ABSTRACT
The role of parents has been a central but somewhat vexing issue in the psychological study of moral development. Although scholars typically consider parents essential to the socialization of children’s moral norms and values, researchers vary as to whether they believe that morality is directly transmitted—and thus differ in how central they view parents to these developmental processes. Socialization is typically defined as “the processes whereby naïve individuals are taught the skills, behavior patterns, values, and motivations needed for competent functioning in the[ir] culture” (Maccoby, 2007, p. 13). According to this view, adult members of society, and parents in particular, are responsible for transmitting societal norms and values to children. Other scholars, especially those from earlier structural-developmental perspectives (e.g., Kohlberg, 1969; Piaget, 1932/1965), are more agnostic about whether parents directly inculcate moral norms. Instead, these researchers view morality as constructed from social experiences broadly considered, and with a greater emphasis on peer interactions. Indeed, some scholars (e.g., Piaget, 1932/1965) even view parents as inhibiting moral growth. This chapter describes how these wide variations in views are connected to ongoing debates about the nature and definition of morality as well as the processes theorized to account for its development. Researchers mostly agree, however, that morality pertains to individuals’ treatment of others and how individuals ought to behave.
