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Paper Abstract: Definition, moral development, social pressures, denial, self-image, stress, treatment & recovery. Paper Introduction: The purpose of this research is to examine the situation of the codependent of an alcoholic in situations where the codependent may act as emotional and perhaps physical caregiver of the alcoholic. The plan of the research will be to set forth relevant operating definitions, and then to explore the elements of codependency that would affect the codependent positively or negatively. Throughout, reference will be made to the effects that the "care" response has upon the caregiver's perception of self and of alcoholic. Gilligan's definitions of dependency and of care are set forth as aspects of studies of the moral development of girls and women vis-а-vis such studies of boys and men. Her principal point appears to be to suggest that prevalent moral-development theory, which focuses chiefly on an ethic or morality of rights Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. To put it another way, the committed caregivermay decide to make claims of selfhood that conflict with the moral ideologyof sacrifice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U P. Texas Monthly, 11 . Rather,there would be an entire rethinking of what constitutes healthfuldependence and independence in something like harmony. In other words,whatever care is given will never be enough, even as the codependent whowould, presumably, like to experience something like care or appreciation,is denied access to care. Aware of the moral claims of justice andequality, they saw them only tangentially, if at all, relevant to theirresolution of problems of whether to provide care to others. In this regard, Bogdaniak and Piercy report thesuccess of self-help support groups and group-therapy sessions in guidingadolescent children of alcoholics (ADCAS) away from the pathology ofcodependency and toward a personal environment of emotional self-sufficiency (1987, pp. The caregiver is so busymaking the alcoholic's standing in the world something that makes for hisor her societal comfort that the caregiver does not attempt to seek apersonal standing in society. The,result may be a retreat intopsychopathology altogether or, as Gilligan explains it, a major moralcrisis that can only be resolved by a rethinking of the entire reality ofthe situation. On this view, the caregiver of an alcoholic who must either cover upthe alcoholic's proclivities or make excuses takes on the responsibilityfor the alcoholic's actions on one hand, and covers up the caregiver's ownclaims for psychological presence in the world. [The] girls struggle even to admit that they feel angry, or that their longing for care may not have been fulfilled. Codependency as a dysfunctional state of being can now be perceivedas creating enormous personal stress. In C. The notion of denial as central to the codependent'sanxiety is consistent with discussions of extreme moral relativism. . 496). The outer self may have been required to appear sophisticated, wise, gracious, or brave, but the inner self has not caught up with these exalted expectations, nor has it been given time to . In addition, the elaboration seems consistent with Gilligan'sdescription of the conflicts experienced by persons who may or may nottransform their means of framing moral judgments from a second- to third-level consciousness. Lyons & T.J. 32). (1989). (1982). To the extent that they saw themselves as like their mothers (needy, struggling, dependent), they experienced difficulty in liking or accepting themselves. Harvard Educational Review, 47, pp. Gilligan sees the wholly other-directed way of being as an importantindex of psychological as well as dysfunction, and her view alsoilluminates both the benefits and drawbacks of the two moral frames ofreference, justice-centered and care-centered. . When is a moral problem not a moral problem?Morality, identity, and female adolescence. As a group, womentend to organize a moral judgment in terms of response, care,interdependence, but Gilligan found that men, too, can respond to (althoughnot necessarily resolve) moral propositions with reference to such terms.What this does is not so much set up the morality of care as a competitorto the morality of justice. The risks to self of providing care are denigrated. In C. More than the girls in the other two subgroups, they were predisposed to express rather harsh judgments about themselves or to admit a lack of confidence in themselves (Salzman, 199 , p. The response to the need of the alcoholic is entirelyemotional, yet the codependent's own needs are either moderated (as itwere) in the extreme or not remotely recognized. Rather than confront conflict with their mothers, they turn quickly to a position of love, sympathy, or forgiveness . Why and how codependents and caregivers of alcoholicsfall basically within the second level of moral development has beenexplored by various researchers into this area of pathological behavior.To the degree the caregiver embraces the morality of sacrifice, theprincipal positive psychological payoff for taking responsibility for thealcoholic is social approbation on one hand, or a wish for the fulfillmentthat providing care unconditionally is held by society to be available.But that payoff is itself not readily available. 