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ERIC Number: EJ829433
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0020-7187
EISSN: N/A
Religion, Rule of Law, or the Family Honour? Moral Commitment among Lebanese Children
Ghosn, Irma-Kaarina
International Journal of Early Childhood, v41 n1 p69-86 2009
The present study examined the moral development of Lebanese 1st graders. Interviews with sixty-three Lebanese children (28 girls and 35 boys, ages 6-7.5) were analysed for the study. The children (25 Christian and 38 Muslim) were interviewed about moral dilemmas children of this age might encounter in their daily life. The data revealed that children's reasoning differed based on the content of the dilemma, with both Kohlberg's justice-focused morality and Gilligan's care-focused morality evident. Both boys and girls considered emotions and relationships equally. When children's responses were categorized into Kohlberg's four moral orientations (normative, utilitarian, harmony-serving, justice), the majority of responses reflected normative orientation, while the three other orientations were also represented. Second level analysis showed that Lebanese children's moral decisions were also guided by the cultural constructs of "wajibat" (social duties/obligations) and "sharaf" (honour), with religion and concern for the rule of law also appearing in their responses. (Contains 1 figure, 3 tables and 1 footnote.)
OMEP: Organisation Mondiale pour l'Education Prescolaire. Goteborg University, Department of Education, Box 300, Goteborg, SE-40530, Sweden. Tel: +46-317-732461; Fax: +46-317-732391; Web site: http://www.ped.gu.se/users/pramling/ijec/index.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 1
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Lebanon
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A