Scholars in the helping professions have become increasingly concerned with how the fruits of their labor can promote social justice (e.g., Vera & Speight, 2003; Swank & Fahs, 2013, North, 2009). At present, there is a lack of theoretical convergence around what social justice consciousness, aptitude, awareness, or orientation actually…

This paper outlines the development and implementation of an online educational intervention designed to enhance moral reasoning in higher level tax students. Before decisions are made about how to behave ethically, cognitive moral reasoning takes place. The importance of education in developing morally sensitive individuals who use principled…

This paper reports a study designed to increase the moral reasoning and multicultural competence of White students in a counselling internship. An intervention was conducted to determine the effectiveness of using a deliberate psychological education (DPE) approach that incorporated issues of cultural competence, oppression and diversity. This…

Most moral psychologists have come to accept two types of moral reasoning: Kohlberg's "justice" and Gilligan's "care", but there still seem to be some unresolved issues. By analysing and comparing Kohlberg's statement on some theoretical issues with some of Gilligan's statements in an interview in April 2003, I will look at some key issues in the…

Contains a discussion of: comparison of the concept of political literacy developed by Crick and Lister, role of a psychology of political education, outline and comparison of cognitive developmental approaches, and implications for political education and research suggestions. (ND)

Investigated 4-, 8-, and 11-year-olds' ability to categorize intentionally false and true statements as lies and truths. Found that older children were more likely to categorize false statements as lies and true statements as truths than were 4-year-olds. Antisocial lies were rated as most serious, and "white lies" as least serious.…

The purpose of this study was to discover if there was a relationship in decisions made between adults and 11-year old students assumed to be at different levels of the formal operations stage in their responses to a situation calling for a moral judgment. (Author)

One common paradigm used to study moral reasoning involves assessing the reasoning leading to choices among alternative actions, each with moral implications. Preconventional reasoning emphasizes external rewards and punishments, conventional reasoning centers on acceptance of societal rules and expectations, and postconventional reasoning is…

This paper attempts to find some similiarities among different theories of moral development, presenting a literature review of research and a comparative analysis of results on three questions. The questions considered are: (1) What is the role of cognitive competence in moral development and what optimizes the cognitive aspects of moral growth?…

Middle school students (N=25) with exceptional educational needs were matched with regular students and assessed for their level of moral reasoning using the Objective Assessment of Moral Development. Results indicate exceptional students select types of reasoning typical of younger children, and become less like their peers with age. (RC)

Compared to a peer group of average abilities, gifted and talented junior high school students appeared more outgoing, participating, insightful, fast-learning, intellectually adaptable, conscientious, persistent, and moralistic, thus indicating significant between-group differences. (SB)

Compared the social cognitive styles of abused children with a control sample and found differences in perceived locus of control of social events and social role comprehensions. Similar trends emerged in perspective-taking skills and social sensitivity. Suggests these differences could not be attributed to IQ or class disparities. (Author)

In this study 610 kibbutz and city boys and girls from grades 3 to 6 were compared on the following variables: stages of moral judgment, external reactions to transgression (fear and punitiveness), and internal reactions to transgression (guilt and confession). (Author/MP)