Two moral orientations in men and women‟s reasoning about moral dilemmas have dominated the literature: an orientation to rights, fairness, and justice and another based on care, compassion and concern for others. It is widely accepted that exposure to violence has a number of adverse effects on children and adolescents‟ psychosocial development. Recent research has begun to explore whether, and how, exposure to violence impacts on moral development. Studies examining the nature of this association, however, have yielded contradictory results. While there is evidence to suggest that exposure to violence adversely affects moral development, it has also been shown that exposure to violence simply influences which moral reasoning style is likely to predominate – justice or care. Beginning with a brief review of moral development theories and of the psychosocial effects of exposure to violence, the present research explored the association between exposure to violence and moral development. This study aimed to determine whether there is an association between gender, moral orientation, and exposure to violence. Based on the literature, it was hypothesised that men would exhibit a justice moral orientation, while women would exhibit a moral orientation based on care. Further, it was expected that men would show higher levels of exposure to violence than women. Exposure to violence was expected to be significantly positively correlated with justice reasoning. A significant association was anticipated between gender, exposure to violence and moral orientation. In particular, it was hypothesised that greater exposure to violence would have an adverse effect on moral development. This association, in turn, was expected to be significantly related to gender. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The transformation of South African society since 1994 provides a suitable opportunity to investigate moral development amongst undergraduate students in the Western Cape. The Ethic of Care Interview (ECI), a measure based on Carol Gilligan's theory of gender-related moral development and designed by Skoe and Marcia (1991), was administered to 26 undergraduate university students from three universities. The Mann-Whitney distribution-free test was used to analyse the data. From these findings it appears that young South Africans are struggling to make ethical decisions based on care for self and other; however, black females were found to score at significantly higher levels than any other group on the ECI. There were no other significant differences across gender or interview type (conscious and unconscious). Reasons for results obtained are discussed and suggestions for future research made. Finally, the ethic of care is considered in terms of its potential value for the present context. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die transformasie van die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing sedert 1994 bied 'n ideale geleentheid om morele ontwikkeling onder voorgraadse studente in die Wes-Kaap te ondersoek. Die "Ethic of Care" (ECl) onderhoud, 'n meet-instrument gebaseer op Carol Gilligan se teorie van geslagsverwante morele ontwikkeling, en ontwerp deur Skoe en Marcia (1991), is op 26 voorgraadse studente van drie universiteite toegepas. Die Mann-Whitney distribusie-vrye toets is gebruik om die data te analiseer. Van uit hierdie ondersoekbevindings blyk dit dat jeugdige Suid-Afrikaners dit moeilik vind om moreel etiese besluite, rakende dit etiek van omgee, ondervind; maar daar is bevind dat swart vroue beduidend hoër tellings op die ECl behaal het as enige ander groep. Daar was geen beduidende verskille tussen geslagte (mans en vroue) of tipe onderhoud (bewustelik en tydens hipnose) nie. Moontlike redes vir die bevindinge word bespreek en voorstelle vir toekomstige navorsing word gemaak. Ten slotte word die potensiële waarde van die "Ethic of Care" vir die huidige konteks, ondersoek.

A. The Aims The modern adolescent is frequently accused of being morally lax; his judgement of moral issues is held in question; and parents, church and school are accused of having lost their influence on present-day youth. The writer wes lnterested in finding out whether these accusations could in fact be substantiated amongst a sample of adolescent school-children in a selected urban area. The aims of the research, therefore, were as follows :- (i) to investigate the judgement of these adolescents in certain given areas of moral behaviour, (ii) to determine whether there were any appreciable differences between the Afrikaans-speaking and English-speaking adolescents of the sample in their judgements of these moral issues, (iii) to determine whether there were any appreciable differences between adolescent boys and girls of the sample in their judgement of these moral issues, (iv) to explore the influences which caused the tested adolescents to re-act as they did.

