The Structure of Moral Reasoning in Hearing-Impaired Students

Kohlberg's theory of moral development provided the conceptual framework for assessing the moral reasoning of 15 hearing-impaired students who ranged in age from 12 to 15 years, had an average hearing loss of greater than 100 dB in the better ear and had no other significant handicapping conditions. Four modified dilemmas from Kohlberg's Moral Judgement Instrument were administered. Each subject read a dilemma, was shown a corresponding videotaped dilemma in American Sign Language (ASL), and was then interviewed. Analyses indicated that the subjects reasoned at Stages 1 and 2 whereas, according to Kohlberg's norms, their hearing peers reasoned at Stages 2, 3, and 4. The subjects' weighted average scores for moral reasoning were correlated with their Reading Comprehension scores. A significant positive correlation (r = .616; p = .01) was found. The findings indicate that moral reasoning is related to language development.