Young Children’s Moral Judgments, Justifications, and Emotion Attributions in Peer Relationship Contexts

Current research on parenting styles, dimensions, and beliefs

Evaluations of Conflicts Between Latino Values and Autonomy Desires Among Puerto Rican Adolescents

Adolescent development in interpersonal and societal contexts

Social–cognitive domain theory: Consistencies and variations in children's moral and social judgments

This book provides an in-depth examination of adolescents’social development in the context of the family. Grounded in social domain theory, the book draws on theauthor’s research over the past 25 yearsDraws from the results of in-depth interviews with more than700 familiesExplores adolescent-parent relationships among ethnic majorityand minority youth in the United States, as well as research withadolescents in Hong Kong and ChinaDiscusses extensive research on disclosure and secrecy duringadolescence, parenting, autonomy, and moral developmentConsiders both popular sources such as movies and publicsurveys, as well as scholarly sources drawn from anthropology,history, sociology, social psychology, and developmentalpsychologyExplores how different strands of development, includingautonomy, rights and justice, and society and social convention,become integrated and coordinated in adolescence

Adolescents, Families, and Social Development: How Teens Construct Their Worlds

The University of Rochester is one of the country's top-tier research universities. Our campuses are home to 200 academic majors, more than 2,000 faculty and instructional staff, and some 10,000 students.The University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by its Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery. 





University of Rochester

CSP 278

CSP 383

CSP 563

CSP 569

CSP  583

Professor Smetana's research examines adolescent-parent relationships and development in cultural contexts; children's moral and social reasoning; and development of parenting beliefs. She is focusing on adolescents' strategies for managing information about their everyday activities and parents' strategies for remaining informed about what their adolescents are doing. Also, the development of young children's moral and social knowledge, including the development of and conceptual distinctions between children's understanding of moral and social- conventional rules and transgressions, relationships among social knowledge, affect, and behavior, and contextual influences on social and moral judgments. And parents' parenting beliefs and their relationships to parenting practices and child outcomes.

Adolescent-Parent Relationships

Teens and Self-Esteem

Cultural Contexts

Children's Moral and Social Reasoning

Parenting Beliefs

Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology Faculty Page

Social Development and Family Processes Research Group

ResearchGate Profile

Google Scholar Page

Domain Based Moral Education Lab Profile

'Turning Red' Is a Good Conversation Starter -- and Not Just for Girls

Adolescence expert Judith Smetana wins psychology career award

Parents Shouldn’t Spy on Their Kids

Mila Kunis Says She's "Not Friends" With Her Daughter & It's A Perspective Worth Exploring

Guilting your kids can work, but do it right

Should You Be Best Friends With Your Child?

Is Snooping on Teenagers Ever O.K.?

Having controlling parents may affect a child's later relationships

Having strict parents may affect later relationships

Having controlling parents may affect later relationships

Teens More Helpful Than Parents Know

Professor of Psychology

On November 6, 2014, Dr. Judith Smetana visited the Rock Ethics Institute to participate in the Waterbury Lecture Series on Moral Development. Prior to her public lecture, Dr. Smetana sat down with Dr. Michael D. Burroughs to discuss her current research in early childhood moral development. Dr. Burroughs and Dr. Smetana discussed a number of central issues relating to moral development, including the moral agency of children, the extent to which children are proper subjects of moral praise and moral blame, and the relationship of philosophy and philosophical theories of morality to moral psychology and theories of moral development. The result was an engaging conversation that will be of value to those with interests in early childhood education, ethics, moral responsibility, and moral development, among other areas.

An Interview with Dr. Judith Smetana

2016 Doris Lecture, "Adolescent-Parent Relationships: Developmental Processes and Cultural Variations"
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Cornell University

Adolescence is often seen as a difficult time for both adolescents and their parents. Although current psychological research suggests that problems during this developmental period are often overstated, adolescent-parent relationships do go through significant transformations that pose challenges for the family. In her talk, Judith Smetana discusses findings from an ongoing program of research focusing on normative changes in different aspects of adolescent-parent relationships, including conflict and disagreements between parents and teenagers, adolescents’ disclosure, secrecy, and information management with parents, and adolescents’ and parents’ beliefs about parents’ legitimate authority to make rules about adolescents’ lives. She describes research with American families from diverse backgrounds and families from different cultures and discusses the significance of these findings for adolescent development and family functioning.
 
Judith Smetana is professor of psychology and Director of the Developmental Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Rochester, where she has held the Frederica Warner Chair of Human Development. She obtained her B.A. with highest honors in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan, she moved to the University of Rochester, where she has received several mentoring and leadership awards. Dr. Smetana’s research focuses on adolescent-parent relationships and parenting in different ethnic and cultural contexts and on children’s moral reasoning and behavior. She has published numerous articles and chapters on these topics. Her authored books include "Adolescents, families, and social development: How children construct their worlds" (2011), and several edited volumes, including the "Handbook of Moral Development" (2006, 2014), and "Adolescent vulnerabilities and opportunities: Constructivist and developmental perspectives" (2011).

Judith Smetana: "Adolescent-Parent Relationships"

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