DEVELOPING SENSE OF LAW, AND LEGAL JUSTICE AND JUSTICE, 1971-1972 - AN AMS ANTHOLOGY, 1974 BY JACKWELL SUSMAN - SEE NCJ-28615)

• NCJ Number: 28619
• Author(s): J L TAPP; L KOHLBERG
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 22 pages
• Corporate Author: AMS Press, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

IN THIS ARTICLE, THE AUTHORS PRESENT AND EXTEND THE EVIDENCE ON UNIVERSAL MORAL STAGES TO THE CULTURAL UNIFORMITY OF CERTAIN CONCEPTS OF LAW AND RULE AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT.

Abstract

DATA IS PRESENTED ON THE CULTURAL UNIVERSALITY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT FROM PREVIOUS CROSS-CULTURAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH AND THE UNIVERSAL APPLICABILITY AND UTILITY OF ONE OF THE AUTHORS' (KOHLBERG) MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY TO CONCEPTS OF LAW AND LEGAL JUSTICE IS INVESTIGATED. KOHLBERG'S STUDIES IDENTIFY THREE GENERAL LEVELS OF MORAL JUDGMENT: THE PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL, WHERE A 'RULE-OBEYING' PERSPECTIVE GUIDES LEGAL JUDGMENTS; THE CONVENTIONAL LEVEL, AT WHICH A 'RULE-MAINTAINING' PERSPECTIVE PREVAILS AND THE MAIN CONCERN IS LAW AND ORDER; AND THE POST-CONVENTIONAL LEVEL, AT WHICH THE 'LEGISLATIVE' OR 'RULE-MAKING' PERSPECTIVE IS DOMINANT. BOTH RESEARCH STUDIES DISCUSSED IN THIS ARTICLE (A UNITED STATES KINDERGARTEN TO COLLEGE DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY AND A CROSS-NATIONAL STUDY OF CHILDREN FROM GRADES FOUR THROUGH EIGHT) DEMONSTRATED THE UTILITY OF KOHLBERG'S COGNITIVE THEORY FOR THE STUDY OF LEGAL DEVELOPMENT. BOTH SETS OF DATA REVEALED A SHIFT IN CONCEPTUALIZATIONS FROM A PRECONVENTIONAL TO A CONVENTIONAL TO A POSTCONVENTUAL ORIENTATION. IN ADDITION, THE CONVENTIONAL MODE WAS CONFIRMED AS THE TYPICAL SOCIETAL LEVEL. THE IMPLICATIONS OF THESE FINDINGS FOR LEGAL SOCIALIZATION AND EDUCATION, I.E., CONCEPTUALIZATION AS PART OF A MORE GENERAL PROCESS OF SOCIOMORAL DEVELOPMENT, ARE EXPLORED.