conventional • Stage 5: Social contract or utility and individual rights • Values, rights & principles undergird the law; laws are evaluated by how well they protect human rights & values • Stage 6: Universal ethical principles • Moral standard based on universal human rights; will follow conscience rather than law

Kohlberg Stage 7? • Cosmic perspective • See one’s self as one with the universe • Already a religious position - • Hindu, New Age

Kohlberg’s Critics • Link between moral thought & moral behavior? • Albert Bandura – people do not usually engage in harmful conduct until they have justified the morality of their actions to themselves • Socially worthy cause • God’s will

Can Morality be Examined Apart from Religion? • Religion provides the assumptions which underpin moral reasoning and decisions. • Religion takes morality from individual to collective and universal. • Religion provides the authority for moral prescriptions.

Kohlberg’s Critics • Rest – • Assessment techniques • What are the moral issues? • Stages 5 & 6 do not stand up across cultures • Example – Buddhist monks & emphasis on compassion • India – social rules are inevitable

Kohlberg’s Critics • Haidt (2008) • Traditionalist [collectivist] societies expect individuals to limit their desires and play their roles within the group • “Western conservatives also seem to be morally challenged.” • Conclusion: Kolhberg has an individualist, liberal, progress bias.

Kohlberg’s Critics • Carol Gilligan – gender bias • Justice perspective – male norm that puts principles above people • Care perspective – moral perspective that views people in terms of connectedness and emphasizes relationships & caring for others

Moral Development