What are the outcomes for adolescents as they advance in moral reasoning? What is the relationship between adolescents who show low levels of moral reasoning and delinquency?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

With advances in moral reasoning, adolescents often begin to coordinate moral, conventional, and personal concepts and are more likely to act in ways that are in line with their beliefs. For example, adolescents who demonstrate higher levels of moral reasoning are more likely to share with and help others and are less likely to engage in antisocial behaviors such as cheating, aggression, or delinquency. Although adolescents who show low levels of moral reasoning are thought to be at greater risk for delinquency, findings are mixed in this area. Some studies find that low levels of reasoning predict delinquency, and others show no relationship. Perhaps the degree to which moral reasoning is associated with behavior varies with whether adolescents perceive the behavior, as an issue regarding morality, social convention, or personal choice. Adolescents, particularly early adolescents, tend to overwhelmingly label behaviors as personal issues. Adolescents' moral development influences behaviors they label as moral decisions but not those viewed as social conventions or personal issues. Adolescents who engage in delinquency are more likely than other adolescents to view delinquent behaviors as issues of social convention or personal choice rather than moral issues, suggesting that their level of moral maturity is not an influence on their delinquent behavior because they do not label the behavior as entailing a moral decision. A variety of factors influence the development of moral reasoning and how adolescents view and behave in their world.