Moral development and decision-making in childhood. 1) Jean Piaget

Moral development and moral autonomy as requirements for responsible decision-making in childhood.

Joaquín Díaz Atienza

Understanding how moral development unfolds during childhood and adolescence, and how children internalize the values ​​emanating from their families and society, is fundamental to understanding their capacity to make decisions. This is what is defined as the mature minorAlthough different stages have been described in this process, there are conceptual differences among the various researchers.

Why is it important to understand moral development? What does "mature minor" mean? To what extent, depending on their age, can a minor make autonomous decisions in serious matters that affect them? Can parents decide for their minor in any circumstance?surrogate decision)?

These and other equally important questions will be answered in several posts. In the first, we will address moral development in childhood and adolescence, as understood by [author's name/title]. Jean Piaget, as well as the criticisms made. In the second, we will refer to  Lawrence Kohlberg  and, likewise, the critical contributions that have been made to it. In the third, we will describe what is meant by mature minor  and the challenges that medicine currently presents when it comes to making autonomous decisions for the child or the family (surrogate decisions)

1. Moral Development in Childhood

It has been studied from various epistemological models: the cognitivist with Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, the psychoanalytic with Erickson, and from the social learning theory with Bandura, mainly.

Piaget's research aims to provide a satisfactory answer to how development occurs in childhood from the unilateral respect (adult obedience) to the moral obligation and mutual respect (respect among equals). Moral autonomy would be achieved through a shift from unilateral respect to mutual respect.

For both Piaget and Kohlberg, moral development in childhood is based on seven postulates basic: 

• • The basis of moral development is a series of unified and global interpretive frameworks and not simply the passive assimilation of external norms. Therefore, moral development arises from social interaction.

• • Contrary to what social learning theory maintains, moral development is not acquired through external models, but through schemes based on social compression

• • The key to moral development is concept of justice.

• • Moral reasoning occurs through successive transformations of the basic principles.

• • The foundations that underpin moral development are universal, In other words, they are not dependent on the socio-cultural context.

• • The motivation It is not related to individual need, but with social acceptance and recognition, self-realization, personal satisfaction etc.. and

• • What determines the environmental influence on moral development are the quality of cognitive and social stimuli (interactions).

2. Moral development in childhood according to Jean Piaget's theory.

For her research, she designs an analytical method that answers three questions: How do children conceive of the "respect for the rule" During game situations, the analysis of the childish lieand how they arise moral norms in the child in the relationship he establishes with adults and with each other. Finally, and as a fundamental part of his research, he focuses on the concept of Justice.

• • The rules of the game

Piaget is interested in two processes: how the internalization of the rule throughout development, and how the child goes raising awareness of the rules.

At the internalization process distinguishes several stages: a) Motor and individual. The child disregards the rules. He plays by himself and is quite stereotypical and manipulative. b) EgocentricIt usually appears between the ages of two and five. Although the children play among themselves, rules are disregarded. They play for themselves and can all "win." c) Cooperative. It starts around six or seven years old. It's a social game and, although it's competitive, they haven't yet fully mastered the rules. d) Rule coding stage. It usually appears around the age of ten. At this point, rules are fully observed and it is assumed that they must be respected by everyone.

The awareness The rules and the need to comply with them also follow several stages: a) A first stage in which the rules are merely indicative and do not imply any kind of coercion. It usually occurs between the motor and egocentric stages. b) From the egocentric stage to the middle of the cooperative The rules are sacred and inviolable. Adults decide them. c) Finally, the rules are adopted by mutual consent and can be changed

From these findings, Piaget deduces that there are three types of rules: the motor (basically ritualized), the coercive (It stems from parental demands and pressure. It is, therefore, unilateral.) and the rational (It stems from mutual respect and cooperative activity). The stages he describes must be understood within the same framework he uses for the development of intelligence. That is, throughout its development, there is an interaction between function and structure. Each stage serves as a platform that conditions the next.

• • From heteronomy to moral autonomy

The child evolves from moral realism to moral subjectivity. Moral realism characterized by to be heteronomicThat is, values ​​are considered to exist in and of themselves; by giving a literal meaning to norms without taking into consideration the motivational or emotional aspects of the subject. From moral realism derives a strict liability in the face of compliance with the rules. The peak of moral realism occurs around seven years of age, progressing slowly towards the Moral subjectivism and subjective responsibility.

• • Analysis of children's lies

Piaget studies the child's liethrough both observation and the "verbal" interpretation that subjects make when exposed to various situations. It reaches the following conclusions:

– The child evolves from moral objectivism to the consideration of lying as a betrayal of the truth.

– Until about the age of eight, lying is bad because it is punished. However, from about the age of nine onwards, lying is bad because it jeopardizes cooperation among peers. This means that a process of internalization has taken place.

For moral realism to evolve into moral subjectivism, the individual must possess reasonable intelligence and, simultaneously, receive reasoned and moral cooperation from adults. If these conditions are met, the child will successfully progress from heteronomy to moral autonomy.

• • From retributive justice to equitable justice

According to Piaget, the concept of justice evolves from retributive to equitable justice and is acquired through cooperation and reciprocity. Up to the age of eight, children consider it just that punishment should be as severe as possible, whereas as they progress toward equitable justice, punishment should not be coercive but restorative.

She also investigated children's perceptions of collective punishment. Up to the age of eight, they consider it reasonable and fair, while from that age onward, they consider it unfair, since the injustice of punishing the innocent is greater than leaving the guilty unpunished.  

Therefore, between the ages of 7 and 8, justice is subordinated to the vision of adults; between the ages of 8 and 11, egalitarianism advances progressively, and from age 11 onwards, egalitarianism transforms into equity.

Piaget's theory is often referred to moral cognitivism This is because he believes that moral judgment in childhood progresses due to the development of intelligence and moral development, as necessary elements, and in interaction with parental and environmental pressures and social learning. He repeatedly emphasizes that the core of moral development lies in cooperative actions and mutual respect.

3. 3. Criticisms of Jean Piaget's theory

• • It would overvalue cognitive aspects at the expense of motivational ones and does not take into account the capacity for self-control as a regulatory variable.

• • It does not sufficiently consider the variability between subjects.

• • Social learning theorists criticize his model for being excessively irreversible and unidirectional.

• • More attention should have been paid to the underlying processes in the transition from heteronomy to autonomy.

• • From a methodological standpoint, it is criticized for equating cognition with its verbalization. In other words, a child can think something different from what the moral norm demands and, for obvious reasons, respond as to how it should be done.

However, what is universally accepted is that moral development would be the result of the interaction of the child's cognitive-evolutionary characteristics and social learning.

Next post:Moral development and decision-making in childhood. 2) Lawrence Kohlberg