Text in English / With the start of democracy in South Africa and the end of the legal Apartheid rule, it became apparent to those who identified the church with the liberation struggle that Christian communities had lost their significance in society today. This feeling, although not popular among theologians, became widely held by those who thought that we had arrived politically. This feeling was also supported by views which felt that democracy was the ultimate human form of governance. In this light, it is conceivable for churches to abandon the struggle because of the irrelevance of agitating a form of government that is affirmed and celebrated globally. Also, it became justified to abandon the struggle, if indeed the struggle was against Apartheid, because the enemy had been defeated. Consequently, this meant a withdrawal from siding with those whose rights were marginalised. Such an abrupt withdrawal from championing the rights of those who are marginalised (especially as displayed by the church during the Apartheid era) also raises many concerns pertaining to the role that the churches ought to be playing in the current democratic dispensation. It is also conceivable that the initiative to struggle against Apartheid was motivated only by the fact that the Apartheid regime was unjust and that it discriminated against certain groups of South African citizens. The attainment of liberation in South Africa has plunged churches into an illusion that democratic states are capable of good governance and that when such a government exists, churches can safely concern themselves with their primary ecclesiastical duties—of preaching the Word of God and administering the sacraments and leave the socio-economic and political affairs to those who are governing. It seems that this view is especially prevalent among the constituency of the church that brought forward a theological confession against the theological legitimacy granted to the Apartheid ideology. To unapologetically declare its association with those on the margins, and to defy Apartheid for the evil that it was, this church brought about the Belhar Confession as proof of its allegiance to those on the margins. This study shall confine itself to the realm of the Christian community. It will look to the historicity of the URCSA precisely because it has been bold enough to pen a confession that chastised Apartheid. / Philosophy & Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Theological ethics)

Text in English / With the start of democracy in South Africa and the end of the legal Apartheid rule, it became apparent to those who identified the church with the liberation struggle that Christian communities had lost their significance in society today. This feeling, although not popular among theologians, became widely held by those who thought that we had arrived politically. This feeling was also supported by views which felt that democracy was the ultimate human form of governance. In this light, it is conceivable for churches to abandon the struggle because of the irrelevance of agitating a form of government that is affirmed and celebrated globally. Also, it became justified to abandon the struggle, if indeed the struggle was against Apartheid, because the enemy had been defeated. Consequently, this meant a withdrawal from siding with those whose rights were marginalised. Such an abrupt withdrawal from championing the rights of those who are marginalised (especially as displayed by the church during the Apartheid era) also raises many concerns pertaining to the role that the churches ought to be playing in the current democratic dispensation. It is also conceivable that the initiative to struggle against Apartheid was motivated only by the fact that the Apartheid regime was unjust and that it discriminated against certain groups of South African citizens. The attainment of liberation in South Africa has plunged churches into an illusion that democratic states are capable of good governance and that when such a government exists, churches can safely concern themselves with their primary ecclesiastical duties—of preaching the Word of God and administering the sacraments and leave the socio-economic and political affairs to those who are governing. It seems that this view is especially prevalent among the constituency of the church that brought forward a theological confession against the theological legitimacy granted to the Apartheid ideology. To unapologetically declare its association with those on the margins, and to defy Apartheid for the evil that it was, this church brought about the Belhar Confession as proof of its allegiance to those on the margins. This study shall confine itself to the realm of the Christian community. It will look to the historicity of the URCSA precisely because it has been bold enough to pen a confession that chastised Apartheid. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Theological ethics)

PhD (African Studies) / Department of African Studies / Moral degeneration is rampant among the youth across the globe. Juvenile delinquency and diversified social ills are prevalent and manifesting moral degeneration among the youth. This study sought to explore youth moral degeneration at Makuya area in the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study is qualitative and exploratory in nature. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used to select twenty-eight research participants comprised of the parents, educators, youth, religious leaders, traditional leaders, social workers and SAPS officials. Data was collected using unstructured face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions to gain insights of youth moral degeneration challenges. The narrative analysis method was used to analyse and interpret data. The study found that moral degeneration among the youth at Makuya area is rife and is exemplified by the high rate of teenage pregnancies, teen parenthood, school dropout, alcohol and substance abuse, bullying trends, vandalism and other criminal acts committed by the youth in the Makuya area. The study recommended the use of a multi-pronged comprehensive youth moral regeneration strategy which emphasises the restoration, among the others, humanness, love, discipline, integrity, respect for authority, promotion of accountability and responsibility. / NRF

