Question

Moral Development: Compare psychoanalytic, social learning, and cognitive-developmental approaches to moral development, and cite child-rearing practices that support or undermine moral understanding.

Answer 1

Moral Development is the inclination of child's reasoning towards morality, behaviour that exists because of that.Following are the approaches:

(a) Psychoanalytic : According to this, the moral self exists in the superego around the age of 5 years and more.This promotes the behaviour that empowers the interpersonal relationships and contributes towards the survival as species. Freud in 1962 proposed the existence of a tension between the needs of society and the individual. According to Freud, moral development proceeds when the individual’s selfish desires are repressed and replaced by the values of important socializing agents in one’s life.

(b) social learning:This is concerned with how people learn when they observe others. approach claims that humans develop morality by learning the rules of acceptable behavior from their external environment (an essentially behaviorist approach)

(c) Cognitive developmental: This states that the moral development of a child , basically the understanding of right and wrong develops along with the problem solving ability.Jean Piaget's theory describes this moral development through sensorimotor, pre-, concrete-, and formal operational thinking.(1)Preschoolers are premoral; (2)Age 6-10 – Consequences important – Rules external; (3) Age 10-11 – Intentions important – Rules internal; (4)Adolescence : Shift to conventional reasoning ,  Identity includes morals, values –; (5)Adulthood , Kohlberg: Post conventional is possible ; Religion: Religious beliefs tend to change developmentally in a manner similar to other moral developments.

Child-rearing practices : (a)Storytelling and dramatization of moral ethics in front of children (b) Offering opportunities for caring pets, babysit etc (c)Guiding children in understanding the reason behind someone's behaviour

Good Luck!

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