569-588). Instead, the morality of care "draws attentionto the limitations of a justice-focused moral theory and highlights thepresence of care concerns in the moral thinking of both women and men" (p.26). Significantly, codependenceis characterized by Cermak as being suffused with "denial" on one hand andreliant on an unrealistic perception of willpower on the other (Cermak,1989, pp. . Helping children from alcoholic families: Approaches and caregivers. 32). More than any other developmental theme, it is this moral orientation that distinguishes the "role-reversal" subgroup (199 , p. This behavior has beencharacterized as socially appropriate for females in society (though notfor males, whose moral development is framed around competing claims ofjustice). . References Bogdaniak, R.C., & Piercy, F. Save the world, save myself: Responses toproblematic attachment. This is gradually transmuted into the second main level ofmoral development, which Gilligan characterizes as a concept of goodnessthat is perceived as self-sacrifice: "The woman at this level validatesher claim to social membership through the adoption of societal values.Consensual judgment becomes paramount and goodness the overriding concernas survival is now seen to depend on acceptance by others. Making connections: The relational worlds of adolescentgirls at Emma Willard School (pp. . Such involvement provided her with an avenue forconfronting and resolving conflicts: "While it [activities] does notpromise the nurturance or protection of a true attachment, it does offerother critical developmental opportunities to girls in problematic familysituations" (Salzman, 199 , p. Meanwhile, the codependent may seek something like autonomy,but be unable to achieve it because the authority or built-in emotionalclaims of the alcoholic on the codependent prevent this. The potential error in care reasoning lies in the tendency to forget that one has terms, creating a tendency to enter into another's perspective and to see oneself as "selfless" by defining oneself in other's terms. If theindividual does not remain in conflict with social convention at thislevel, or if she (as the individual is most likely to be) does not regressinto what might be called first-level selfishness, there may be aprogression or transition to a third level, which Gilligan terms themorality of nonviolence. (199 ). Glamour, 94. Cermak's work against codependency as apersonality disorder, on one hand, has been on individual and familypsychotherapy, and the Al-Anon structures on the other (1989, p. But in such a situation, the psychopathology of sacrifice,however socially sanctioned, must lead to anxieties. Further, Mendenhall's discussion of the issues that have to beaddressed for adequate codependent recovery and treatment shows thatcomplexity is part and parcel of the process. But that is anotherkind of emotional pathology. Meanwhile, themoral effect, given the intellectual perception that, after all, one isdaughter (i.e., ideally to be cared for) and not mother (i.e., ideally thecaregiver), is one of low self-esteem or a trust in one's ability to makemoral judgment at all. What is important is that a morality of self-sacrifice, apartfrom the social approval that may emerge because of it, also relieves theperson of responsibility for decision. Salzman, J.P. They talk of attachment in terms of "hurt" rather than anger, as if willing to absorb pain instead of inflicting it on mothers already in sufficient distress. A firsttransition occurs when the selfishness is transformed into a sense ofresponsibility, and "the transitional issue is one of attachment orconnection to others (i.e., a form of dependency)" (1982, p. The codependency conspiracy. [T]he mothers' inability to maintain a consistent caregiving position in relation to their daughters created serious kinds of confusion. Thus the caregiver's reactions may turn tohostility and unqualified self-interest on one hand, or to unqualifiedanxiety at the lack of equity or attention to emotional need on the other.The caregiver may become pathologically other-directed, unable to developor behave morally because no sanction has been given to the entitlements ofcare. 92-96). signals some conflict about whether or not one may safely expect others to demonstrate care in relationships. 11 ).But this minority view is balanced by a weight of evidence from researchthat reflects the effectiveness of care and treatment for both principalsand codependents who are caught in family dysfunction that may be treatedto alcoholism or some other kind of substance abuse. 5 4). Clinical responses to the dilemma of the caregiving codependentappear to be directed toward finding a way of imposing something likereason on the ethic of total care, in a way that challenges traditional orconventional concepts of sacrifice and at the same time allows thecodependent caregiver to retain a good connection with mainstream society.In other words, a redefinition of emotional, psychological, and moraldependence and independence is required. Gilligan touches onthis redefinition, not as an opposite to traditional definitions but as arecasting, in discussing her studies of high school girls' formulations. When Mendenhall discusses the issue of control,this is consistent with Cermak's discussion of willpower; however,Mendenhall posits a separate idea in the notion of taking extremeresponsibility for another. