A Comparative Application of Developmental Psychoanalytic Theories of Moral Development to Recent Literature Regarding Morality and Ethical Behavior in Female Adolescents

This dissertation critically reviewed and integrated research regarding moral development in female adolescents. The author utilized a theoretical lens based in identity and self developmental psychological literature as authored by Erik Erikson, Donald Winnicott, and Heinz Kohut. The author reviewed over one hundred sources of both articles and books which presented theories and research regarding the moral development and ethical behavior of female adolescents. Although written from a psychoanalytic perspective, this dissertation utilizes concepts and conclusions drawn from cognitive, behavioral, neurobiological, feminist, and socio-cultural theories and areas of research. With an integration of these sources, current empirically-validated research such as neurobiological findings on morality confirmed the relevance and importance of psychoanalytical models of moral development. Internalized relational experiences were found to impact an individual's sense of security, emphasis on engagement, and capacity for imagination, all of which influence her ability to navigate moral situations. This dissertation also concluded that many factors regarding the female adolescent experience within contemporary American culture are important in considering female adolescent moral development in addition to internalized relational experiences emphasized within psychoanalytic models of development.