Morality in Childhood

Catalog description

How do children learn right from wrong? Today’s youth face an onslaught of mixed messages about morality. Parents and teachers champion honesty, integrity and empathy, while sports stars use steroids, music and video games glorify sexual violence, and politicians pander for votes based on prejudice and fear. At the same time, children are confronted with uniquely modern moral challenges, as they navigate bullying and privacy invasion on the Internet, easily accessible drugs of abuse, and gang and relationship violence. This course will examine how children negotiate these challenges and learn moral principles, using perspectives from developmental neurobiology, evolutionary biology, philosophy, and multiple theoretical frameworks within cognitive and social psychology. Topics will include gender, culture, socioeconomic status, education, and parenting and their influence on moral development from infancy through adolescence.