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U P.----------------------- 21 Gilligan, C. It must be said that not all commentators believe that there is anappropriate clinical response to the problems of codependence. 91-1 4). Gilligan, N.P. At first, Rebecca's moral reasoning . 499). 11 -146). There is also an apparent reluctanceto see the stress in traditionally moral terms. There is no considerationof self, only of the other. In a different voice: Women's conceptions ofself and of morality. A reluctance to form judgments and takeresponsibility for them arises. But eventually the codependent's denial ofemotional sustenance is bound to emerge. Instead, the codependent as discussed in thisresearch would fall more sensibly into the errors that attend carereasoning, distorting care into emotional dysfunction, and entirelyheedless of the constituents of care. . In other words, the daughter takes responsibility for her ownemotional development and neither assumes responsibility for the care ofher mother's nor rejects her mother out of hand for the failure of maternalinstinct. Mendenhall's study of the therapeutic process for codependents ofalcoholics identifies a number of attributes that are seen as vital linksof recovery for codependent caregivers who are seeking a way out of adysfunctional caregiving situation. Gilligan does notethat the morality of care is not the polar opposite of the morality ofjustice; rather, the two moral frameworks overlap in converge. There is an unwillingness to make orallow an emotional connection that will make one vulnerable on one hand,and on the other an absolute need to do the connecting and make allowancesfor, take care of, the other. Moral orientation and moral development.Gender Difference and Morality, 19-33. . 119). AlcoholismTreatment Quarterly, 6, 75-86. As Gilligan describes the theory, this does notnecessarily negate the morality of care. (199 , February). These definitions (of dependence] highlighted two meanings-one arising from the opposition between dependence and independence, and one arising form the opposition of dependence to isolation . Rebecca went from beingdependent on yet suspicious of a nonnurturing mother to being acceptant ofher mother's better qualities without capitulating emotionally to her. . This is the rationale for theestablishment of such organizations as Al-Anon, in which relatives ofalcoholics form mutual support groups. This is the approach of the extreme moralrelativist who can form no opinion, let alone judgment, of moral action.The caregiver's actions allow the alcoholic to maintain a "respectable"image in society, but there is no corresponding guarantee that thealcoholic will respond positively to the actions of care or take anyindividual responsibility for protecting that image. The extreme dependent behavior of the alcoholic is one aspect ofthis. As the word "dependence" connotes the experience of relationship, this shift in the implied opposite of dependence indicates how the valence of relationship changes, when connection with others is experienced as an impediment to autonomy or independence, and when it is experienced as a source of comfort and pleasure, and a protection against isolation (Gilligan, n.d., p. Gilligan is describing the moral dilemma over choosing an abortion,but the moral framework in which any moral decision is reached is equallyapplicable as far as the claims of self and other are concerned. Brown, L.M. (1987, October). 493).Specifically, the sense of responsibility is critical of the first-levelselfishness. Instead, an almost unconditional, which cangraduate into a pathological, regard for the needs of the other controlsthe codependent, or more exactly, provides the codependent with therationale to control whatever claims of selfhood may lurk beneath thesurface. Yet theconsequences of providing care to the alcoholic in a way that would requirethe alcoholic to acknowledge the care as such are not openly addressed.The emotional cost to the caregiver is always implicit in this dual-trackway of looking at difficult situations presented by the alcoholic'sbehavior. Fundamental to Gilligan'sconclusion is that a moral ethic of care ought to have standing as aframework for understanding moral development. Children Today, 15, 13-17. Their dilemmas draw attention to detachment and abandonment, rather than to inequality and oppression . A second transition mayoccur on the second level, in which the person's individual claims, asagainst the claims of society, begin to emerge. The tension between outer and inner self is a tension between socialand psychological self, for the psychological payoff of social approbationis no substitute for the psychological payoff of emotional support orreciprocity. Examining the assumptions underlying the conventions of feminine self- abnegation and moral self-sacrifice, she comes to reject these conventions as immoral in their power to hurt. 76-84). One aspect of thisis a reluctance to formulate any kind of moral judgment or claim for one'sopinion; Salzman refers to this as extreme moral relativism. The daughter who cares for an alcoholic parent, the wife whocares for an alcoholic husband or child is dependent on the relativesemotional response, yet puts her feelings on hold or ignores themaltogether. Meanwhile, the unmet need to experience emotional dependence on thepart of the codependent caregiver points to a personality disorder