- Values transmission and the relationship with the
authority.
- The concept of moral inclusion/exclusion.
- Responsibility, rights and duties: Education for democracy and
active citizenship.
Values transmission and the relationship with the
authority
Starting from a conceptualization of obedience to the
authority as a basis for the transmission of values, rules and
culture of a society and of disobedience as a basis for the
innovation and the changes in these values over time, this research
highlights how the relationship between change and tradition is
centered on a shared sense of responsibility among young people and
adults. How Benasayag and Schmit (2003) asserted, entering and
accepting the principle of authority, all the people accept their
belonging to the society as a responsibility that is expressed in
the possibility of transforming what was, is and will be and of
challenging the rules on condition to respect the continuity of
society. Focusing on the concepts of mutual listening and of
responsibility, this research analyzes the dynamics between the
concepts of constructive obedience and prosocial disobedience as
the basis for the evolution of society and culture, distinguishing
them from those aspects of obedience and disobedience involved in
the degeneration of the relationship of authority in an
authoritarian relationship.
The concept of moral exclusion/inclusion
Starting from the literature that has analyzed the concept
of moral exclusion, delegitimization and moral disengagement, this
research has focused on the construction of scales to analyze the
concept of moral inclusion and exclusion and on the application of
these scales to the study of moral reasoning and of moral identity.
Moral exclusion is defined as excluding other individuals or social
groups by one's own "moral community", i.e. considering those
people as outside the boundaries within which moral values and the
shared rules of justice and fairness generally apply. On the
contrary, the process of moral inclusion implies the extension of
social justice to groups that previously were excluded. As
demonstrated by recent authors, we all have finite limits for
justice. Our obligations - influenced by social conventions and
personal norms - are stronger for those individuals considered
psychologically "close." In this sense, moral exclusion is evident
in all the ordinary and common exclusions, such as hatred towards
immigrants and towards people of different cultures. In a period
where prejudice towards immigrants is often socially approved, the
application of this research is to create educational activities
through which – by discussing with adolescents and young adults
about the processes of moral inclusion/exclusion and about the
concept of distance/social proximity - people may become more aware
of the boundaries of justice and how these can be enlarged.
Responsibility, rights and duties: education for
democracy and active citizenship
In line with recent studies that have investigated the
complementary - rather than antagonistic - relationship between
individual rights and duties, this research is focused on the study
of social responsibility as a key concept of the link between the
individual and society. In particular, the importance of the
assumption of a role of active participation by the individual in
his/her relationships with society and its institutions and the
importance that education for democracy and for citizenship plays
in the promotion of the respect of everyone's rights and duties are
emphasized. The application intent is therefore to explore the ways
in which it is possible to create educational activities for
teenagers and young adults for the promotion of democratic and
active citizenship and focused on the understanding that the
respect for human rights depends on the individual assumption of
social responsibility.
