MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Moral Development
Moral development involves the formation of a system of

values on which to base decisions concerning "right" and

"wrong, " or "good" and "bad. Values are underlying
assumptions about standards that govern moral decisions.
(Taken from http://www.enotes.com/moral-development reference/moraldevelopment-128598)

Jean Piagets Biography

A biologist
Studied mollusks
Moved into the study of the development of

childrens
understanding,
through
observing them and talking and listening to
them while they worked on exercises he
set.

Jean Piagets Cognitive Development Theory

Specific insight: the role of maturation (simply growing up)

in childrens increasing capability to understand their

world.
Proposed

that childrens thinking does not develop

entirely smoothly: there are certain points at which it
takes off and moves into completely new areas and
capabilities.

Transitions takes place at about 18 months, 7 years and

11 or 12 years.

 There are 4 stages of Piagets Cognitive Development:

Stage

Duration

Sensory-motor

Birth 2 years old

Pre-operational

2 7 years old

Concrete Operational

7- 11 years old

Formal Operational

11 years old and above

Albert Bandura Biography

Born on December 4, 1925 in Northern Alberta, Canada.
Presents detailed description of cognitive variables to

describe personality and to predict behaviour in various

situations.
President of the American Psychological Association in
1974
Received many professional honors for his scholarly work.

Albert Banduras Theory

Learning theory of behaviour based on observations.
Bobo Dolls studies (1963).
Modelling Process (Stages):

i.) Attention
- Observing the behaviour
ii.) Retention
- Remembering it
iii.) Reproduction
- Doing it
iv.) Motivation
- Wanting it

 Children who witnessed an adult model making

moral judgments tended to give more mature

reactions.
Children who do not have a model showed no
improvement.
Immitation of adult behaviour is an important
mechanism for the childs moral development,
because adults who portrayed bad behaviour will
lead to childrens aggression or violence and
immoral actions (not wearing seat belt in the car or
hitting others).

Sigmund Freuds Biography

Born in Frieberg, Moravia (1856)
Father of psychoanalysis:
i.) Psychologist
ii.) Medical Doctor
iii.) Influential Thinker
Died of mouth cancer while exile in 1939

Sigmund Freuds Theory

Divided into three:

i.) Theory of the unconscious

ii.) Infantile Sexuality
iii.) Neuroses and the Structure of the Mind

Theory of the Unconscious

Human behaviour is explicable only in terms of the mental

processes or state which determine it.

This suggests that when we make a choice, it is governed
by hidden mental processes of which we are unaware off.
Freud also suggests instinct is the motivating force that
energizes the mind in its multiple functions.
Instincts are divided into two:
i.) Eros Life Instinct
ii.) Thanatos Death Instinct

Infantile Sexuality
The general thesis are that early childhood for children is

where they experienced sexual experience and this is the

crucial factor in determining the adults personality.
The infant from the moment of birth, is driven in action by
the need of borderly of sexual pleasure.
Stage

Duration

Oral

Birth 18 months

Anal

18 months 3 years

Phallic

3 6 years

Latency

6 - Puberty

Genital

Puberty and onwards

Neuroses and the Structure of the Mind

Freud

have divided the mind into three structural

elements that are called tripartite. He called it ID, Ego and
Super Ego.
ID :Part of the mind that situates the instinctual sexual
drive in which it requires satisfaction.
Ego :The conscious self
Super Ego :Part that contains the conscience. It is a
controlled mechanism which has been internalized and
conveyed by the parents.
All objects of consciousness reside on the ego.
ID belongs permanently to the unconscious mind.
Super Ego is an unconscious screening mechanism that
meant to limit the blind pleasure that was said by the ID

Defense Mechanisms
Mechanism

Explanation

Repression

Pushing conflict
unconscious

back

into

the

Sublimation

Channeling the sexual drive into the

achievement socially acceptable goal

Fixation

Failure to move on beyond one of the

developmental stages

Regression

A
return
to
the
behaviour
characteristics of one of the stages

MORAL AGENT
Family
Peers
School and Institution
Society
Mass Media

Family
Nuclear family

- The family includes father, mother and siblings.

- Consistent in giving good values.
- Good moral basic (Religion).
- Instill a good quality of moral values.

 Single Parent

Effect towards the child:

- Lower self-esteem academic performance etc.
- Suffer from feelings of shame and distrust.
- Moral qualities are eaten up when they suffer from these
feelings.

 Extended Family
- A family that extends beyond the nuclear family, including

grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives, who all

live nearby or in one household.
- Potrays survival skills and give time-tested knowledge.
- As a role model because they are older and they have lots
of experience.

Peer
Biggest influence on individual starting from adolescence.
Teaches independence
Challenges role of family
When individual are exposed to issues that relate to the

age. For example, sexuality, interconnection with people.

Can be good or bad according to the type of peer group

School and Institution

In teaching:
Class interaction, student with student and student with

the lecturer.
In syllabus, teaching methods.
Environment of the school (nice or rough)

Society
Community
Homogenous and heterogeneous.
Positive and Negative effects towards others.
Socio-economy
Example: Types of family (Middle class family, Lower
class family)
Organization
How to give and take (Volunteers)

Mass Media
Influence people through the mass media.
Bulletin, journal, news, television, radio, advertisement.
On what being potrayed through mass media and

contents in the current news.