thatseems almost inevitable. Areluctance to judge the alcoholic's behavior in moral terms, and further interms that suggest that it is the alcoholic and not the codependent who issomehow to be blamed for the alcoholic's behavior would come into theconcept. Throughout, reference will be made to theeffects that the "care" response has upon the caregiver's perception ofself and of alcoholic. It is at this secondtransition that "the needs of the have to be deliberately uncovered"(Gilligan, 1982, p. Gilligan's definitions of dependency and of care are set forth asaspects of studies of the moral development of girls and women vis-а-vissuch studies of boys and men. What is going on here is anelaboration of the moral and psychological dimensions of codependentbehavior. Co-Dependency treatment. So much for the potentialities of moral development, as explained byGilligan's theory. AsGilligan puts it, As a framework for moral decision, care is grounded in the assumption that self and other are interdependent, an assumption reflected in a view of action as responsive, and, therefore, as arising in relationship rather than the view of action as emanating from within the self and, therefore, "self governed." Seen as responsive, the self is by definition connected to others, responding to perceptions, interpreting events, and governed by the organizing tendencies of human interaction and human language (n.d., p. Their capacity for reflection and perspective--and for autonomous action--is less obvious in their discussion of an impartial morality of rights, because their experience does not easily translate to this language . It does, however, allow theperson to place such morality in perspective. 133). The codependent-caregiver's fantasy thatwillpower is the key to codependent survival gradually degenerates intoanxiety. (N.d). Therapeutic issuesof adolescent children of alcoholics (ADCA) groups. By elevating nonviolence--the injunction against hurting--to a principle governing all moral judgment and action, she is able to assert a moral equality between self and other. And this fact, perceived as unjust, forms the background ofresentment and questioning of the ethic of care altogether. If, in fact, there are two moral voices, two frameworks within which two ways of speaking about the moral world can be discerned, the girls in this small sample choose to speak in a care voice. Forexample, one editorial writer is suspicious of the practice of labeling of"all" psychological problems as "addictive" in nature and specifically asthe addiction of codependency ("Codependency conspiracy," 199 , p. The first level of moral judgment is oriented towardindividual survival or what might be called absolute selfishness. Hanmer. International Journalof Group Psychotherapy, 37, 569-588. one hears signs of a struggle to maintain the sympathetic perspective in the face of opposing emotional currents (Salzman, 199 , p. In the psychotherapeutic process, the redefinition begins with theprovision of some kind of psychological support, which may come about as aresult of successful family therapy in which the codependent and thealcoholic participate, but which may also come about outside thedysfunctional family structure. Lyons &T.J. The labeling of the issuesis important because of the moral-psychological interplay that the labelingillustrates: control, overresponsibility, emotional poverty or indigence,a reclamation or reconnection of experiences and feelings, a claim forpersonal needs that are independent of the alcoholic's, an appreciation ofmoderate behavior and action, a recognition of personal feelings, and aregard for oneself (1989, pp. . 132). The twoways of organizing a moral judgment are "two cross-cutting perspectivesthat do not negate one another but focus attention on different dimensionsof the situation, creating a sense of ambiguity around the question of whatis the problem to be solved" (Gilligan, n.d., p. The poverty of emotion, the dissociation of emotion and the evidenceof patterns of emotionally negative experience, and the need to recognizeone's own emotional needs that Mendenhall refers to are also reflected inSalzman's study of caregiving daughters who to varying degrees deny anyclaims that they may have to emotional sustenance, even as they makeexcuses for the claims of the other. 1 2-1 3). the loss of caregivinggestures that are simply not in her mother's repertoire" (Salzman, 199 , p.127). Further tothis point, the role-reversal group that Salzman's study explores "rarelyfelt 'good enough' to meet their own standards" (199 , p. In herstudy of problematic attachment, for example, Salzman refers to a daughterwho experiences a transformation of moral attitude toward a nonnurturingyet authoritarian mother, wherein the daughter does not become entirelyhostile to the mother, yet achieves, by virtue of her own commitment andthe help of facilitative counselors at school, a measure of independencefrom the negative maternal experience, aware of "her disappointment withthe limits of attachment to her mother and . In Recent Developmentsin Alcoholism (pp. What these solutions share is that there is a role for animpersonal yet helpful facilitator to assist the principals in discoveringa way out of their dilemma. . We shall return to this point later, for it isconsistent with the role that the codependent-caregiver of an alcoholicassumes. Another element of Gilligan's