SOC 312 week 3 Journal

In the textbook, you read about prosocial lies and antisocial lies. In the case of prosocial lies, parents and caregivers teach children the value of telling “white lies” to avoid hurting the feelings of others even as they are teaching children to be truthful. How does this practice influence the moral development of young children? Moral development occurs when the child must evaluate the different beliefs and values and choose which set of rules he or she will follow. Sometimes parents may try to present their child with the “correct” choice rather than having the child learn the consequences of his or her own choices, and this may impact the child’s ability to make decisions when the parent is not around to provide guidance. In contrast, other parents may let their children make their own decisions but then remove negative consequences rather than following through with punishments. Thus, this demonstrates how children are presented with opportunities to resolve moral conflicts and learn appropriate moral responses through experiences in their mesosystems. Are the values that are being passed on to children by teaching them to lie for the sake of politeness in opposition to teaching them to be honest? Why or why not? From a young age, most children are socialized to tell the truth in most situations because many parents place a strong value on honesty and moral integrity. However, there are some contexts in which children are taught either outwardly or indirectly to hold back the truth in social situations where being honest would hurt the feelings of the recipient (Sweetser, 1987). Do you believe that the social norm of telling “white lies” is harmful to society? If so, why? If not, why not? Breaking social norms leads to social punishment, which can range from open criticism to outright ostracization. These are fearsome enough for many to choose white lies over such treatment. I feel if you tell one like you have to tell another but I also believe we all have in some point told a little white lie. There are often social rules about what may be discussed and what should be brushed under the carpet or otherwise avoided. Although unwritten, these are often quite clear.