Between moral panic and moral resilience: professional perceptions of value enactment among young adolescents in Malta

Abstract

Public concern about young people's values is frequently framed through narratives of moral decline. This study explores how professionals working with young adolescents in Malta perceive the values and ethical behaviour of young people aged 11–14 and considers the implications for values education. Using an interpretivist qualitative design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 professionals, including subject education officers, school leaders, psychosocial practitioners and youth organisation representatives. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, generating six interconnected themes. Participants generally perceived young people as recognising ethical principles such as respect, fairness, honesty, responsibility and inclusion, while also reporting considerable inconsistency in their enactment, particularly under pressures associated with belonging, digital environments, consumer culture and fragmented social influences. At the same time, professional accounts contained concrete examples of behaviour interpreted as caring, responsible, inclusive or courageous. The findings therefore suggest a perceived gap between moral recognition and consistent enactment rather than straightforward evidence of moral decline. Moral resilience is proposed tentatively as an interpretive framework for considering the capacities and conditions that may support ethical action under social, emotional and digital pressure. The study argues that values education should complement moral understanding with dialogic, experiential and relational opportunities through which young people can practise ethical judgement and action.