NCJ Number
99979
Journal
Journal of Offender Counseling Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: (October 1985) Pages: 18-24
Date Published
1985
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Moral development of ex-offenders living in a halfway house was studied using results from the Defining Issues Test and the Moral Judgment Interview given at the beginning and completion of an intensive 4-month counseling program.
Abstract
The sample consisted of 2 women -- 1 black, 1 white -and 14 men, 2 of which were black. The mean age was 31. Internal checks on participant reliability invalidated eight protocols. Data from the other eight subjects constituted the analysis. Five subjects showed increases in principled morality scores, one was unchanged, and two showed decreases. Three levels of moral development, each with two stages, were employed for developmental measurement. For the group as a whole, there was movement from an instrumental-relativist orientation (Stage 2) to a conventional level of moral development (Stages 3 and 4). The subjects' moral stage percentage scores showed an increase of 9.39 from pretest to posttest. Results suggest that counseling in combination with exposure to moral dilemmas (in the form of the pretest) can enhance ex-offender moral development. Sixteen references are cited, and two tables present data.