Morals define what is considered "right" and "wrong" behavior within society, providing a guide for individuals to follow. It is what many believe the main underlying and unifying principle that allows for improvement in man and civilization at large (Priddy, 1999). While we have developed our own ideas of what we accept as "right" and "wrong" once we've become adults and can largely define these concepts in terms of specific behaviors, this is not a concept we are born with. As children we must acquire this concept as we develop. (Berkowitz & Grych, 1998)
There have been many theories and explanations as to how this process occurs and this has resulted in a great deal of thought and discussion among members of numerous fields including philosophy, theology and more infrequently, psychology. Throughout human history, communities have been concerned with the type of person that a child will ultimately become, whether they will develop into genuinely "good" individuals who benefit society or "bad" individuals, who are detrimental to society. Furthermore, scholars have addressed the topic for over two thousand years and, over the past century, a wealth of data has been amassed concerning the development of morality in children and adolescents (Berkowitz & Grych, 1998).
Lack of Psychological Explanations
Until more recently, however, little of this data has come from the field of psychology. That is largely because traditionally, psychology has avoided studying anything that is loaded with value judgments. Concerns centered around the possibility that such value judgments would cause misinterpretation of data collected or that different investigators might interpret the same findings in entirely different ways, reaching completely disparate conclusions. Thus, such research was deemed too likely fraught with error especially study results that were unable to be replicated. (Priddy, 1999)
There is undeniably a degree of difficulty involved in trying to be unbiased regarding theories that involve concepts such as "good" and "bad", or "right' and 'wrong," especially when attempting to come to agreement on universal definitions of such terms. So, long after other fields had begun to delve into the murky waters of researching how morality develops, this highly significant aspect of human life which functions as one of the primary precursors of human interactions and relationships went largely uninvestigated in the field of psychology. The lack of theorists willing to focus on this area prevented theoretical models from being generated until Piaget(1965), included aspects of morality in his Theory of Development. In his early work he studied how children play games and abide by or break the rules, along with the reasons they do so. He determined that the concept of right and wrong was a developmental process, with younger children stricter about keeping exactly to the originally stated rules with no exceptions allowed and older children able to add more abstract rules as the game went on in order to allow the game to remain fair (Piaget, 1965).
Subsequent Psychological Models Defining Morality
Most people would likely agree that they know a good person when they see one, yet there is far less agreement as to what central beliefs and processes define morality, making it at time difficult to recognize especially in "grey" areas, or to be able to teach to the growing child. Different models have posited different ideas as to what makes up or accounts for morality.
Psychoanalytic models (e.g. Sagan, 1988) focus on how the norms defined by community and society are internalized until they unconsciously influence emotions such as guilt or shame which subsequently influence behavioral expression. According to this model the strength of the superego (conscience) is responsible for whether or not these values are internalized to begin with and if so whether they come to significantly influence the individual.
Behaviorists (e.g. Pelaez-Nogueras & Gewirtz, 1995) focus on only on what can be observed or the actual behavior of the individual as expressing psychological morality, such as sharing, helping, altruism, betrayal, cheating, etc.
Socio-cultural theorists focus on the importance of how each culture transmits accepted values, reinforces moral personality characteristics such that they become long term trait. These theorists also examine how culture influences thought processes such as emphasizing moral ways of thinking and specific types of thoughts that inhibit immoral beliefs and actions (e.g. Staub, 1979).
Biologists discuss genetic selection as the mechanism which causes morals to develop in the human race over time. They believe moral qualities are passed down based on whether they serve positive evolutionary functions. ( e.g. Alexander, 1987) .
Cognitive psychologists emphasize how we come to view morality, reasoning processes related to the examination of moral issues and how decisions regarding moral actions are made (e.g., Kohlberg, 1976)..
Parents Teaching Morality to Their Children
However, all these theories didn't provide much information regarding the best way for parents to teach morality to their children. This is partly due to the lack of knowledge of cognitive development and what the child is capable of understanding at a certain age which are critical determinants of what aspect of morality the child will be most likely to focus on. (Berkowitz, 1997). For example, the preschooler is just beginning to gain the ability to take another's perspective, learn self-control and engage in pro-social behaviors such as sharing whereas adolescence would be more likely to focus on ethical philosophy and moral identity. The instructions and lessons provided by parents at such distinct stages would by necessity have to be completely different.
For these reasons, further inquiry into the area of morality was approached not only from a viewpoint that could be accepted from as many perspectives as possible, but was also placed within a developmental framework. So, the focus in the field turned to identifying the basic building blocks of later moral development, defined as either aspects that led to moral behavior or that were related to what was considered fundamental or universal human morality (Berkowitz, & Grych, 1998).
Ways Parents Can Teach Morality to Their Children
From all this research, several strategies have been suggested as important for parents to focus on when teaching morals to their children. Two which appear to have the most influence on a child's moral learning are Induction and Modeling. For many parents, much of these will be part of their natural interactions with their children while for other others it will take more of a conscious effort to incorporate into their family exchanges.
Induction
Certain methods of teaching morality to children have been posited. What has been termed the most important is what has been called "induction." This refers to parent explaining their behavior and why they are engaging in it when wanting the child to adopt it. Focusing on the effects of the behavior on the child and others teaches empathy, helps develop the child's conscience, as well as moral reasoning and altruism (Lamb & Feeny, 1995).
One primary area to employ induction is when employing discipline. When the child misbehaves this is an ideal opportunity to explain right and wrong, why the child's behavior was wrong, the effects on others, and discuss what would be more appropriate (Walker & Taylor, 1991). Parents need to be careful however, to make sure they are adjusting their vocabulary and depth of discussion to the appropriate level depending on the developmental level of the child.
Modeling
"One of the surest ways to help our children turn their moral reasoning into positive moral behavior is to teach by example. Teaching kids respect by respecting them is certainly one way to teach by example... But teaching by example goes beyond how we treat our children. It has to do with how we treat and talk about others outside the family -- relatives, friends, strangers. It has to do with how we lead our lives" (Lickona, 1983, p. 20).
Usually, parents who make a point of discussing morality with their children, providing explanations for right and wrong behavior, speculation about how others feel when the child acts in a certain way and processes alternative behaviors that could have been used in the situation, also model these behaviors in their day to day lives (Pelaez-Nogueras, & Gewirtz,. 1995).
Children also closely watch how parents treat each other, other family members and individuals they interact with through which they learn how to treat people. While parents may teach respect and compassion through how they act around others especially during disagreements they can just as easily model disrespect, coercion, and belittling others. This can be harmful to the child's moral development as they internalize these actions and use them when in similar situations until they become habit (Grych and Fincham 1993).
Parent Training Programs
For those parents who have difficulty utilizing induction and modeling, several parent training programs have been developed (e.g. Weisz, et al., 1995). Such behavioral psycho-educational programs are aimed at teaching parents more effective behavioral management techniques to better manage their children's acting out behavior. Through teaching parents to properly utilize reinforcement and punishment techniques with clear communication regarding what behavior caused the parent to utilize the strategy also enhances the learning of right and wrong. It has been suggested these types of program may be effective in helping to teach prosocial and moral behavior in children (Weisz, et al., 1995). Forehand & Kotchic, 1996, have added to these models by pointing out that while such programs have been shown effective with Caucasian, middle class families, the techniques may have to be modified based on differences in ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and cultural factors.
Sources
- Alexander, R.D. (1987). The biology of moral systems. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
- Berkowitz, M.W., & Grych, J.H. (1998). Fostering Goodness: Teaching Parents to Facilitate Children's Moral Development. Journal of Moral Education, Volume 27, No. 3, pp. 371-391.
- Etzioni, A. (1993). The spirit of community: Rights, responsibilities, and the Communitarian agenda. New York: Crown.
- Forehand, R. & Kotchick, B. A. (1996). Cultural diversity: A Wake-Up Call for Parent Training. Behavior Therapy, 27, 187-206.
- Grych, J.H., & Fincham, F.D. (1993). Children's appraisals of marital conflict: Initial investigations of the cognitive-contextual framework. Child Development, 64, 215-230.
- Lamb, S., & Feeny, N.C. (1995). Early moral sense and socialization. In W.M. Kurtines & J.L Gewirtz (Eds.), Moral development: An introduction (pp. 497-510). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Lickona, T. (1983). Raising good children. New York: Bantam Books.
- Pelaez-Nogueras, M., & Gewirtz, J.L. (1995). The learning of moral behavior: A behavior-analytic approach. In W.M. Kurtines & J.L Gewirtz (Eds.), Moral development: An introduction (pp.173-200). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Piaget, J. (1965). The moral judgment of the child. The Free Press: New York. Power, F. C., Higgins, A., & Kohlberg, L. (1989). "Lawrence Kohlberg's Approach to Moral Education." New York: Columbia University Press.
- Rest, J.R. (1985). An interdisciplinary approach to moral education. In M.W. Berkowitz & F. Oser (Eds.), Moral education: theory and application (pp. 9-26). Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum.
- Priddy, R. C., (1999). Values in Psychology. In The Human Whole: An Outline of the 'Higher' Psychology. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
- Sagan, E. (1988). Freud, women, and morality: The psychology of good and evil. New York: Basic Books.
- Staub, E. (1979). Positive social behavior and morality. Volume 2: Socialization and development. New York: Academic Press.
- Walker, L.J., & Taylor, J.H. (1991). Family interactions and the development of moral reasoning. Child Development, 62, 264-283.
- Weisz, J.R., Weiss, B., Han, S.S., Granger, D.A., & Morton, T. (1995). Effects of psychotherapy with children and adolescents revisited: A meta-analysis of treatment outcome studies. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 450-468.
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