research that is important to thebackground of the issues surrounding the codependents of alcoholics is thatof the stages of moral development from simple to increasingly complex.Gilligan describes a process of three main levels of moral development,which are themselves qualified by sublevels of or transitions within suchdevelopment. Gilligan, C. The plan of theresearch will be to set forth relevant operating definitions, and then toexplore the elements of codependency that would affect the codependentpositively or negatively. Daughters involved in what Salzman calls "role-reversal"relationships with their mothers, wherein daughters take on the role ofemotional anchor, exemplify second-level development. Indeed,Brown's study of adolescent girls who described the dilemma of caregivinqin difficult situations shows that they framed their response in terms ofemotional attachment and care that gave traditional moral standing to theother rather than to themselves. In effect, to deny the claims of others on self is also to deny whathas been socially approved as morally correct behavior, i.e., unstintingnurturance of others at whatever expense of self. Her evaluation alsoexplains why justice- and care-centered moral frameworks are not polaropposites or even two sides of the same coin. This.study appears to amplifyCermak's' more general term willpower in a way that shows how complex theemotional content of a codependent caregiver's experience with an alcoholiccan be. Salzman's discussion of the moral-psychological transformation ofRebecca out of what Gilligan calls Level Two and toward Level Threeconfirms that the dysfunction of sacrifice can be shifted toward a kind ofbalance of emotional dependence and independence. The role of therapist asfacilitator is to intervene, with and on behalf of the codependent, in thedysfunctional process. 12 ). 88-1 9). It was these girls who often identified with 'their mothers' vulnerabilities, leaving them in some doubt about their own emerging identities. But moral development need not stop there. . [I]t appears that reluctance to express anger at mothers contributes to a general position of extreme moral relativism vis-а-vis others, an inability to include oneself in a morality of care, yet a significant moral investment in "taking care of the world." Taken together, these factors constitute a distinctive moral orientation, split between a set of abstract principles for oneself and gestures of care for others. In this regard, Cermak's investigation of thepsychotherapeutic process of codependents of alcoholics suggests thatemotional disorders and what may generally be termed negative orpathological personality traits are consistent with being trapped at leveltwo of Gilligan's model of moral development. In other words, one can lay one'sjudgment off on the obligation to others. Mendenhall, Y. 25). Nevertheless, in the many statements of ambivalence . Makingconnections: The relational worlds of adolescent girls at Emma WillardSchool (pp. Over the course of three years, however, she travels from a stance based on the assumption that involvement with others' battles can invariably "do nothing but get yourself into trouble," to one in which she feels capable of fully considering the other person's needs in a conflict. . In effect, the codependent becomesaddicted to the ethic of care, and in the process loses identity. New York: Plenum. This choice may clarify why their stories of relationship reveal reflective, complex thinking, while their references to societal rules and roles remain either simplistic or opaque. (1989). The behavior of a codependent who takesresponsibility for an alcoholic's behavior would include making a call tothe alcoholic's boss or perhaps saying that the alcoholic has a headache(instead of a hangover). Nor are they necessarilycomplementary, although they may overlap and converge. One effect of this, however, isthat selfhood becomes at risk. 1 ; etpassim). Here theconventional feminine voice emerges with great clarity, defining the selfand proclaiming its worth on the basis of the ability to care for andprotect others" (p. These two types of error underlie two common equations that signify distortions or deformations of justice and care: the equation of human with male, unjust in its omission of women; and the equation of care with self-sacrifice, uncaring in its failure to represent the activity and the agency of care (Gilligan, n.d., p. Salzman's study ofproblematic mother-daughter attachments in which daughters assumed the roleof mothers illustrates that the emotional effect of such attachments is tomake the real caregiver suspicious of forming attachments. Care then becomes a universal obligation, the self-chosen ethic of a postconventional judgment that reconstructs the dilemma in a way that allows the assumption of responsibility for choice (1982, p. 128). . And thecodependent is unable to escape the alcoholic's authority or dependency,even as, by providing care, the codependent seeks an emotional connection.The problem for treating the dysfunction, then, becomes how to achieveautonomy without its being corrupted into isolation, and how to retain theemotional connection without sacrificing selfhood at the same time. In this regard, Salzman's study ofproblematic emotional attachments between mother and daughter isinstructive. As long as the codependent relationshippersists, for example, the