Assignment of Moral Responsibility and Punishment

Abstract

SHULTZ, THOMAS R.; WRIGHT, KEVIN; and SCHLEIFER, MICHAEL. Assignment of Moral Responsibility and Punishment. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1986, 57, 177-184. A theory of the assignment of moral responsibility and punishment for harm was tested with children 5-11 years of age. The results indicated a fairly sophisticated use of a variety of moral concepts by children from 5 years of age. They showed evidence of knowing that judgments of moral responsibility are presupposed by judgments of punishment and that causal judgments are presupposed by moral responsibility judgments. They also used information on intention and negligence to assign moral responsibility and information on restitution to assign punishment. Developmental trends included an increasing sensitivity to these concepts, greater tolerance for harm doing, and more emphasis on restitution rather than punishment with increasing age.