Abstract
According to the authors "the constituents of moral identity are rooted in stable configurations of personality and social influence. Moral identity is not something that one achieves all by oneself; it is deeply conditioned by social relationships and social institutions [the authors are taking Nelson Mandela's life to exemplify moral identity formation]. In particular... they emphasize the importance of school-based experiences on the formation of moral identity. Schools provide a) opportunities for adolescents to interact with caring teachers who model prosocial community standards, b) opportunities for youngsters to explore moral lines of prosocial action and to enact moral commitments in the form of community service, and c) provide the sort of moral atmosphere that emphasizes the communitarian basis of democratic citizenship. [The authors] describe empirical findings from their analysis of data from the National Study of Youth to show that voluntary community service and a sense of school attachment are related to moral identity in adolescents."