codependent relies on the alcoholic as aprotection against isolation, yet the codependent is really emotionallyisolated because of the alcoholic's inability to provide emotionalconnection. (1986, January-February). Indeed, researchconfirms that the competition of self and other has repeatedly led toanxiety. This may lead to anxiety inasmuch as the individual may be"caught between selfishness and responsibility, unable to find in thecircumstances of this choice a way of caring which does not at the sametime destroy." This is a "conflict between morality and survival" (p.5 4). . Instead, the codependentmay see the stress in traditionally emotional terms and indeed see thestress without moral reference. This would explain a codependent's reluctance to impose "her" valueson the alcoholic other. Hanmer. Cermak would say that this is a rethinking of denial, butthe point is that a structural transformation of perception is required. Moreover, if indeedcodependency as a kind of personality disorder does exist, then it mustalso be said that certain behavioral patterns can be discerned that areconsistent with Gilligan's theory. 24). Her principal point appears to be to suggestthat prevalent moral-development theory, which focuses chiefly on an ethicor morality of rights and justice, is inadequate to explaining how moraldecisions are rationalized and framed. As a sophomore, she cheerfully asserted that her moral perspective rested on "the world according to me." By senior year, she has shifted sufficiently to claim that "my purpose is people," and that moral action can mean both "doing the right thing and not sacrificing relationships." This shift exactly parallels her transition from an inability to feel safe or whole in conflict with her mother to a position in which she can hear herself much better in the relationship, although not without reservations (Salzman, 199 , p. The purpose of this research is to examine the situation of thecodependent of an alcoholic in situations where the codependent may act asemotional and perhaps physical caregiver of the alcoholic. . The girls seem to feel a distracting tension between the self they think they ought to be and a shadowy inner "me" known only to themselves. That is, there is a cost to makingno claim on what in functional emotional situations would be the (moral,psychological) strength of the other. Cermak, T.L. . To make excuses for the alcoholicrepresents less emotional cost than to risk the obvious emotional isolationof abandonment. (199 ). Cermak focuses on the efficacy of group therapy, particularly inthe Al-Anon support group experience; the relevant point, however, is thatthe solutions that Cermak advocates proceed from a description ofindividual codependent (and family) pathology that arises in part becauseof what might be termed the stunted moral growth or development of thecodependent. What is remarkable is the ability of each of these young women to act while acknowledging the inevitable consequences: that is, that someone will experience some hurt regardless of what she chooses to do (Brown, 199 , pp. In other words, if the most a supportgroup or other nonfamily entity can offer is a formal structure forexploring emotional difficulties, with the help of an impersonalfacilitator, at least it has this advantage over a codependent situation,that it is not affirmatively destructive of persona. . The potential error in justice reasoning lies in its latent egocentrism, the tendency to confuse one's perspective with an objective standpoint or truth, the temptation to define others in one's own terms by putting oneself in their place. In addition, the caregiver would perhaps try todetermine what the matter with her is that the drinker drinks. Gilligan, N.P. The mechanism for this shift appears to have been Rebecca'sinvolvement, encouraged by a facilitative school counselor, in leadingschool activities. 12 ). The daughter track: Are you prepared to be a lifetime caregiver?(199 , May). The codependent who asserted a morality of justice on the alcoholicwould therefore soon be likely to be entirely separate from the alcoholic.Hostile to and fiercely independent of the alcoholic, the codependent mighteasily be "cured" of codependent dysfunction, only to find herself indisjunction or dissociation from the whole of society. A "cured" codependent on thisview would not necessarily embrace independence wholeheartedly and negateall dependence; that is as skewed as codependent dysfunction. The point is thatas regards methodology and reference points, they are decisively different,each possessed of strengths and weaknesses. This suggests that a stunting of moral development is atrisk because of the emotional content of a difficult situation. . Bound up with such an ethicor moral framework is the notion of dependency in its various forms. Al-anon and recovery. Various research studies tend to support the efficacy of the moralityof care as a theory that explains behavior and emotional construct ofcodependents of alcoholics. [T]he split between "morality" and feelings, or standards of behavior and care and concern for others, has to do with the simple fact that "morality" has a specific and rather narrow meaning in this culture . 481-517. Research into the theoretical morality of care has found that femalesfar more than males fit the patterns of the theory. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.