Tentative Findings on Children’s Attitudes, Perceptions and Responses to Accidental Incidents of Non-Intentional Acts

Abstract

This paper focuses on accidental incidents where there is no intention to misbehave/disobey. The children respond to projective material depicting children having accidents with no malice or forethought. The children’s reactions are discussed in light of their developmental stages as outlined by Piaget and Inhelder (1968) and Kohlberg (1976). The acts depicted are accidental, and should not provoke punishment. The results indicating punishment will be carefully scrutinised; in view of the linkage that exists between child abuse acts; the lack of differentiation that exists between types of misbehaviour that are unlikely to convey the fundamentals, which are a prerequisite for the development of moral judgement.