Most correctional education programs fail to recognize that offenders make decisions and are not driven to crime by irresistible impulses. These decisions are made using the cognitive resources available to the decisionmaker within the context of a particular situation. Since society cannot change all situations to prompt the most law abiding responses, it should focus on the individual's interpretations of the situation. These interpretations depend on the individual's stage of moral development, which progresses through three stages: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional or principled. Most adults in the United States are in the conventional stage, in which rightness is determined by conformity to certain behavior to receive approval or to subscribe to societally approved laws and regulations. Only 10 to 20 percent of adults reach the highest level of development, in which right behavior is determined by respect for the rights of individuals as well as for the needs of society. Several studies have indicated that juvenile delinquents have lower levels of moral reasoning than do nondelinquents. Studies of adult offenders have produced similar results. Moral education programs have produced changes in the stage of moral reasoning, accompanied by improvements in school discipline, attendence, tardiness, and grades, as well as reduced police and court contracts relative to control groups. Individuals can benefit from moral reasoning education regardless of their intelligence level. The family provides an environment conducive to fostering growth in moral reasoning. In addition, correctional educators must work toward creating moral atmospheres in which inmates can experience and practice social systems based on the democratic principles emphasized in educational efforts. Eleven references are listed.