CHAPTER 7 Self and Moral Development:
Middle Childhood Through Early Adolescence Honesty,
dependability, kindness, fairness, respect, self
-
control, truthfulness, an
d diligence. Rare is the adult
who would not agree that any one of these traits is desirable for children to attain. The advantage is
very basic: Behaving in accordance with these values makes the world a better place for everyone.
Certainly, individuals o
r groups might disagree on the particulars, such as what “being fair” may
mean in a given situation. But it is truly difficult to imagine any sizable group of parents, teachers, or
helpers who would promote the opposite values: meanness, laziness, dishones
ty, irresponsibility, or
disrespect, to name a few. Not too long ago in the United States, there was considerable agreement
that inculcating these values, virtues, or behavioral habits was perhaps the most important
responsibility that adults have relative
to their children. The public schools had as their express
purpose the creation of good citizens
—
people who, for the most part, valued and practiced these
virtues. Consider the advice educator Charles Davis presented in 1852 in a lecture to parents and
te
achers on their duties toward children: Education is the system of training which develops in their
right direction and in their proper proportions our physical, intellectual, and moral natures. . . . The
moral nature of the pupils will be, with the teache
r, a subject of earnest and constant solicitude.
What are the first things to be done? To establish his [the teacher’s] authority over his school
—
to
ensure the obedience of his scholars
—
to win their confidence
—
to gain their respect, and to call into
exerci
se their warmest affections. (Davis, 1852, pp. 6
–
8) Hiram Orcutt, writing in a famous manual to
parents in 1874, advises thus: The child must establish a character of integrity and to be trained to
habits of honesty, benevolence and industry or he will be
lost to himself and to society. . . . We may
not expect benevolence to spring up spontaneously in the heart of the child. . . . Without knowledge
and experience, the child cannot appreciate the rights and wants of others, nor his own duty in
regard to them
. (Orcutt, 1874, pp. 72
–
73) If this seems a bit quaint and outdated to you, consider the
fact that even today there is evidence for broad consensus among North American parents about
what they consider fundamental for children to achieve their life goals.
When David R. Shaffer and
his students asked young parents what they considered to be the most important aspect of a child’s
social development, most placed morality at the top of their lists (Shaffer, 2000). They apparently felt
that acquiring a moral sen
se and living by its dictates were critical for self
-
development and central
to successful adult functioning. Perhaps this consensus is shaped by our experience of the culture
we share. We are benumbed by the repetitious refrain that comes from all manner
of media
reporting on a world marred by violence, aggressiveness, hopelessness, underachievement, and
declining civility. Is something happening to the healthy moral and self
-
development we wish for our
children? As you might have already guessed, the issu
e is complex. The world is changing in many
ways at once and understanding how those changes affect our children’s development is among the
goals of developmental science. The answers researchers can make available have profound
significance for practice,
given helpers’ investment in their clients’ healthy development. In this
chapter and the next, we will introduce the topics that are fundamental to understanding social and
emotional development in middle and late childhood and provide some guidelines and
suggestions
for interventions. We pick up the discussion with the topic of the self. SELF
-
CONCEPT The
Development of Self
-
Concept Imagine that you live across the street from an empty lot. One day,
you notice that workers have placed piles of building mate
rials, bricks, lumber, and bags of concrete
on the property. After some time, the frame of a large, boxlike house takes the place of the piles of
materials. From your vantage point, you can see the empty beginnings of where rooms will be. With
more time, t
he internal structure becomes clear. Walls are assembled; doors and stairways connect
the parts. Each section of the new house
—
living, dining, bedroom, and storage areas
—
has multiple
divisions that provide useful space dedicated to some purpose. The dispar
ate piles have been
transformed into a coherent structure, and the once simple structure has become increasingly
complex. Finishing touches are made, and ongoing renovations will undoubtedly accompany the life
of the home. This image illustrates how Wester
n science explains the development of the self
CHAPTER 7 Self and Moral Development: Middle Childhood Through Early Adolescence Honesty,
dependability, kindness, fairness, respect, self-control, truthfulness, and diligence. Rare is the adult
who would not agree that any one of these traits is desirable for children to attain. The advantage is
very basic: Behaving in accordance with these values makes the world a better place for everyone.
Certainly, individuals or groups might disagree on the particulars, such as what “being fair” may
mean in a given situation. But it is truly difficult to imagine any sizable group of parents, teachers, or
helpers who would promote the opposite values: meanness, laziness, dishonesty, irresponsibility, or
disrespect, to name a few. Not too long ago in the United States, there was considerable agreement
that inculcating these values, virtues, or behavioral habits was perhaps the most important
responsibility that adults have relative to their children. The public schools had as their express
purpose the creation of good citizens—people who, for the most part, valued and practiced these
virtues. Consider the advice educator Charles Davis presented in 1852 in a lecture to parents and
teachers on their duties toward children: Education is the system of training which develops in their
right direction and in their proper proportions our physical, intellectual, and moral natures. . . . The
moral nature of the pupils will be, with the teacher, a subject of earnest and constant solicitude.
What are the first things to be done? To establish his [the teacher’s] authority over his school—to
ensure the obedience of his scholars—to win their confidence—to gain their respect, and to call into
exercise their warmest affections. (Davis, 1852, pp. 6–8) Hiram Orcutt, writing in a famous manual to
parents in 1874, advises thus: The child must establish a character of integrity and to be trained to
habits of honesty, benevolence and industry or he will be lost to himself and to society. . . . We may
not expect benevolence to spring up spontaneously in the heart of the child. . . . Without knowledge
and experience, the child cannot appreciate the rights and wants of others, nor his own duty in
regard to them. (Orcutt, 1874, pp. 72–73) If this seems a bit quaint and outdated to you, consider the
fact that even today there is evidence for broad consensus among North American parents about
what they consider fundamental for children to achieve their life goals. When David R. Shaffer and
his students asked young parents what they considered to be the most important aspect of a child’s
social development, most placed morality at the top of their lists (Shaffer, 2000). They apparently felt
that acquiring a moral sense and living by its dictates were critical for self-development and central
to successful adult functioning. Perhaps this consensus is shaped by our experience of the culture
we share. We are benumbed by the repetitious refrain that comes from all manner of media
reporting on a world marred by violence, aggressiveness, hopelessness, underachievement, and
declining civility. Is something happening to the healthy moral and self-development we wish for our
children? As you might have already guessed, the issue is complex. The world is changing in many
ways at once and understanding how those changes affect our children’s development is among the
goals of developmental science. The answers researchers can make available have profound
significance for practice, given helpers’ investment in their clients’ healthy development. In this
chapter and the next, we will introduce the topics that are fundamental to understanding social and
emotional development in middle and late childhood and provide some guidelines and suggestions
for interventions. We pick up the discussion with the topic of the self. SELF-CONCEPT The
Development of Self-Concept Imagine that you live across the street from an empty lot. One day,
you notice that workers have placed piles of building materials, bricks, lumber, and bags of concrete
on the property. After some time, the frame of a large, boxlike house takes the place of the piles of
materials. From your vantage point, you can see the empty beginnings of where rooms will be. With
more time, the internal structure becomes clear. Walls are assembled; doors and stairways connect
the parts. Each section of the new house—living, dining, bedroom, and storage areas—has multiple
divisions that provide useful space dedicated to some purpose. The disparate piles have been
transformed into a coherent structure, and the once simple structure has become increasingly
complex. Finishing touches are made, and ongoing renovations will undoubtedly accompany the life
of the home. This image illustrates how Western science explains the development of the self