ETHICS

• Moral Character and Development


  Engaging in morally relevant conduct or words, or refraining from certain conduct or words
• Moral character


  A personality construct: a complex set of relatively persistent qualities of the individual person, with a positive connotation when used in discussion of moral education
• Moral character


  An individual's set of psychological characteristics that affect that person's ability and inclination to function morally
• Moral character


  The force behind moral actions, attached to consistency. A person is good because their acts are consistent with goodness across a period of time.
• 4 Ethical Components in Moral and Character Development

  • Ethical Sensitivity
  • Ethical Motivation
  • Ethical Judgment
  • Ethical Action
• Ethical Sensitivity


  The perception of moral and social situations, including the ability to consider possible actions and their repercussions in terms of the people involved
• Ethical Motivation


  The selection of moral values most relevant in the situation and the commitment to act on the selection
• Ethical Judgment


  The consideration of possible alternative actions and the rationale for selecting one or more as best
• Ethical Action


  The ego strength combined with the psychological and social skills necessary to carry out the selected alternative
• 4 Theories in Moral and Character Development

  • External/Social Theory
  • Internal Theory
  • Interactional Theory
  • Personality/Identity
• External/Social Theory


  Morality as a product of external imposition in the form of consequences and the intentional transmission of social roles and norms
• External/Social Theory


  • Human Nature is Neutral
  • Family as the Primary Interpreter of Culture
  • Conditioning Perspective (Skinner, 1971)
  • Religion as Central Cultural Forces
• Internal Theory


  Focused on Genetic and Maturational influences
• Internal Theory


  • Rousseau: Human nature is essentially good
  • Clark and Grunstein (2000): Up to 50% of variance in behavior may be genetically determined
  • Wilson (1998): Our sense of right and wrong is the result of biological evolution interacting with culture and social convention
• Interactional Theory


  Constant struggle between biological predispositions to act selfishly and aggressively and social pressures to act in a prosocial manner
• Interactional Theory


  • Freud: Human nature is instinctually anti-social and undeveloped
  • Erickson: Developing conscience and morals is primarily one of middle childhood
  • Hogan & Emler: 3 psychological transformations in the individual/social relationship
• Personality/Identity


  Virtue is rooted in personality and personal identity
• Personality/Identity


  • Virtues as combination of natural predispositions and interactions with the environment involving reflection and commitment to moral values and behavior
  • Virtues as habitual ways of thinking, feeling, committing and acting that reflect moral character
  • Vessels (1998): People with moral character are predisposed to display effort, honesty, kindness, and problem-solving abilities