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Critiques of Kohlberg's theory of moral development
Critiques of Kohlberg's theory of moral development
Critiques of Kohlberg's theory of moral development
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The moral development of children can depend on many factors. Parenting and upbringing of the child, their environment, social environment, gender, and race are all aspects that can contribute to how a child develops their moral standards and expectations. Many psychologist have tried for several years to develop a theory to how morality is developed. One in particular is Lawrence Kohlberg (1958), his moral development theory is based on the cognitive development of children and it is thought that moral development proceeds and changes as cognitive development occurs (Arnett, 2012). Kohlberg’s moral development theory consist of 3 different levels each containing 2 stages altogether making 6 stages of moral development, as Kohlberg conducted These studies say that all actions have a goal in mind. That would affect how children develop moral standards as well. An example of this would be, if a child knew that they were to get rewarded for things similar to potty-training or preforming well in school then they would try to do their best. The child would carry these lessons with them as they grow and mature. In this paper we will be discussing Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, giving insight into what other factors may affect the development of morality, and dissecting parenting placing emphasis on parenting and its effects that it may have. We will also be coving theories that challenge Kohlberg’s and bringing to light what Kohlberg may have missed or These can also be changed by environmental factors as well but both our genetic makeup and the environment we experience would influence our overall development, including our moral development (Srivastava et al., 2013). Moral development is not completely accredited to one’s genetic makeup though, theorist such as Lawrence Kohlberg believe that moral development is underlined by the cognitive development of an individual. He believed that moral thinking changes in predictable ways as cognitive abilities develop, regardless of culture (Arnett, 2012). As listed earlier morality can be affected by many factors including the environment and the parenting of a child. Parenting has a larger effect on the morals of a child than many scholars have described but this is because the parents of a child in the early times of life are the only exposure to culture and the teaching of norms and how to obey them. Parenting has no real right of wrong way of being done but for over 5 decades of research has been done attempting to find out how parents parent. Throughout nearly all studies it has become clear that parenting seems to have two main aspects that build it: demandingness and responsiveness. With these two characteristics there are 4 main “parenting styles” that can be
At a very young age, children are exposed to values before they gain the ability to reason effectively and to think critically. Whenever they misbehave, their parents correct their behaviors by means of punishment. Therefore, a misbehaved child will associate their wrongdoings with a negative emotion, deterring them from performing the punished behavior. They also learn morality by absorbing the emotions of those around them in their environment, and as a result, their feelings and behaviors are shaped by what they observe. Additionally, individuals introspect their feelings to decide whether or not their actions are considered moral. If an action makes the individual feel guilty, then he or she will conclude that it is wrong. This could not
They are able of solving problems using reasoning and logic. They can organize facts and events in mature fashion and figure out possible moves and their outcomes. They can also deal with proportions and analogies and reflect on their own thinking. One of the major themes of development is moral development. The most influential research on development was done by Lawrence Kohlberg. It was influenced by Piaget’s cognitive developmental approach. Kohlberg divided Moral development into 6 stages. The first stage is called Preconventional level. During this stage individuals recognize labels of “good” and “bad”, right and wrong, but do not interpret these labels in terms of social standards. The next stage is called Conventional level. During this level individuals make moral judgments based on expectations, whether the expectations are coming from family or society. This level of morality is shown mainly by adolescents and adults. The next level is the post conventional level. During this stage individuals accept and stand by society’s rules and laws but tend to view them in terms of the underlying principles. Individuals may also follow personal ethical principles. This is where they take into account human rights or life and
Baumeister, Gilligan, and Piaget have some similarities and differences. All three were able to see the importance of moral development in childhood. However, Piaget focused on the stages that we develop morality. Gilligan was more focused on the differences of morality in females. Baumeister focus was more on the impact of self-control in moral development. It appears that all three focus on the importance of society and our social interaction in relation to how our morality is developed. It is important to keep in mind that our society is believe to have the biggest impact in our social development. (Santrock, 2011)
One of the most persistently asked and perpetually unanswered questions in psychology is the question of morality. What is it, how does it develop, and where does it come from? A basic definition of morality is “beliefs about what is right behavior and what is wrong behavior” (Merriam-Webster). Based on the definition, the question then becomes even more complicated; How do people decide what is right and what is wrong? Research has examined this from many different angles, and two distinct schools of thought have emerged. One centers on the Lockian idea of children as blank slates who must be taught the difference between right and wrong and what it means to be moral, while the other espouses a more Chomskian perspective of a preset system of basic rules and guidelines that needs only to be activated. So what does this mean for humans and humanity? Are we born tabula rasa or are we born with an innate sense of good and evil? For those researching this topic, the question then becomes how to most effectively theorize, experiment and interpret human morality.
Lawrence Kohlberg theorized that morality has more to do with decisions than fixed behaviors. After studying several groups of people and their responses to certain moral problems, he was able to identify “three main levels of moral reasoning, with two substages within each level” (Passer & Smith, 2011). Prior to coming to West Point, my moral decisions were made along the lines of conventional moral reasoning, the second level, by conforming to the expectations of society. Within this level, I reasoned at stage three where morality is based on winning approval from parents, authority figures, and peers. During my first year of high school, I remember taking the AP World History exam and finding myself wanting to cheat on
Kohlberg, Lawrence. "Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-Developmental Approach." Moral Development and Behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1976.
