This article reports a small study of moral reasoning by boys aged 9 and 10 years, illustrating how maturity of thought may vary with context. It supports the view that concern for context and sensitivity to personal moral experiences are not peculiar to a final adult stage of a unidimensional structure, but manifest in childhood forms, which relate dialectically to the adult forms. It is suggested that Kohlberg’s work may have obscured the potential of Piaget’s early theory in this respect, but also that Piaget may have underestimated the purely conventional nature of aspects of cooperation and reciprocity. The significant influence of peer-group relationships on the development of sensitive moral thought may be quite disstinct from their much-discussed contribution to the social construction of justice reasoning.

Keywords:
Child development, Dialectic model, Moral reasoning
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© 1987 S. Karger AG, Basel
1987
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