Kohlberg s Theories of Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg Lawrence Kohlberg was a psychologist who developed a theory of moral development. He saw distinct stages of morality that individuals move through as they mature.

Lawrence Kohlberg There is a major difference between Piaget s cognitive stages and Kohlberg s stages of moral reasoning we do not have a choice regarding mental development, but we do have a choice in our moral reasoning. Kohlberg s system has three main levels, each with two stages.

Preconventional Level Younger than 6 years old Morality is determined by outside authority Two different stages

Preconventional Level Stage 1: Punishment and obedience orientation. Physical consequences of action determine its goodness or badness.

Preconventional Level Stage 1: Punishment and obedience orientation. Physical consequences of action determine its goodness or badness. Stage 2: Self-interest orientation. What is right is what satisfies your own needs and occasionally the needs of others, e.g. what s in it for me?

Conventional Level From about 7 to 11 years old Moral reasoning is based on the expectations of others regarding what is right or wrong. At first children are seeking the approval of others, but gradually the idea that you should act a certain way because society expects it emerges

Conventional Level Stage 3: Good boy good girl orientation good behavior is what pleases or helps others and is approved by them

Conventional Level Stage 3: Good boy good girl orientation good behavior is what pleases or helps others and is approved by them Stage 4: Law and order orientation right is doing one s duty, showing respect for authority, and maintaining social order for its own sake

Conventional Level Stage 3: Good boy good girl orientation good behavior is what pleases or helps others and is approved by them Stage 4: Law and order orientation right is doing one s duty, showing respect for authority, and maintaining social order for its own sake this is where most people stop

Postconventional Level From about 11 onwards - maybe A relatively small proportion of people actually achieve this level, according to researchers At this level, personal ethics and human rights come into play

Postconventional Level Stage 5: Social contract orientation what is right is a function of individual rights and agreed upon standards. Democracy and the greatest good for the greatest number of people are examples.

Postconventional Level Stage 6: Universal ethical principle orientation what is right is determined decision of conscience according to selfchosen ethical principles This involves an individual imagining what they would do in another s shoes.

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Kohlberg s Moral Dilemma

Kohlberg s Moral Dilemma In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. the drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $400 for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get together about $2,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets desperate and considers breaking into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.

Kohlberg s Moral Dilemma In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make - $4000. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get together about $2,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets desperate and considers breaking into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife. Should Heinz steal the drug? Why or why not?

Pre-conventional Moral Reasoning Stages 1 & 2

Stage 1: Punishment & Obedience A focus on direct consequences Negative actions will result in punishments EXAMPLE: Heinz shouldn t steal the drug because he d go to jail if he got caught.

Stage 2: Self-interest Right is a fair exchange. Morals guided by what is fair EXAMPLE: Heinz should steal the drug because the druggist is being greedy by charging so much.

Conventional Moral Reasoning Stages 3 & 4

Stage 3: Interpersonal Expectations An attempt to live up to the expectations of important others Follow rules or do what others would want so that you win their approval Negative actions will harm those relationships EXAMPLE: Heinz should try to steal the drug because that s what a devoted husband would do.

Stage 4: Law-and-Order To maintain social order, people must resist personal pressures and follow the laws of the larger society Respect the laws & authority EXAMPLE: Heinz should not steal the drug because that would be against the law and he has duty to uphold the law.

Postconventional Moral Reasoning Stages 5 & 6

Stage 5: Legal Principles Must protect the basic rights of all people by upholding the legal principles of fairness, justice, equality & democracy. Laws that fail to promote general welfare or that violate ethical principles can be changed, reinterpreted, or abandoned EXAMPLE: Heinz should steal the drug because his obligation to save his wife s life must take precedence over his obligation to respect the druggist s property rights.

Stage 6: Universal Moral Principles Self-chosen ethical principles Profound respect for sanctity of human life, nonviolence, equality & human dignity Moral principles take precedence over laws that might conflict with them, Conscientious objectors refuses to be drafted because they are morally opposed to war. EXAMPLE: Heinz should steal the drug even if the person was a stranger and not his wife. He must follow his conscience and not let the druggist s desire for money outweigh the value of a human life.

Other Ethical Dilemmas

Criticisms Kohlberg s population for his research was primarily male. Some research on girls moral reasoning finds patterns that are somewhat different from those proposed by Kohlberg. Whereas boys moral reasoning revolves primarily around issues of justice, girls are more concerned about issues of caring and responsibility for others. (Slavin, 2003, pp. 58-59)

Criticisms (continued) Young children often reason about moral situations in more sophisticated ways than the stage theories of Piaget and Kohlberg would suggest. Children as young as 3 or 4 years old use intentions to judge the behavior of others (Slavin, 2003).

Criticisms (continued) Moral reasoning does not directly translate into behavior. Behavior may be affected by many other factors other than reasoning.