FAMILY PROCESSES AS PREDICTORS OF ADOLESCENTS PREFERENCES FOR ASCRIBED SOURCES OF MORAL AUTHORITY - A PROPOSED MODEL

This paper develops a model of the family's role in the moralization o f the adolescent. To achieve this aim, the Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems (Olson, Sprenkle, & Russell, 1979; Olson, 1983) pr ovides the theoretical framework. needed to identify levels of adaptab ility, cohesion, and communication within each family system. Once ide ntified, these family processes are treated as possible predictors of certain moral preferences, in particular, the number and type of sourc es of moral authority held by the adolescent. The notion ''source of m oral authority'' is based on Henry's (1983) reconceptualization of Koh lberg's stage theory of moral judgments. In Light of this, a new measu re, the Moral Authority Scale (MAS) has been developed to assess such adolescent preferences for different sources of moral authority. Overa ll, this unique approach identifies salient family processes as influe ncing adolescent moral reasoning by drawing together systems theory, c ognitive developmental, and psychosocial approaches and generating tes table predictions. In so doing, research needs and inadequacies of the current literature are highlighted and possible strategies to overcom e such problems are explicated.