Virtuous character development in children is correlated with parenting behavior, but the role of genetic influences in this association has not been examined. Using a longitudinal twin/sibling study (N = 720; Time 1 (T1) M[subscript age] = 12-14 years, Time 3 (T3) M[subscript age] = 25-27 years), the current report examines associations among…

An assumption that immigrant and American-born adolescents experience similar, normal psychological development processes was examined through a two-part research study that: (1) gathered normative data on ego development, identity and moral reasoning; and (2) field-tested an experimental curriculum intended to stimulate development in these…

The Cross-Cultural Experiences program for immigrant adolescents assumes that these adolescents are not different from their American-born contemporaries in ego development, moral reasoning, and identity development. The experimental curriculum stimulates psychological development. (Author/BEF)

Moral judgments of Israeli and Soviet educated adolescents who had recently arrived in Israel were compared on a relativistic-realistic dimension, using a specially designed instrument - the Morality Shifting in Adolescence Questionnaire. Soviety educated adolescents were significantly more realistically oriented in moral judgment and in both…

Two developmental stage theories concerned with moral development (Kohlberg) and ego development (Loevinger) were compared. Correlational relationships between the stages of each theory were measured, and a contingency table that visually portrayed the relationships between the stages was included. The study was based on two hypotheses: (1) There…

Within the field of community services it is widely accepted that reflection is an important factor in personal and sociomoral development. The purpose of this research was to determine if a particular form of reflection-decision making with an emphasis on the ethical nature of community-has special value in achieving service-learning goals. (BF)

This study investigated the relationship between a reader's level of moral development and his preferred mode of response to literature. It was prompted by a common concern of high school English teachers: the difficulty experienced by many adolescent readers in responding to the secondary literature curriculum through an interpretive mode. The…

This study investigates the parent-child relationship antecedents of a multidimensional model of moral character among late adolescents. The model posits that the configuration of five character dimensions explains the moral behavior displayed by an individual. The dimensions are moral knowledge, socialization, empathy, autonomy and ethical…

Based upon the view that character development is not by and large the result of special lessons, but is rather embedded in and the product of the child's growth, this book focuses on how the intimacy of the ordinary day stimulates and enhances the child's potential for morality, devotion, and idealism. The book identifies general themes in the…

This book claims that morality is a two-way street, and adolescent students learn by watching teachers. It argues that schools should incorporate morality as a pivotal tool in education, noting that the American school is an exhausting, inefficient, and often dehumanizing place of work for teenagers and their elders. Students learn not just from…

Argues for a view of adolescence as deriving from the nature of the interaction of adolescent thought and action in a social setting. Suggests the necessity for rethinking current definitions of adult as well as adolescent development and calls for a change in ways both groups are educated. (RC)

Many educators seem reluctant to instill in their pupils good habits such as honesty, respect, and truthfulness. This book emphasizes how teachers can create schools in which students practice and exhibit respect and responsibility. Many problems in schools, homes, and society at large, arise from a lack of good character. To develop moral…

Subjects were 50 17 year-old students from a variety of types of schools (parochial, private, public) in two New England areas were interviewed for moral and faith development according to the theories of Kohlberg and Fowler. Socioeconomic level and IQ were highly correlated with faith and moral scores. Experiences of the death of someone close…

Reports on the results of 2 studies that use a non-Kohlbergian approach to categorizing justifications for moral judgments by Australian subjects from 7 to 15 and from 7 to 21 years. These studies support the view that moral reasoning up to late adolescence is largely a product of socialization. (KO)

This study investigates characteristics of juvenile delinquency and youth violence by examining attachment and social problem skills. Attachment theory integrates features of psychoanalytic theory, ethology, and cognitive psychology. Research on adolescent attachment suggests that parents continue to function as a secure base for their teenage…