Moral Development in Culture: Diversity, Tolerance, and Justice

The propositions that persons develop in cultures and that cultural arrangements frame their moral lives are not controversial. Deep disagreements do exist, however, concerning what cultures are like and what it means to say that culture frames moral development. Divergent views on these issues translate, in turn, into critically different understandings of the nature of the diversity of moral experiences across cultures. The perspective on moral development in culture presented in this chapter is grounded on a developmental theory that posits that persons develop moral and other social concepts within their culture through participation in and reflection on social interactions of different kinds (Turiel, 1983; 1998a). This perspective is also informed by contemporary scholarship in cultural anthropology (Abu-Lughod, 1991; Wikan, 1991) positing that cultures are historical constructs created and sustained in the context of collaborations, disagreements, power clashes, and contested meanings among individuals—men and women, adults and children, haves and have nots. This view holds that cultures do not have the power to make people feel, think, or act certain ways; they are multifaceted environments offering opportunities for diverse kinds of social interactions. Persons, including children, are capable of reflecting on social interactions embedded in the practices and traditions of their culture; disagreements about what is right or valuable are common. Rather than being products of their culture and exchangeable copies of other members of their culture, people in cultures “are confronted with choices, struggle with others, make conflicting statements, argue about points of view on the same events, undergo ups and downs in various relationships and changes in their circumstances and desires, face new pressures,