Emotions, Aggression, and Morality in Children Bridging Development and Psychopathology

by Arsenio, William F.; Lemerise, Elizabeth A.

• ISBN13: 9781433807640
• ISBN10: 1433807645
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-04-15
• Publisher: American Psychological Association

Summary

Why do some children's emerging affective tendencies and abilities make them more aggressive over time, while similar processes make most children less aggressive and more morally mature? Furthermore, what kinds of interventions are effective for altering these pathways? To answer these critical questions, this book takes a unique, integrative approach in two important ways. First, it integrates the psychopathology perspective with the developmental perspective, arguing that aggression and morality are two sides of the same basic developmental story. Second, it integrates research on cognitive processes with research on emotional processes. Drawing largely from social information processing and moral domain theories, the chapters demonstrate how early affective experiences and relationships provide a foundation for children's subsequent social cognitive understanding of victimization, harm, and moral intentionality. The book consists of three parts. Part I provides theoretical foundations, including the role of emotion in early conscience, empathic tendencies, and how principles of fairness and concern emerge from early parent-child and peer-peer interactions. Part II discusses factors influencing aggression and morality, from neuroscience to culture. Part III discusses implications for assessment and intervention. Bringing together a number of international scholars, this book will appeal to all researchers, clinicians, educators, and policy experts interested in understanding how emotions affect the development of children's morality and aggression.

Author Biography

William F. Arsenio, PhD, was a preschool teacher and early education advocate before beginning his graduate studies in psychology and child development. He received his doctoral degree from Stanford University in 1986, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at University of California, Berkeley. He is currently professor of psychology and director of clinical research training at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York.
 
Dr. Arsenio is a fellow of the American Psychological Association. He has served on the editorial boards of Human Development and was a consulting editor for the Child Development monographs. He is currently an associate editor for Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, a consulting editor for Child Development, and an editorial board member for Early Education and Development and Merrill-Palmer Quarterly.
 
Dr. Arsenio is interested in how children and adolescents' affective tendencies and abilities influence their social competence, moral development, and aggression. An additional focus is on young children's affective competence and its connection with school adjustment and academic performance.
 
Elizabeth A. Lemerise, PhD, received her doctoral degree from The New School for Social Research in 1988, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University. She is currently University Distinguished Professor of Psychology and director of the Social Development Laboratory at Western Kentucky University.
 
Dr. Lemerise is a coeditor of Social Development and was an editorial consultant for Child Development.
 
She is interested in how different kinds of emotion processes influence children's social information processing, with a focus on comparing the social information processing of children who vary in social adjustment. Additionally, Dr. Lemerise is interested in how children's participation in friend and enemy relationships influences their adjustment and social cognition.
 

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. ix
Introduction: An Integrative Approach to Emotions, Aggression, and Morality	p. 3
Theoretical Foundations	p. 11
Emotion in Early Conscience	p. 13
Taking Emotions Seriously: The Role of Emotions in Moral Development	p. 33
Rage, Revenge, and Precious Pride: Emotions in Information Processing by Children With Aggressive Behavior Problems	p. 53
Integrating Emotion Attributions, Morality, and Aggression: Research and Theoretical Foundations	p. 75
From Neuroscience to Culture: Factors Influencing Aggression and Morality	p. 95
Empathy, Moral Development, and Aggression: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective	p. 97
Empathy-Related Responding and Moral Development	p. 115
Callous-Unemotional Traits and Aggression in Youth	p. 137
Emotions and Social Information Processing: Implications for Understanding Aggressive (and Nonaggressive) Children	p. 157
The Development of Moral Emotions in a Cultural Context	p. 177
Assessment, Interventions, and Clinical Perspectives	p. 199
The Role of Anger in Children's Reactive Versus Proactive Aggression: Review of Findings, Issues of Measurement, and Implications for Intervention	p. 201
The Etiology of Youth Violence: A Cognitive-Emotional Model	p. 219
The Coping Power Program for Anger and Aggression in Children: Targeting Arousal and Cognition	p. 239
Index	p. 259
About the Editors	p. 269
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