Fathers' Absence and Moral Development of Male Delinquents

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between their fathers' absence and moral development, 40 urban adolescent males adjudicated as delinquents were randomly selected from a Juvenile Court population. 20 of them came from families in which fathers were absent and 20 lived with fathers present. Both groups were administered Form B of Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Interview. Statistical comparisons of the mean moral maturity scores suggested that male delinquents whose fathers were present attained higher moral maturity scores than those whose fathers were absent.