Educational Media Reviews Online

In this brief video, Elliot Turiel, a professor in UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education, introduces the viewer to the last 100 years of research on morality. Turiel begins by summarizing the work of Freud, B. F. Skinner, Jean Piaget, and Lawrence Kohlberg. The treatment revolves around three topics: the universality of morality, the relation between moral judgment and action, and the development of moral reasoning. Turiel then discusses these topics in the light of his own research with children and families. Finally, Turiel distinguishes among the personal, conventional, and moral decision-making arenas, each of which impinges on the other.

The technical quality is good. The organization is clear, the approach is methodical, and the interviews and playground scenes liven up the whole (though some students may still find it a bit dry). The footage from Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiments in the 1960’s is particularly interesting.

This is a concise, solid presentation. Whether or not one finds Turiel’s own contribution illuminating, it is good discussion material. Combined with the research of the four social scientists listed above, it provides a very good introduction to the secularized study of morality. A useful addition to libraries supporting classes in the social sciences, especially psychology.