ABSTRACT
Cognitive-developmental theory posits that a primary environmental stimulus for moral development is discussion of differences in moral reasoning between individuals. Johnson and Johnson (1979) called such discussion “controversy” and defined it as existing “… when one person’s ideas, information, conclusions, theories or opinion are incompatible with those of another person and the two seek to reach an agreement” (p. 52). Controversy can stimulate cognitive conflict within an individual. Cognitive conflict is considered to be a precondition of moral development and exists when “two incompatible ideas exist simultaneously within an [individual’s] mind and must be reconciled” (p. 52). At issue in this chapter is the relationship between moral controversy in the home and change in adolescent moral reasoning throughout the high school years.
