Identity development is a fluid process throughout the human life cycle. Seemingly, adolescence, development after the age of 12 through young adulthood, is the most difficult transitive period in the life cycle. Adolescence is a critical time for a human, because it is the period when various personal roles are examined and one tries to assimilate these roles into a perception of self. Adolescents are struggling to identify different areas in their life such as religious preferences, sexuality, future careers, and hobbies. According to Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2013):
Arriving at answers to such questions is among the most important tasks people face in life. Without answers, a person will not be prepared to make such major
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Each theory emphasizes different roles in human life development.
Presentation of the Seminal Points of Each Theory Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory consists of eight distinct stages of human development; Stage 1: Basic Trust Versus Basic Mistrust, Stage 2: Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt, Stage 3: Initiative Versus Guilt, Stage 4: Industry Versus Inferiority, Stage 5: Identity Versus Role Confusion, Stage 6: Intimacy Versus Isolation, Stage 7: Generativity Versus Stagnation, and Stage 8: Ego Integrity Versus Despair. Erikson asserts that each stage of human development is a crisis and that successful coping in each stage allows the human to advance to the next stage of life with mental health. For the purposes of comparison, the focus will be on Stage 5: Identity Versus Role Confusion, as this stage addresses the crisis of the adolescent years. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development consists of three level and six stages that a human progresses through in life, while gaining a deeper concept to their moral development. Level 1: Pre-conventional; Stage1: Punishment and obedience orientation, Stage 2: Naïve instrumental hedonism, Level 2: Conventional; Stage 3: “Good boy/girl morality”, Stage 4: Authority-maintaining morality, Level 3: Post-conventional; Stage 5 Morality of contract, of individual rights, and of democratically accepted law, and Stage 6:
Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development constitute an adaptation of a psychological theory originally conceived by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. Kohlberg began work on this topic while a psychology graduate student at the University of Chicago in 1958, and expanded upon the theory throughout his life.
A theory proposed by Erik Erikson (1950, 1963) promotes the eight development stages of adolescents through adulthood by comparing the transitory periods. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for identity and personality development. The first stage is trust vs. mistrust, this stage starts at birth and end at the age of one year. This stage also explains the safety that the infant is getting from the caregiver. For example, if the infant receives constant care, they will develop a sense of trust which will be carried out with them to other and future relationships. The second stage is autonomy vs. shame and doubt; this stage occurs at the age of two to three years old. In this stage, the child is mainly discovering their skills and abilities. The third stage is Initiative vs. Guilt; this stage occurs around age three to age
Lawrence Kohlberg, a developmental psychologist, identified six developmental stages of human moral reasoning. The first stage that he recognized was the Punishment-Obedience Orientation, where the person’s concern is for avoiding punishment through obedience. The second stage was the Instrumental Relativist Orientation, where the person’s concern is to work in their self interest, and better their position. The third stage of moral development was the Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation, where the person’s concern lies with their reputation. Next was the Law And Order Orientation, where the person was less concerned with their own immediate well being to the maintenance of a larger society. The fifth stage was the Social Contract
The Theory of Moral Development is a subject that derived from Jean Piaget's theory of moral reasoning and this theory was developed by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. This theory made us conscious that morality starts from the early childhood years and can possibly be affected by several factors such as society, but there are people in opposition to this theory. Kohlberg developed six stages of moral development and it is divided into three levels of development. The three levels of moral development are preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. As stated in Kohlberg's theory, “moral development proceeds in a linear process; it also proceeds steadily from one stage to the next in the order of moral development” (“Kohlberg's slide presentation”). Kohlberg uncovered four stages after Jean Piaget's because he had only discovered two. The stages that Kohlberg discovered after Jean flourish into adolescence and adulthood. He suggested that some people reach the postconventional level. (Oswalt).
It outlines the struggle an individual faces in finding stability between developing a sense of forming a unique identity while still being accepted and “fitting in” with society. Erikson believed that when teenagers adequately navigated their way through this crisis, they would transpire into having a clear understanding of their individual identity and easily share this new ‘self’ with others. However, if an individual is unable to navigate their way through this crisis period, they may be uncertain of who they are which can result in a lack of understanding, leading to disconnection from society and the people around them. If youth become stuck at this stage they will be unable to become emotionally mature adults, according to Erikson’s theory. This period of an individual’s life allows them to investigate possibilities which will lead them to discovering their own identity based upon the result of their explorations.
Puberty in essence is a life changing event for males and females, typically following a time of significant physical growth. Puberty is the stage in life when secondary sex characteristics are developing, sexual organs mature due to production of sex hormones. This naturally occurs during adolescence, the stage in life between childhood and adulthood. Nonetheless, Feldman (2014) points out the fact that physical changes begin earlier for girls typically at the age of 10, with sexual organ development generally around the ages of 11-12. On the other hand, physical changes for boys, frequently occurs later, around the age of 12, with development of sexual organs around the age of 13-14. Nevertheless there has been a trend towards early maturation of both male and females, this can bring about advantages and disadvantages for both sexes (Feldman, 2014). This author will discuss the pros and cons of early versus late maturation in boys versus girls in 21st century U.S. society as well as how media reinforces maturation for pre-teens and teens.