The researcher proposes working toward a more integrated approach of faith formation in the local church - where one's immediate family plays the central role and the congregation as the extended family functions as a support system. The church as family becomes a community where faith formation is continually nurtured as a lifelong process and by means of all the ministries of the church. The conscious furthering of faith formation should, therefore, not be confined to the ambit of the Sunday School. Its target group cannot be limited to children and adolescents, but should be be broadened to include the adult members, thus serving the totality of the congregation. The researcher proposes an approach where the different generations are not separated in the process of faith formation, but become an integrated learning community where all the different age groups and generations learn from each other and with each other. / Die navorser stel `n meer geïntegreerde benadering tot geloofsvorming binne die plaaslike gemeente voor - waar die gesin of familie die sentrale rol speel en die gemeente as geloofsfamilie as `n ondersteunende sisteem funksioneer. Die gemeente as familie word `n leergemeenskap waar geloofsvorming `n lewenslange proses is en plaasvind binne al die bedienings van die gemeente. Die navorser stel voor dat geloofsvorming nie net beperk moet word tot die tradisionele kategese of "Sondagskool" wat grootliks gerig is op kinders en adolessente nie, maar verbreed moet word om alle gelowiges van alle ouderdomme in te sluit en so die gemeente as geloofsfamilie te dien. Die navorser stel `n benadering voor waar die verskillende generasies nie van mekaar geskei word in die proses van geloofsvorming nie, maar `n geïntegreerde leergemeenskap vorm waar al die verskillende ouderdomsgroepe en generasies saam met mekaar, asook by mekaar kan leer. / Social work / M. Diac. (Youth Work)

Ten spyte daarvan dat die meeste skoolgaande jongmense in die Ned Geref Kerk kategese deurloop, en self in die finale jaar van kategese, word daar nie veel aandag aan lewenstories van die katkisante geskenk nie. Hierdie studie oor geloofsontwikkeling by `n groep katkisante word gedoen vanuit pastoraal teologiese perspektief en `n sosiale konstruksieteorie diskoers. Oor `n tydperk van `n jaar is daar deur middel van kwalitatiewe navorsing `n proses gevolg met `n finalejaarsgroep van nege-en-twintig katkisante met die doel om geloofsontwikkeling te laat plaasvind, deur aandag aan hulle geloofsverhale te gee met die oog op die skryf van `n eie geloofsbelydenis. Na die tyd is oor die proses gereflekteer. Drie aspekte het die studie gerig. Die konteks waarbinne die studie plaasgevind het, wat bestaan uit die gemeente, breër samelewing, paradigmas, verbande en verhoudinge waarbinne die proses plaasgevind het. Die inhoud van die kategese, wat deelnemend gekonstrueer was. Die groep van nege-en-twintig jongmense wat met finalejaarkategese besig was, word binne konteks betrek by deelnemende pastorale kategese. My metode was om binne die gemeente, in die kategese, `n ruimte te skep waarbinne die katkisante deelnemend die kategetiese proses gekonstrueer het. Sodoende sou die klem op deelname val wat die hooffokus van die studie is. Die aandag wat daar aan die katkisante se lewensverhale gegee word maak die narratiewe diskoers relevant vir hierdie studie. Kategese binne hierdie studie het 'n deelnemende karakter. Die volgende benaderings het die deelnemende karakter ondersteun. Die kategesepraktyk skuif na `n pastorale benadering. Die leerinhoude se klem verskuif na verhoudings. Die kategetiese inhoud word sosiaal gekonstrueer. Despite the fact that most youth from the Dutch Reformed Church are of school going age during their final year of catechism, insufficient attention is given to the life stories of these young people. My research project on faith development with a group of young people involved in catechism was shaped by a pastoral theological perspective and a social constructionist discourse. Over a period of a year a process of qualitative research was conducted with a group of twenty-nine young conformants. The aim was to encourage faith development by given attention to their faith stories with the intention for them to write their own confessions of faith. Afterwards the process was reflected on. The study was guided by three themes. The context in which the study was conducted, consisted of the congregation, society at large, paradigms and relationships in which the process took place. The context of the catechism was conducted is a participatory manner. The third theme was the group of twenty-nine young people that participated in their final year of catechism in which the context of participatory pastoral catechism was focused on. The approach that was followed, was create space within the congregation for catechism to be conducted in a participatory manner with the twenty-nine young participants. In this way participation which is the main focus of this study is accentuated. The attention to the life stories of these young people makes the narrative discourse relevant to the study. Catechism according to this study has a participatory character that is supported by the following approaches. The practice of catechism shifts to a pastoral approach. The content of the catechism shifts to relationships. The content of the catechism becomes socially constructed. / Practial Theology / D. Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

