Fairness, Educational Value, and Moral Development in the Student Disciplinary Process

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between college students' percqtions of the fairness and educatiwlvalue of the disciplinary process and their moral development. Participants woe unde~graduate students charged with mino~disciplinary violations. The research sample displayed lower levels of moral development than normative Defining Issues Test samples of unde~paduates. Additionally, the highe~the students' lwels of moral development, the more likely they perceived the process as having educational value, independent of perceptions of fai~ness. The perception of educational value was therefore found to be afunction of moral development.College and university disciphary systems should be designed as integral components of the academic environment. Judicial programs should be fair, foster the ethical development and personal integrity of students, and promote a co-curricular environment supportive of the educational goals of the institution (Baker, 1992). me disciplinary process should also be considered within a context of stident development (Nuss, 1988).As it relates to campus discipline, student development includes moral development and the ability to discern right from wrong (Rodgers, 1990). oughcolleges and universities in the United States originally had moral education as a major goal (McNeel, 1994), today's institutions often adopt a laissez-faire attitide towards tie moral development of their students Susan P Mullane is an Assistant P~ofessor, Department of Ex~cise and Sport Sciences, Univusity of Miami, Flotida. This research that fo~ms the basis of this article was endorsed by and finded in payt by tke Association for Student~udicial Affairs [ASJA]. 86 Brought to you by | East Carolina University Authenticated Download Date | 7/6/15 2:03 PM

Arrested emotional development: male college students' experiences with a campus judicial process

“…Boots (1987) argued that part of the judicial professional's role was assisting students to learn and grow from their judicial experience. Mullane (1999) examined the relationship between college students' perceptions of the fairness and educational value of campus judicial systems and their own moral development. The results of the study suggested that college students involved in judicial systems exhibited lower levels of moral development than typical students in the normative samples used in the study (Mullane, 1999).…”

“…Mullane (1999) examined the relationship between college students' perceptions of the fairness and educational value of campus judicial systems and their own moral development. The results of the study suggested that college students involved in judicial systems exhibited lower levels of moral development than typical students in the normative samples used in the study (Mullane, 1999). It was suggested that practitioners could provide opportunities for moral development as a way of lessening the likelihood of student misconduct (Mullane, 1999).…”