Lawrence Kohlberg, the author of three stages, was an American psychologist who is well known for his theory on the stages of moral development. According to Kohlberg, there are three levels of moral development:Preconventional (moral reasoning is based on external rewards and punishments), Conventional (laws and rules are upheld simply because they are laws and rules), and Postconventional (reasoning is based on personal moral standards)” (powerpoint).
In this paper I plan to discuss the developmental stages of adolescence. Adolescents are also referred to as "teenagers" or "young adults." Adolescence begins after the childhood stage and ends right before adulthood. The years of adolescence range from 12 years old to 21 years old. The years of adolescence can be quite a roller coaster ride. Young people in this stage encounter a great deal of changes in their life as they prepare for adulthood. I will discuss emotional, intellectual, physiological, and social domains of development and how it relates to adolescents. I will also discuss some helpful tips for teachers to aide in communicating effectively to adolescents and understanding their
The second level of Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral development is the Conventional Level. The Conventional level consists of stages 3 and 4. Stage 3 is based on interpersonal expectations. Those who are at this stage try to be a “good” boy or a “good” girl and live up to others’--such as close friends and family’s-- expectations. Stage 4 is based on Law-and-Order. They are not only focused on what their family and friends say; they are now focused on society. These stages are usually reached by early teens. They don’t blindly follow rules;
Lawrence Kohlberg is known for his theory of moral development developed in 1958. His theory was dependent on the thinking of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and American philosopher John Dewey. It consists of three levels of moral reasoning: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. These levels are based on the degree to which an individual accommodates to the conventional standards of society. Each level aquires two stages that serve as different standards of sophistication in moral reasoning. Overall, Kohlberg affirms that moral development is a process of maturing that emerges from thinking about about moral issues (“Kohlberg’s Moral Development”).
The moral implications of the scene are great, as this execution style killing in broad daylight was not expected from a man who had just finished a speech about “honesty, integrity, and hard work”. According to Kohlberg, however, this seemingly immoral act falls in line with Frank’s position on the stages of moral development. Kohlberg’s theory dictates six stages of moral development belonging to 3 broader stages, Pre Conventional, Conventional, and Post Conventional. The Pre Conventional is commonly found in children, and is composed of individuals who base their morality on outside threats, such as schoolchildren obeying teachers under threat of punishment. This includes 2 stages, individuals who only see the consequences of their moral actions as well as those who view morality as what is best for them. Next, the conventional stage is where most adolescents and adults remain for their whole lives. It includes two sub stages, morality determined by conforming to social consensus and morality determined by realizing the importance obedience plays in maintaining social order. Finally, the post conventional stage is one that most people do not progress to. It contains stages based on differing moral opinions based on contractual orientation, as well as morality based on abstract, categorical
Adolescence is both a social and cultural construct as well as biological one, it is the developmental period where one transition from being a child to adult and face biological, psychological, and social challenges. This challenging, and important time in between childhood and adulthood has caused a lot of interest in the psychological field and a number of theories have been developed in order to try and explain the different stages of development. One of the most significant models of psychosocial development was created by Erikson (1963) and the stage related to adolescents is known as the “Identity vs. Role-Diffusion”, where the one is in constant pursuit of a coherent sense of self during the teenage years. When the teenager is unable to put together aspects of themselves they experience role-diffusion. Later on Elkind (1967) introduced his theory of adolescent egocentrism, explaining the increase in preoccupation with oneself during the teenage years. Kohlberg (1969) quickly followed up with his theory of moral development, in order to examine how adolescents develop their ability to solve ethical dilemmas. Another challenge teenagers need to face is mental health. The psychological part of striving for independence, while still struggling with identity formation and having poor coping strategies can have serious consequences and lead to mental illnesses, such as depression which is a growing concern among youths. This essay will further examine to what extent
The chart above denotes the major theories of adolescence development; however in this study we limit ourselves to Erik Erikson’s identity development theory.
The theory of moral development, advanced by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg is one of the most well-known persuasive theories in the field of cognitive science and stems from the work of Jean Piaget, which hypothesizes on the direct correlation that exists between moral and cognitive development. Kohlberg speaks of the appearance and understanding of what is right and wrong from childhood to adulthood and explains by this transition through the identification of various levels of morality known as pre-conventional, conventional and post conventional. People will make decisions based on the understanding of the possible outcome and through reasoning of morals. (Target Concept)
Having a baby is a huge change and bring huge responsibilities to future parents and to all the people around them.The best age to decide to having a baby is between the age of 24-36, when the future parents are mature enough to deal with this. This is the perfect age to get pregnant because the future parents at this age must have a good educational level and any of them have their college degree. Parents whom use drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, heroin, alcohol, etc must find medical help, or quit from use it in order to their baby’s wellness. Parents must be also aware of the different types of genetic abnormalities that their pregnancy may bring such as down syndrome, cystic fibrosis ,Tay-Sachs disease, etc. Adolescence is a special stage of development. Puberty is the time when teenagers reach reproductive capacity as biological which involve the brain structure in the hypothalamus regulates sexual behavior. During the adolescence the body shapes in both girls and boys become more specific. In this stage is when girls and boys start to worry about their appearances, this phase is called body image the perception and feelings about their body. This remind me when I was about fourteen or fifth teen that I was so worry about my appearances, and the perfect body, because I used to be fat so all my friends around were skinnier than me and as I get older I started losing weights and become obsessed with my appearances.