The researcher proposes working toward a more integrated approach of faith formation in the local church - where one's immediate family plays the central role and the congregation as the extended family functions as a support system. The church as family becomes a community where faith formation is continually nurtured as a lifelong process and by means of all the ministries of the church. The conscious furthering of faith formation should, therefore, not be confined to the ambit of the Sunday School. Its target group cannot be limited to children and adolescents, but should be be broadened to include the adult members, thus serving the totality of the congregation. The researcher proposes an approach where the different generations are not separated in the process of faith formation, but become an integrated learning community where all the different age groups and generations learn from each other and with each other. / Die navorser stel `n meer geïntegreerde benadering tot geloofsvorming binne die plaaslike gemeente voor - waar die gesin of familie die sentrale rol speel en die gemeente as geloofsfamilie as `n ondersteunende sisteem funksioneer. Die gemeente as familie word `n leergemeenskap waar geloofsvorming `n lewenslange proses is en plaasvind binne al die bedienings van die gemeente. Die navorser stel voor dat geloofsvorming nie net beperk moet word tot die tradisionele kategese of "Sondagskool" wat grootliks gerig is op kinders en adolessente nie, maar verbreed moet word om alle gelowiges van alle ouderdomme in te sluit en so die gemeente as geloofsfamilie te dien. Die navorser stel `n benadering voor waar die verskillende generasies nie van mekaar geskei word in die proses van geloofsvorming nie, maar `n geïntegreerde leergemeenskap vorm waar al die verskillende ouderdomsgroepe en generasies saam met mekaar, asook by mekaar kan leer. / Social work / M. Diac. (Youth Work)

Ten spyte daarvan dat die meeste skoolgaande jongmense in die Ned Geref Kerk kategese deurloop, en self in die finale jaar van kategese, word daar nie veel aandag aan lewenstories van die katkisante geskenk nie. Hierdie studie oor geloofsontwikkeling by `n groep katkisante word gedoen vanuit pastoraal teologiese perspektief en `n sosiale konstruksieteorie diskoers. Oor `n tydperk van `n jaar is daar deur middel van kwalitatiewe navorsing `n proses gevolg met `n finalejaarsgroep van nege-en-twintig katkisante met die doel om geloofsontwikkeling te laat plaasvind, deur aandag aan hulle geloofsverhale te gee met die oog op die skryf van `n eie geloofsbelydenis. Na die tyd is oor die proses gereflekteer. Drie aspekte het die studie gerig. Die konteks waarbinne die studie plaasgevind het, wat bestaan uit die gemeente, breër samelewing, paradigmas, verbande en verhoudinge waarbinne die proses plaasgevind het. Die inhoud van die kategese, wat deelnemend gekonstrueer was. Die groep van nege-en-twintig jongmense wat met finalejaarkategese besig was, word binne konteks betrek by deelnemende pastorale kategese. My metode was om binne die gemeente, in die kategese, `n ruimte te skep waarbinne die katkisante deelnemend die kategetiese proses gekonstrueer het. Sodoende sou die klem op deelname val wat die hooffokus van die studie is. Die aandag wat daar aan die katkisante se lewensverhale gegee word maak die narratiewe diskoers relevant vir hierdie studie. Kategese binne hierdie studie het 'n deelnemende karakter. Die volgende benaderings het die deelnemende karakter ondersteun. Die kategesepraktyk skuif na `n pastorale benadering. Die leerinhoude se klem verskuif na verhoudings. Die kategetiese inhoud word sosiaal gekonstrueer. Despite the fact that most youth from the Dutch Reformed Church are of school going age during their final year of catechism, insufficient attention is given to the life stories of these young people. My research project on faith development with a group of young people involved in catechism was shaped by a pastoral theological perspective and a social constructionist discourse. Over a period of a year a process of qualitative research was conducted with a group of twenty-nine young conformants. The aim was to encourage faith development by given attention to their faith stories with the intention for them to write their own confessions of faith. Afterwards the process was reflected on. The study was guided by three themes. The context in which the study was conducted, consisted of the congregation, society at large, paradigms and relationships in which the process took place. The context of the catechism was conducted is a participatory manner. The third theme was the group of twenty-nine young people that participated in their final year of catechism in which the context of participatory pastoral catechism was focused on. The approach that was followed, was create space within the congregation for catechism to be conducted in a participatory manner with the twenty-nine young participants. In this way participation which is the main focus of this study is accentuated. The attention to the life stories of these young people makes the narrative discourse relevant to the study. Catechism according to this study has a participatory character that is supported by the following approaches. The practice of catechism shifts to a pastoral approach. The content of the catechism shifts to relationships. The content of the catechism becomes socially constructed. / Practial Theology / D. Th. (Pastoral Therapy)