The Relationship between Adjudicated Adolescents' Definitions of 'Snitching' and Moral Development

Over the last decade, the phenomenon of "Stop Snitching" spread across many communities across the country. The basic sentiment of "no snitching" encourages community members not to cooperate with authority figures. However, recent research suggests that the "no snitching" sentiment has expanded outside the legal realm and into schools, homes and various social domains. Law enforcement agencies have labeled the "no snitching" attitudes as a problem and some have identified erosion of moral values as an explanation for the prevalence of the "no snitching" sentiment among today's youth. This study examined the relationship between moral reasoning and the definition of "snitching" among twenty (20) adjudicated adolescent males in the Southeast Region, Massachusetts. Participants were administered the Moral Judgment Test (MJT), developed by Lind (2009), and The Snitching Scenarios Questionnaire, developed by the author of this study. Results of the study indicated that adjudicated adolescents in this sample applied the term "snitching" to a broad range of social situations and interpersonal interactions, far beyond the narrow definition that is most commonly accepted. Further, analysis of data revealed no significant correlations between moral reasoning measures obtained on the MJT and scored obtained on The Snitching Scenarios Questionnaire. Implications for the field of psychology and recommendations for future research are presented.