The impact of political conflict on moral maturity: a cross-national perspective

Abstract

This cross-national study of moral reasoning among adolescents in Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, addresses the problem of possible moral truncation in Northern Ireland due to the political conflict. The Sociomoral Reflection Measure-Short Form (SRM-SF; Gibbs et al. (1992) Moral Maturity: Measuring the Development of Sociomoral Reflection. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Erlbaum. was presented to a proportionate stratified sample of 14–15 year olds ( n=613) from three locations including a small town, large town and city in each country to control for urbanization. This adolescent sample consisted of participants from both of Northern Ireland's religious communities and was matched for age and sex. Analysis of the results suggested that despite the violent atmosphere over the last 30 years, the Northern Irish adolescents were not developmentally delayed in moral terms as previously feared (Fraser (1972) Special Education, 61 , 6–8; Fields (1973). A Society on the Run: A Psychology of Northern Ireland. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin; (1976) Northern Ireland: Society Under Siege. New Brunswick and London: Transaction Books; Lyons (1973) The Northern Teacher, 19–30) Copyright 2002 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.