Kohlberg's Three Levels Of Moral Development

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Many people might battle with internal battles on a situation, which would stop them from doing something that they know is wrong. Is it because of guilt, the feeling of having regret? For a child, maybe they are thinking about getting in trouble with their parents or being or punishment. To better understand, Kohlberg established three levels which helps explains individuals that are at six different levels of moral development. Kohlberg Moral Development steps consists of three levels each consisting of two stages. (Williams, C., & Arrigo, B.( 2015,August 10.) The first level is Preconventional Morality (self-focused) with the stages of Punishment and Obedience (perceptions of right and wrong (, and Instrumental Purpose and Exchange. (Advancing …show more content…

In addition, to disobeying authority figures with higher powers they also have no regard to the authority of their parents, as well. Furthermore, they do not respect the laws that have been established by the authorities. Therefore, they are more likely to not know the consequences of their actions besides the punishment of their parents, and if they do know the punishment of their parents they are more likely the next time to do things for their self-interest since they more than likely know the punishment that their parents will give. Whereas, a sex offender who knows the punishment of their actions and commit sex crimes for their interest are in stages 3 and 4. Sex offenders know that in these stages their sex crimes are considered bad and against the law, However, they choose to benefit from others disregarding their pain, but are careful to avoid exposure from friends or the victim parents because they know their act is contrary to the law. Furthermore, serial killers are fully aware of their crime, but since some of them are mentally sick they might not be developed mentally to understand the severity of their crime. Many of them feel as if they are doing the community some good by killing certain groups of individuals or maybe have personal feelings towards them, Interestingly, some serial killer feels empathy for their killings which means they are aware that what they are doing is wrong with reference to the attitudes held by society, but they still continue to commit crimes. All of these criminals if caught early on might can be deterred by counselling and by punishment. Which will make them aware of the expectations of society and will show them the benefits of obliging as far as the law is concerned. However, some of these criminals can only be deterred punishment such as

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