Charles C. Helwig
Professor of Psychology
(Cross-appointed to Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)
(416) 978-7609
Lab telephone: 978-7315
Degrees
Ph.D.,
University of California, Berkeley, 1991.
B.A.
, University of Chicago, 1982
Honours
American Psychological Association Fellow (Division
7), 2006.
Dean's Excellence Award, 2001, 2002.
National Institute of Health Developmental Traineeship Award, 1982-87.
Research Interests
My research examines the development of moral and social judgments from the preschool years through adulthood. I have been especially interested in the development of moral concepts related to societal issues and social institutions. One of my primary areas of research is the development of political concepts such as abstract rights, civil liberties, and democracy. Research exploring understandings of these concepts in children and adolescents has shown that even elementary school children possess concepts of democracy and basic rights such as freedom of speech and religion, and use them to evaluate political systems and laws. I have investigated children's understandings of democratic decision-making not only in the context of society at large but in other social contexts such as the family, the school, and the peer group. I am currently investigating the role of culture in the development of conceptions of democratic decision making and rights in cross-cultural research conducted in China and Canada. Other research areas include: the development of conceptions of values education in the school and family; young children's reasoning about physical and psychological harm, and children's conceptions of parental discipline practices.
Funding
My research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
PUBLICATIONS
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Helwig, C. C., & Yang, S. (in press). Toward a truly democratic civics education. To appear in R. Shaffer & K. Durkin (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of developmental psychology in practice. Oxford: Blackwell.
Helwig, C. C. (in press). Moral reasoning. In S. Lopez (Ed.) Encyclopedia of positive psychology. Blackwell.
Helwig, C. C. (in press). Concepts of the social world. In R. A. Shweder (Ed)., Chicago companion to the child. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Helwig, C. C. (2008). Don¡¯t blame
it on the enlightenment (review of S. Law¡¯s ¡°The war for children¡¯s minds¡±).
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology,29, 170-173
Helwig , C. C., Ryerson, R., &
Prencipe, A. (2008). Children¡¯s, adolescents¡¯, and adults¡¯ judgments and
reasoning about different methods of teaching values.
Cognitive Development, 23,
119-135.
Helwig, C. C. (2008). The moral
judgment of the child reevaluated: Heteronomy, early morality, and reasoning
about social justice and inequalities. In C. Wainryb, J. G. Smetana, & E. Turiel
(Eds.), Social development, social inequalities, and social justice
(pp. 27-51). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Helwig, C. C.,
Arnold, M. L., Tan, D., & Boyd, D. (2007). Mainland
Chinese and Canadian adolescents¡¯ judgments and reasoning about the fairness of
democratic and other forms of government.Cognitive
Development, 22, 96-109.
Helwig, C. C. (2007). Chinese
adolescents¡¯ reasoning about their rights in relation to authority and the
group. Chinese Journal of Moral Education, 2(8), 9-14. (in Chinese).
Helwig,C. C. (2006). The
development of personal autonomy throughout cultures. Cognitive Development,
21, 458-473. Helwig, C. C. (2006). Rights, civil liberties, and democracy across
cultures. In M. Killen & J. G. Smetana (Eds.), Handbook of moral
development (pp. 185-210). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Helwig, C. C., Arnold, M. L., Tan, D., & Boyd, D.(2003). Chinese adolescents' reasoning about democratic and authority-based decision making in peer, family, and school contexts. Child Development,74,783-800.
Helwig, C. C. (2002). Is it ever ok to exclude on the basis of race or gender? : The role of context, stereotypes, and historical change. Monographs
of the Society for Research on Child Development, 67(4), 119-128. Neff, K., & Helwig, C. C. (2002). A
constructivist approach to understanding the development of reasoning about
rights and authority within cultural contexts. Cognitive Development,
17(3-4), 1429-1450.
Helwig, C. C., & Turiel, E. (2002). Rights, autonomy, and democracy: Children's perspectives. International Journal of Law and
Psychiatry,25, 253-270.
Prencipe, A., & Helwig, C. C. (2002). The development of reasoning about the teaching of values in school and family contexts.Child
Development, 73, 841-856.
