Conscience is central to how we understand human behaviour, but there is surprisingly little agreement about how to assess it systematically in adolescents. In clinical practice, professionals often have to rely on their experience and intuition.
New tool developed
Tiemersma investigated whether this could be improved by developing a shared, theoretically grounded way of describing conscience. This led to the development of the Clinical Assessment of Conscience (CAC), a structured tool designed to help professionals describe how a young person’s conscience functions.
Tiemersma’s CAC provides a common framework. Professionals draw on interviews, observations, information from other people and existing records to assess 12 items covering empathy, self-conscious emotions and moral reasoning. The result is not simply a score indicating whether someone has a conscience, but a more detailed picture of how its different elements function.
More complicated than just ‘right’ or ‘wrong’
‘Having a conscience is not simply a matter of knowing right from wrong,’ says Tiemersma. ‘It is about being able to understand other people, experience emotions such as guilt and shame, and use moral reasoning – and, crucially, having these abilities work together.’