Abstract
The ability of adults to accurately perceive the differences in moral judgments of delinquent and non-delinquent adolescents was the primary purpose of this study. One hundred forty-six adult college students were randomly assigned to one of five experimental conditions and asked to complete Rest'sDefining Issues Test (DIT). In one condition, the participants were asked to respond to theDIT as themselves. For the remaining four conditions, participants were to take different perspectives. Results indicated that adults are capable of perceiving differences between the moral reasoning of delinquent and non-delinquent adolescents. Further, adults tend to recommend higher level moral arguments for presentation to delinquent adolescents than the perceived level of functioning of delinquents of this age level.
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Child Development and Family Relations and the Agricultural Experiment Station
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Mullis, R.L., Hanson, R.A. Adult judgments of delinquent and non-delinquent adolescent moral reasoning. Child Psych Hum Dev 14, 261–268 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00706039
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00706039