Course syllabus

Course title Moral development through life. Influence of individual and social
development on moral judgments.

Instructors name Jan Strawa, Msc Psychology (psychotherapist in the process of

certification), MA Sociology (specialization History of ideas)

Contact details Email: j.strawa@wp.pl

Affiliation Nowowiejski Hospital

Course format Seminar

Number of hours 15h

Number of ECTS credits 2 ECTS = 60 hours work load:

Class attendance, 15 hours
Reading
eading weekly literature + preparing for discussion,
discussion 30 hours
Final paper, 15 hours

Brief course description The aim of the course is to present the complexity of human moral
development taking in consideration the most important theories and
social influences. We will discuss if the morality is something given once
and for all or is it variable? This way we will try to answer the question
which at a glance seems obvious what hat is morality for?

Full course description Morality is commonly connected with normativity, which is imposed by
religio society and/or family.. During the seminar we will try to
religion,
understand, based on the proposed literature and examples from
everyday life, what influences the development of moral judgments and
its possible changes. We will also try to learn why people say and do
completely different things in terms of morality. Theories on moral
development
opment will be presented.
presented Also the idea of how the culture may
influence it. Moral development and possible pathology has a great
impact on individual and society. It is vital to be aware of ones moral
judgments, which influence our life and the lives of people around us. Last
but not least - when talking about moral judgment during uring the course our
goal is not to judge in terms of religion, spirituality or faith, but we will
not avoid the questions on how such believes may influence ones one moral
development
development.

Learning outcomes Byy the end of the course student should:

- understand the idea of moral development.
- demonstrate knowledge of the stages of moral development and its
functions.
- learn how to analyze the social influence in ones moral development.
- increase the self-awareness
self reness about the origins of their moral
judgments.
- be able to discuss openly on different kinds of moral judgments.
Learning activities The class is centered on group discussion with short lectures and readings
and teaching methods to be read before the class.
class Active participation and open discussion is
essential.

Teaching methods:
- Lecture of the most important moral development matters
- Readings on the moral development theories
- Discussion on literature and everyday life examples.
- Exercises conducted during classes.

List of topics/classes 1. What is morality?

and bibliography
How to define the concept of morality from the psychological
point of view, Jean Piagets perspective. Superego and
bermensch theories on the subject of moral development
from the perspective of psychoanalysis and humanistic
psychology.
Sunar, D. (2002). Psychology of Morality. Online Readings in
Psychology and Culture, 2(1) http://dx.doi.org/10.9707/2307-
http://dx.doi.org/10.9707/2307
0919.1012

2. Because of fear or as a result of logical reasoning.

Theories on moral development; theories of social learning and of
cognitive development vs. Postmodernity, genes and nature.
nature
Modern understanding of the way human morality is developed

Eysenck H.J. (1976), The biology of morality [w:] Moral

development and Behaviour,, Lichen T. (red), Holt Rinehart
and Winston, New York, s. 109-125
"Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality" by
Patricia Smith Churchland (Princeton University Press, 2011),
fragments

3. Is moral development influenced by culture?

Discussion on Lawrence Kohlbergs most popular moral
development theory.

Gibbs J.C., Basinger K.S.,., Grime R.L. i Snarey J.R. (2007), Moral
judgment development across cultures. Revisiting Kohlbergs
universality claims [w:] Developmental Review 27, s. 443-500

4. Parents are always right?

The role of home, school and peer groups on the changes of
morality.
Judith Rich Harris.. The Nurture Assumption. Why Children
Turn Out the Way They Do.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/harris
http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/harris-nurture.html
Dead Poet Society movie.
 5. Girls are polite but boys
Does moral development depend on sex?
Ann E. Kaplan, Women, morality and social change from a
discourse analysis perspective, [in] N. Eisenberg, J. Reykowski,
E. Staub (eds), Social and moral values, Hillsdale, NJ, 1989,
Erlbaum

6. Only the cow does not change its beliefs

Moral development in adult life. Empathy, guiltiness, greed,
anger, shame and altruism - regulators of ones morality.
morality
Gibbs J.C. (2010), Moral development and reality: Beyond the
theories of Kohelberg and Hoffman,, Pearson, Allyn and Bacon,
Ba
Boston
Hoffman, M.L. (2000). Empathy and moral development:
development
Implications for caring and justice.. New York: Cambridge
University Press. Fragments:
http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/99029669.pdf

7. Brand values.
The rules at a workplace in relation to private moral beliefs. The
significance of social reality in shaping the morality.

Assessment methods In order to complete the course each student has to do 3 things:
things
and criteria
read the given readings (students will be asked to refer to the readings
in their opinions). There will be randomly short,
short unannounced, quiz
questions addressing knowledge of the reading planned for the given
day. (30% of the final grade)

Participate; active participation will positively influence the final

grade Meaningful and respectful participation consists of:
grade.
participation in discussion and referring to the literature.
participation in the proposed exercises.
all opinions on the subject are welcome.
if someone is not feeling comfortable with active participation in
front of the entire class, this person can - before each class send
two discussion points/ questions referring
ferring to the given lecture.
(10%
10% of the final grade)
grade

write a final essay (at least four standard pages - 1800 characters per
page, Times New Roman,
Roman font size 12, spacing 1,2)) on a chosen
subject concerning the moral development. Students will be graded
anonymously (student ID-number
ID number will be written on papers, not their
name (60% of the final grade)
name).

To
o pass the course the student needs to obtain at least 60%
60 of the
maximum grade.
grade
Attendance rules Because the course is short, attendance is obligatory. 1 absence with no
explanation is allowed, 2nd absence - only sick leave and extreme life
excu 3rd or more absences result in
situations will be handled as a valid excuse.
failing the course.

Prerequisites Course is open for students from years 2 and 3. Students from higher
years are also welcome if they make a request.

Academic honesty Students must respect the principles of academic integrity. Cheating and
plagiarism (including copying work from other students, internet or other
sources) are serious violations that are punishable and instructors are
required to report all cases to the administration.

Basket 5. developmental and educational psychology

Remarks -