The Culture of Morality
Social Development, Context, and Conflict

A thought-provoking explanation of how social and moral development inform our understandings of morality and culture.

Elliot Turiel (Author)

9780521808330, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 April 2002

336 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.66 kg

"Overall, this volume is a strong and substantial addition to the field of moral development...The interdisciplinary nature of the work is applauded both for its implementation and effectiveness. The text will be of interest and use to students and researchers in a variety of fields concerned with how morality exists and evolves."
--Aaron Cooley, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Educational Research Quarterly

A thought-provoking examination of how explanations of social and moral development inform our understandings of morality and culture. A common theme in the latter part of the twentieth century has been to lament the moral state of American society and the decline of morality among youth. A sharp turn toward an extreme form of individualism and a lack of concern for community involvement and civic participation are often blamed for the moral crisis. Turiel challenges these views, drawing on a large body of research from developmental psychology, anthropology, sociology as well as social events, political movements, and journalistic accounts of social and political struggles. Turiel shows that generation after generation has lamented the decline of society and blamed young people. Using historical accounts, he persuasively argues that such characterizations of moral decline entail stereotyping, nostalgia for times past, and a failure to recognize the moral viewpoint of those who challenge traditions.

1. Introduction
2. Striving for community
3. Discontents revisited
4. Social judgments and social contexts
5. The development of moral and social judgments
6. Social thought and social action
7. Social harmony and social conflict
8. Justice, heterogeneity, and cultural practices
9. Social hierarchy, subordination, and human capabilities
10. Perspectives on cultural practices: more than one
11. Subversion in everyday life
12. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC]