Considers how forgiveness is learned and what developmental features it has in common with other prosocial activities. Maintains that viewing forgiveness within a moral developmental framework does not consider its complex nature nor address related issues such as damage severity, restoring relationships, empathy, or altruism. Explores these areas…

Studies the strategies that 41 perpetrators of child abuse used to insure that the victim remained silent. Results indicate that the perpetrators altered their strategies to coincide with the developmental level of the child. (RJC)

Investigated beliefs on immanent justice of over 2000 children of 4-14 years. Results suggest a modification of the Piagetian hypothesis. They also suggest that the influence of religious instruction should not be ignored. (RJC)

Effective moral education requires children to engage in ethical inquiry. Ethical inquiry requires students to cultivate all aspects of their thinking, including critical, creative, and caring thinking (which includes active, affective, and valuative thinking). Only the discipline of Philosophy for Children, the narrative-and-discussion-based…

This study investigated whether kindergartners would advocate sharing toys equally across situations or on the basis of recipients' characteristics, and whether each group member would be counted as one unit for allocation across situations. Findings indicated that kindergartners tended to allocate more blocks to a younger child than to a same-age…

Claims that children's peer relations are significant in their social, cognitive, and moral development, and are correlated to later problems in social adjustment. Includes a brief historical perspective on the subject, and explores direct and indirect influences. Claims that peer relations develop within ecological frameworks, and identifies the…