Kohlberg a well-known theorist in social development, who built on to Jean Piaget’s theory of moral development. Piaget’s theory was based on two-stages of moral development, however the Kohlberg’s theory is based on six stages within three levels of moral development. He wanted to develop his ideas further with the hopes of discovering the ways in which children develop moral reasoning, including how it changes as they grow older. People can only pass through these levels in the order given. Each new stage replaces the reasoning of the earlier stage plus not every person achieves all the
Lawrence Kohlberg is known for his Theory of Moral Development. The method that Kohlberg used was that of “moral dilemmas”. Kohlberg studied Piaget but developed his own theory. He would give individuals of different ages these dilemmas and survey their answers to see what the reasoning behind their answers were. An example of a dilemma is the “Heinz Dilemma”. In this dilemma there is a man whose wife is very sick and needs a certain type of medication. There is only one man who sells this drug in the area and he is charging more than the man can pay for. The husband of the wife decided to steal the drug in order to save his wife. At the end of this scenario, it asks if the husband should’ve stolen the medicine. This provides an example of how he went about creating these moral dilemmas. They are situations in which there are multiple answers and reasoning that could be provided. There was no “right” answer in the moral dilemma questions (as the answer to each question was solely based off of the individual’s opinion and moral reasoning). The reasoning that the individuals presented help develop levels of reasoning. These levels are also known as stages. In Kohlberg’s stages, sub stages are also included. The stages are: Preconventional, Conventional, and Postconventional. Each stages had two sub stages that helped determine what level of moral reasoning a person was at. In the preconvnetional stage the two sub stages are: Reward and punishment orientation and Naive reciprocity orientation. The preconventional stage begins at about age five and decreases with age. The sub stages in the conventional stage are: Good boy/girl Orientation and Authority and social order maintenance orientation. This stage increases ...
Theresa based her opinion on the fact that the druggist will be charged with an unfair amount of money for a cheap drug and will not budge on the price. She feels the importance of getting the drug for Heinz’s wife outweighs what’s right or wrong. Theresa is the type of person that views the moral importance of a situation and makes the adjustments for personal gain. Based on the Kohlberg Moral Development theory, we can assume that Theresa falls under the post conventional level of development, which means her age ranges from 13 years and up (Dacey, 2009, p. 248).
Kohlberg is a well-known theorist in social development, who built on to Jean Piaget’s theory of moral development. Piaget’s theory was based on two-stages of moral development, however Kohlberg’s theory is based on six stages with in three levels of moral development. Kohlberg wanted to develop his ideas further with the hopes of discovering the ways in which children develop moral reasoning and how it changes as they grow older. People can only pass through these levels in the order given. Each new stage replaces the reasoning of the earlier stage. And not everyone achieves all the
In this paper I will be determining the moral development stages in which the individuals I interviewed belong. I chose four individuals all from different backgrounds of life, male and female, with their ages ranging from
The first two stages of Kohlber’s moral development fall under “Preconventional Morality” which is the first level (Williams & Arrigo, 2012). These stages focus on children from ages one to ten (Williams & Arrigo, 2012). I basically agree with the concept of these stages because young children are clearly responsive to learning right and wrong through the use of some form of punishment (Williams & Arrigo, 2012). However, these two initial stages (punishment and obedience orientation & instrumental purpose and exchange orientation) must have competent authority figures, which are normally going to be the parents for children those ages. In the absence of competent authority figures, which is realism for many children, I believe these two
Moral development “focuses on the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from infancy through adulthood. In the field of moral development, morality is defined as principles for how individuals ought to treat one another, with respect to justice, others ' welfare, and rights.” (Citation) Essential to the success of every society is moral development. Lawrence Kohlberg cultivated and advanced the framework of Piaget’s life’s work in the area of moral development. He theorized that we formulate ways of thinking through our experiences. Such experiences included but weren’t limited to an understanding of the moral concepts of human welfare, rights, equality and justice. Through his research Kohlberg ascertained that we go through various
Many researchers have written about child development, but none are quite as well known as Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Lawrence Kohlberg’s moral development theory have been essential for researchers to gain a better understanding of child development. While these theories are unique in explaining different types of child development, they have many similarities and differences as well.
Lawrence Kohlberg served as a professor at Harvard University for many years but rose to fame for his work there starting from the early 1970s. He is mostly known for his moral development theory that he based on the works of philosopher John Dewey and psychologist Jean Piaget. According to him, humans’ progress in their moral reasoning occurs in a series of stages. He formulated three levels of moral reasoning, which he further divided into 6 stages. In the obedience and punishment stage of the pre-conventional level, individuals’ behavior complies with norms that are socially acceptable as told by some authority, for instance, teacher or parent. Obedience is usually informed by the application or threat or punishment (Barger, 2000). The second