The authors of this volume showcase the unique insights that can be gained from examining the lives of exemplars. For example, as individuals who stand out for living reflective, ethical lives, exemplars can reveal the human capacity to behave in exceptional ways despite most people's tendency to not exhibit these behaviors. The authors also…

Character development in higher education is a complex process. This process has often been delegated to a single course on ethics or courses on religion. The authors of this article pose an alternative higher educational process whereby character development is rooted in a series of abilities that are contextualized throughout the entire…

Evolutionary theories of morality, beginning with Darwin, have focused on explanations for altruism. More generally, these accounts have concentrated on conscience (self-regulatory mechanisms) to the neglect of condemnation (mechanisms for punishing others). As a result, few theoretical tools are available for understanding the rapidly…

As role models, mentors serve as moral exemplars to their proteges. Yet, since the mentoring literature gives scant attention to the mentor's role in protege moral education, mentors are largely unwitting participants in this process. Grounded in research from moral psychology and philosophy, this article provides guidance to mentors who want to…

There are good reasons to be very careful about generalizations about Catholic higher education in the United States. Recall that the 220 or so Catholic colleges and universities are of very different kinds, very different sizes, with different student bodies, and are located in different parts of a country that sometimes have quite different…

Society is in turmoil that can be termed a moral crisis the result of dogmatic materialistic worldviews. A more holistic framework for moral development based on the tripartite theory that considers cognitive, affective and conative domains and capacities is presented along with some guiding principles as an answer to the needs of the modern…

We ask three questions: What are the components of young children?s conscience? How are they organized? How does early conscience develop? We discuss the changing perspectives on each of those questions. We describe the shift from a focus on a single component of conscience (moral emotions, conduct, cognition) to a growing emphasis on their…

Social information processing theory has been posited as a description of how mental operations affect behavioral responding in social situations. Arsenio and Lemerise (this issue) proposed that consideration of concepts and methods from moral domain models could enhance this description. This paper agrees with their proposition, although it…

Social information processing and moral domain theories have developed in relative isolation from each other despite their common focus on intentional harm and victimization, and mutual emphasis on social cognitive processes in explaining aggressive, morally relevant behaviors. This article presents a selective summary of these literatures with…

This monograph examines the assessment of moral development over the past half century. Recent renewed interest in the field has led to the creation of new techniques and to the refinement of existing methods. Unsolved problems in theory and in technical development provide challenges for researchers in the future. (LMO)

Specifies rules individuals use to make moral judgments, suggesting that certain culturally transmitted excuses are generally believed to absolve people of blame for harming others. Areas discussed include accepting excuses, children's moral judgments (including Piagetian theory), accidental harm, learning excusing conditions, and a theory of…

Traces the development of the capacity to make moral judgments. States that emotions involve judgments as well as actions. Discusses the susceptibility of moral beings to remorse and explores the nature of sympathy and resentment. (GG)

Maintains that children's ability to understand and use narrative precedes their ability to understand and use other genres. Asserts that the link between history and narrative is overlooked in discussions about children's historical understanding. Argues that children should use narrative. (CFR)

This paper describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of a Deliberate Psychological Education Curriculum to promote the ego, moral, and conceptual development of inservice teachers enrolled in a five-week workshop, followed by a supervised fall quarter practicum. Significant differences were found between experimental and control groups…

Delineates a generalized difference between men and women in approaches to ethics. Reiterates Carol Gilligan's theory that men generally believe in a morality of rights whereas women subscribe to a morality of relationships. Discusses other aspects of this dichotomy including ideas of good, evil, and sin. (MJP)