Awareness

This study investigated how urban and rural children who lived along a major river in Brazil understand and value their relationship with the natural environment. Forty-four Brazilian children in fifth grade were interviewed, and background of the city and village they lived in was ascertained. Each child was individually administered a semi-structured interview. The issues under investigation focused on children's: (1) awareness of environmental problems; (2) beliefs about whether certain acts of environmental degradation harmed various parts of nature; (3) concern if such harm occurred; and (4) environmental actions. In addition, a hypothetical scenario was presented to assess the presence or absence of moral obligation in demonstrated environmental sensitivities and commitments based on a wide range of measures. Additional analyses showed striking similarities between this, Brazilian population and a population of African-American urban children in the United States interviewed in an earlier study with comparable methods. The study considered the moral developmental theory, which supports the proposition that, in important ways, individuals ' moral reasoning across cultures is similarly structured by concerns for human welfare, fairness, and rights. Contains 56 references. (BAC) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ****************************************************************-A3.