How do children develop empathy? This is the topic of an article in the NYTimes today. Here is the link.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/understanding-how-children-develop-empathy/?hpw
If you’d like to dig deeper into this topic, read (this is the Amazon link)
Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential–and Endangered by Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz