Adolescence is an important time for development of moral reasoning and behavior.

Adolescence is an important time for development of moral reasoning and behavior. Piaget and Kohlberg provided two important theoretical perspectives that explain the development of moral reasoning. Piaget found that a child’s idea regarding rules, moral judgments, and punishment changes as they grow older. Kohlberg developed levels of moral reasoning that occur during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

Your aunt and uncle are concerned about whether their teenage children, your cousins, will develop into moral adults. They ask you about adolescent moral development and, in particular, they want to know what they should expect in regard to moral behavior for their adolescents. They want to know what they can do to ensure the healthy moral development of their children during adolescence. They are also specifically concerned about whether there is a gap between moral reasoning and moral behavior.