Moral development
[7] According to Freud's theory, moral development occurs when an individual's selfish desires are repressed and replaced by the values of critical socializing agents in one's life (for instance, one's parents).
[6] Lawrence Kohlberg proposed a highly influential theory of moral development which was inspired by the works of Jean Piaget and John Dewey.
These stages, which fall into categories of pre-conventional (punishment avoidance and self-interest), conventional (social norms and authority figures), and post-conventional (universal principles), progress from childhood and throughout adult life.
[15] Due to this occurrence, a gap forms as a result of creating a position and defending it in a rational manner in response to a situation that requires moral action.
In the first stage of postconventional, called “morality of contract, individual rights and democratic accepted law”, all people willingly work towards benefitting everyone.
They understand all social groups within a society have different values but believe all intellectuals would agree on two points.The first point being freedom of liberty and life.
This research has been conducted in a wide range of countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, U.K., U.S., Virgin Islands) and with rural and urban children, for low and high income communities, and traditional and modern cultures.
[27] In their study, Shaw and Wainryb (2006) discovered that children older than six interpret compliance, resistance, and subversion to illegitimate requests (e.g., clean my locker) from a victim's perspective.
Waxler found that over half of the infants involved took part in at least one act of prosocial behavior [41] Hoffman feels that as children mature empathy in turn becomes less about oneself and more about cognitive development.
In a situation where a child is trying to help their parent clean and misplaces something accidentally, it is easily forgiven and is considered morally acceptable because his/her intentions were good.
As the child develops, s/he needs to experience and observe in order to realize how they fit into society and eventually become part of it thereby establishing a sense of self-identity.
Following this, he will respond search and decision, thinking of possible actions to achieve goal to then weigh pros and cons of alternative options.
Patterson discusses how growing up in a coercive family environment creates an antisocial adolescent due to the fact they are already unpleasant to be around they begin to perform poorly in school and are rejected to all their peers.
Stage 3 is called Interpersonal Relationships and is the point where the individual realizes that people should behave in good ways not only for the benefit of themselves but the family and community as well.
[56][57][58] Research from the social domain theory perspective focuses on how children actively distinguish moral from conventional behavior based in part on the responses of parents, teachers, and peers.
[60] Adults tend to respond to children's moral transgressions (e.g., hitting or stealing) by drawing the child's attention to the effect of his or her action on others, and doing so consistently across various contexts.
Using these definitions, researchers find that parenting behaviors vary in the extent to which they encourage children's internalization of values and that these effects depend partially on a child's attributes, such as age and temperament.
[67] Researchers interested in intergroup attitudes and behavior related to one moral development have approached the study of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination in children and adolescents from several theoretical perspectives.
[18] Social psychologists focus on stereotypes as a cognitive component influencing intergroup behaviors and tend to define them as being fixed concepts associated with a category.
[80] Negative stereotypes and prejudices can manifest into discrimination towards an outgroup, and for children and adolescents, this may come in the form of exclusion from peer groups and the wider community (Killen & Rutland, 2011).
Turiel and Perkins (2004) argued for the universality of morality, focusing mainly on evidence throughout the history of resistance movements that fight for justice by affirming individual self-determination rights.
Wainryb (2006), in contrast, demonstrates that children in diverse cultures such as the U.S., India, China, Turkey, and Brazil share a pervasive view about upholding fairness and the wrongfulness of inflicting, among others.
Additionally, the survey results show that the adults believe that adolescent’s biggest problem is the failure to learn and incorporate moral values in life.
This analysis suggests that one notable aspect found in western cultures is the impact peers have on moral development in adolescence, compared to childhood.
[98] Ethics of autonomy (rights, freedom, justice), which are usually emphasized in individualistic/Western cultures, are centered on protecting and promoting individuals’ ability to make decisions based on their personal preferences.
These three dimensions of understanding form a research tool for studying moral development across cultures that can aid in determining possible universal traits in the lifespan of individuals.
It can provide children with guidelines for understanding the core values of their community, the significance of life, and ideologies of moral character from past generations.
[99] Storytelling shapes the minds of young children in these communities and forms the dominant means for understanding and the essential foundation for learning and teaching.
Most children in Indigenous American communities develop a sense of keen attention to the details of a story to learn from them and understanding why people do the things they do.
Concerns of morality arise when the initiation, continuation, and withdrawal of intensive care affect a patient well being due to medical decision making.
