Title

A Study of Moral Reasoning in Young Adult Literature

Author

Millie Jensen, University of Northern Iowa

Availability

Open Access Graduate Research Paper

Abstract

A moral dimension is often intrinsic to YA literature because it is concerned with the problems of youth. This study examines the moral reasoning of teenage protagonists by applying the theory of Lawrence Kohlberg to the analysis of a sample of twelve books drawn from YASD's "Best of the Best Books--1970-1982" list. The sample was structured to provide comparison between type of book (realistic fiction and fantasy/ science fiction), sex of author, and sex and age of protagonist. Analysis was made by assigning a numerical score corresponding to Kohlberg's six developmental stages to six incidents from each book and statistically comparing the scores.

Find Additional Related Research in UNI ScholarWorks

To find related research in UNI ScholarWorks, go to the collection of School Library Studies Graduate Research Papers written by students in the Division of School Library Studies, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, at the University of Northern Iowa.

Year of Submission

1985

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Library Science

First Advisor

Elizabeth Martin

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this graduate research paper and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit an email request to scholarworks@uni.edu. Include your name and clearly identify the thesis by full title and author as shown on the work.

Date Original

1985

Object Description

1 PDF file (ii, 68 pages)

Copyright

©1985 Millie Jensen

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Jensen, Millie, "A Study of Moral Reasoning in Young Adult Literature" (1985). Graduate Research Papers. 3159.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/grp/3159