Helwig, C. C. (2002). Immaculate perception or the ghost of logical positivism? (review of H. K. Kendler's "Amoral thoughts about morality: The intersection of science, psychology, and ethics"). Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of
Books, 47,
117-120. Helwig, C. C., & Turiel, E. (2002). Children's social and moral reasoning. In C. Hart & P. Smith (Eds.), Handbook of childhood social
development (pp. 475-490).Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Helwig, C. C., & Turiel, E. (2001). Commentary: Children's rights and the conflict between autonomy and social hierarchy. International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development Newsletter (No. 2, Serial No. 38), 18-20.
Helwig, C. C., & Jasiobedzka, U. (2001). The relation between law and morality: Children's reasoning about socially beneficial and unjust laws. Child Development, 72, 1382-1393.
Helwig, C. C., Zelazo, P. D., & Wilson,
M. (2001). Children's judgments
of psychological harm in normal and noncanonical situations. Child
Development, 72, 66-81. Helwig, C. C. (2000). Review of Kahn's "The Human
Relationship with Nature". Journal
of Moral Education, 29, 221-224. Helwig, C. C., & Kim, S. (1999). Children's evaluations of decision-making procedures in peer, family, and school contexts. Child
Development, 70, 502- 512. Helwig, C. C., & Prencipe, A. (1999). Children's judgments of flags and flag- burning. Child Development, 70, 132-143. Helwig, C. C. (1998). Children's conceptions of fair government and freedom of speech. Child Development, 69, 518-531. Helwig, C. C. (1997). The role of agent and
social context in judgments of freedom of speech and religion. Child
Development, 68, 484-495. Helwig, C. C. (1997). Making moral
cognition respectable (again): A retrospective review of Lawrence
Kohlberg. Contemporary Psychology, 42, 191-195. Zelazo, P., Helwig, C. C., & Lau, A.
(1996). Intention, act, and outcome in behavioral prediction and
moral judgment. Child Development, 67, 2478-2492. Helwig, C. C., Turiel, E., & Nucci, L.
(1996). The virtues and vices of moral development theorists. Developmental
Review, 16, 69-107. Helwig, C.C. (1995). Adolescents' and young
adults' conceptions of civil liberties: Freedom of speech and
religion. Child Development, 66, 152-166. Helwig, C.C. (1995). Social context in
social cognition: Psychological harm and civil liberties. In M.
Killen & D. Hart (Eds.), Morality in everyday life: Developmental
perspectives (pp. 166-200). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. Helwig, C.C., Hildebrandt, C., &
Turiel, E. (1995). Children's judgments about psychological harm
in social context. Child Development, 66, 1680-1693. Helwig, C.C. (1993). Commentary on
Moshman's "Adolescent reasoning and adolescent rights."
Human Development, 36 (1), 41-44. Helwig, C.C., Tisak, M.S., & Turiel, E.
(1990). Children's social reasoning in context: Reply to
Gabennesch. Child Development, 61, 2068-2078. Turiel, E., Killen, M., & Helwig, C.C.
(1987). Morality: Its structure, functions and vagaries. In J.
Kagan & S. Lamb (Eds.), The emergence of morality in young
children (pp. 155-243). Chicago: University of
Chicago Press. Butler, R.A. & Helwig, C. C. (1983).
The spatial attributes of stimulus frequency in the median
sagittal plane and their role in sound localization. American
Journal of Otolaryngology, 4, 165-173. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Associate Editor (2003-present):
British Journal of Developmental Psychology
Editorial Board:
Child Development (2002-present)
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child
Development (2002,2003) Human Development (2002-present)
MEMBERSHIPS Society for Research in Child Development American Psychological Association Jean Piaget Society Society for the Psychological Study of
Social Issues American Educational Research Association Charles C.
Helwig Professor (416) 978-7609 email:
helwig@psych.utoronto.ca Lab telephone: 978-7315
Helwig, C. C. (2005). Culture and the construction of concepts of personal
autonomy and democratic decision-making. In J. E. Jacobs, & P. A.
Klaczynski (Eds.), The development of judgment and decision making in children
and adolescents (pp. 181-212). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Helwig, C. C. (2004). Integrating--and respecting--the right and the good
in moral development. (review of J. Gibbs' "Moral development and
reality"). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 25, 619-624.
