Empathy and moral development : implications for caring and justice / Martin L. Hoffman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hoffman, Martin L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Moral development.

Empathy.

Physical Description:

x, 331 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Summary:

Contemporary theories have generally focused on the behavioral, cognitive, or emotional dimensions of prosocial moral development. In this volume, Martin L. Hoffman brings these three dimensions together while providing the first comprehensive account of prosocial moral development in children. The main concept is empathy -- one feels what is appropriate for another person's situation, not one's own. Hoffman discusses empathy's role in five moral situations: one harms someone, one is an innocent bystander, one blames oneself though innocent, one must choose which among several victims to help, or one is torn between contradictory caring and justice concerns. The book's focus is empathy's contribution to altruism and compassion for others in physical, psychological, or economic distress; feelings of guilt over harming someone; feelings of anger at others who do harm; feelings of injustice when others do not receive their due. Also highlighted are the psychological processes involved in empathy's interaction with certain parental behaviors that foster moral internalization in children and the psychological processes involved in empathy's relation to abstract moral principles such as caring and distributive justice. This important book is the culmination of three decades of study and research by a leading figure in the area of child and developmental psychology.

Contents:

Part I Innocent Bystander

2 Empathy, Its Arousal, and Prosocial Functioning 29

3 Development of Empathic Distress 63

4 Empathic Anger, Sympathy, Guilt, Feeling of Injustice 93

Part II Transgression

5 Guilt and Moral Internalization 113

6 From Discipline to Internalization 140

Part III Virtual Transgression

7 Relationship Guilt and Other Virtual Guilts 175

Part IV Is Empathy Enough?

8 Empathy's Limitations: Over-Arousal and Bias 197

Part V Empathy and Moral Principles

9 Interaction and Bonding of Empathy and Moral Principles 221

10 Development of Empathy-Based Justice Principles 250

11 Multiple-Claimant and Caring-Versus-Justice Dilemmas 263

Part VI Culture

12 The Universality and Culture Issue 273

Part VII Intervention

13 Implications for Socialization and Moral Education 287.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

052158034X

OCLC:

41311036