Reviews the work of Iris Murdoch, a moral philosopher who maintains that the work of moral education is the recognition of the phenomenology of inner moral experience and the struggle to express it. Shows how important this view of the inner meaning of moral experience, often expressed as metaphor, is to identity, culture, and education.…

Provides a brief biography of Thornton Burgess, author of 70 books and over 15,000 children's nature stories that appeared daily in newspapers for 36 years. Discusses the renewed interest in Burgess's stories, the moral values they express, and the establishment in his honor of Laughing Brook and Greenbriar Nature Centers. (JHZ)

The law school as an organization is examined by a hypothetical Irish monk from several moral points of view (teleologically, interpersonally, and according to the ethics of responsibility) and advised as to the effect of the law school community on its members. (MSE)

A recognition measure of Kohlbergian moral reasoning, developed on the basis of a production measure, was psychometrically evaluated. Results showed that the Sociomoral Reflection Objective Measure has acceptable concurrent validity and high levels of test-retest reliability and internal consistency. (Author/CI)

Research suggests children readily distinguish between moral wrongs and social norm violations. Moral concepts consistently focus on issues of justice and compassion regardless of religious belief. Moral education can be compatible with, and independent from, religious doctrine. Two principals for such education are suggested as useful for…

A study to provide information about medical students' prior knowledge of and attitudes toward medical ethics is reported. A questionnaire was administered to 845 entering medical students at the University of Toronto. The results support the need for a course that requires thinking rather than rote memory. (Author/MLW)

Using data from the High School and Beyond Study, compares Catholic high school students attending parochial schools with those attending other high schools in terms of their attendance at religious services, self-ratings of their religiousness, and ratings of the importance of certain life priorities. (DMM)

Tests 4- to 12-year-old children's use of the verb "lying" and their moral judgment of true and false assertions. Stories that produced either a false statement despite truthful intentions or a true statement despite deceptive intentions were used. (Author/CI)

Two studies examined children's inferences of personality for actors engaging in different domains of behavior. In both studies, first, fourth, and seventh graders were given two descriptions of actors engaging in either moral or conventional transgressions. Findings indicated that children's concepts of persons were inferred from information…

The relationship of film meaning to film criticism and film education is examined. Film scholarship needs to be more self-conscious in regard to the language used and to its value assumptions. (RM)

Explores the relationships between children's literature and moral development. Discusses characteristics of a "female morality" and why such a perspective is important. Describes some children's books that exemplify this perspective and offers suggestions for their use to help children develop morally as well as cognitively and socially. (HTH)

Videotaped stories depicting deliberate lies and unintentionally untrue statements were presented to 200 subjects evenly divided into the following age groups: 5, 8, 9, 11 years, and adult. Definitions of lying were seen to change gradually over this age range. (Author/RH)

Summarizes a nuclear power workshop that presented techniques useful in controversial issues education. An introductory exercise and an overview of propagandistic techniques (listed in "The Propaganda Game") related to self-deception, language, irrelevance, exploitation, form, and maneuver are included. Outline of workshop presentation…

Results indicate that preschool children are capable of making moral judgments in both apology-restitution and guilt-innocence test contexts. Age and sex are significantly related to both moral judgment measures, while intelligence and parent occupation are unrelated to both measures. (Author/RH)

The effect of child maltreatment on children's social-cognitive development was examined by investigating abused, neglected, and nonmaltreated children's judgments regarding the permissibility of social-conventional and moral transgressions pertaining to physical harm, psychological distress, and the unfair distribution of resources. (Author/RH)