Level of Moral Reasoning Among African-American and Caucasian Domestic Violence Offenders Prior to Targeted Professional Intervention

• NCJ Number: 183796
• Journal: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 30 Issue: 1/2 Dated: 1999 Pages: 95-106
• Author(s): Frederick P. Buttell
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In an effort to improve intervention efforts with African-American batterers of intimate partners, a recent study explored the possible contribution of moral development as a unifying construct around which culturally relevant intervention strategies could be developed; the current study replicated this earlier study by investigating the level of moral reasoning of 55 adult men, 84 percent African-American, court-ordered into treatment for domestic violence offenses.

Abstract

Kohlberg's (1981, 1984) theory of moral reasoning has considerable potential for providing a theoretical basis for explaining battering and for developing intervention efforts that are relevant for both African-American and Caucasian offenders. Kohlberg's (1976) theory of moral development states that moral reasoning changes over time in predictable stages, moving from the simple (low) to the complex (high); the complex, or higher stages, are more adaptive and are different from the simple, lower stages. Kohlberg asserted that people prefer to reason at the highest level of which they are capable, because moral issues are resolved more effectively at a higher stage than they are at a lower stage. In the current study, 60 men arrested in Mobile county (Alabama) and ordered by the court into a Domestic Violence Intervention Program (treatment program) were recruited to participate in this study. Fifty-five of the men agreed to participate in the study. Data collection involved obtaining scores on the Defining Issues Test, which obtains information on how people think about social problems, thus operationalizing Kohlberg's interview method for assessing moral reasoning. Findings show that the entire sample of batterers was using a level of moral reasoning significantly lower than that of adults in general, and subgroup comparisons showed no significant differences between African-American participants and Caucasian participants on level of moral reasoning. The results of this research provide further empirical evidence for the importance of targeting moral development in intervention efforts with batterers. 3 tables and 28 references