Final answer:
The cooperativeness and empathetic understanding in friendships help facilitate children's moral sensibilities by shaping their perceptions of forgiveness and moral responsibilities, supported by the ethics of care and the influence of cultural socialization.
Step-by-step explanation:
The cooperativeness, responsiveness, and empathetic understanding within high-quality friendships play an important role in facilitating children's moral sensibilities, in part by highlighting the circumstances in which some transgressions may be forgiven. This is seen as a means through which children learn about moral responsibilities and the importance of considering the rights and welfare of others within their social circle. Such interactions and friendships allow for the development of social virtues like generosity and friendliness. These virtues often go hand in hand with a growing understanding of communal living, where the individual and community both flourish through mutual support and social cooperation.
Carol Gilligan suggested that traditional research into morality may have overlooked the sympathetic reactions to moral situations and the ethics of care, particularly in women and children, thus suggesting a richer moral depth based on relational and emotional considerations rather than pure logic or justice alone.
Furthermore, the concept of enculturation suggests that extracurricular activities and cultural rules of morality play a significant role in the moral development of children, as they learn to navigate complex social interactions. Additionally, Confucian ethics emphasize the importance of relationships and social roles in shaping moral responsibilities, highlighting the interconnectedness of the social fabric in moral life.