Kaylee Georgeoff’s Moral Development According to Lawrence Kohlberg

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 tracks an individual's level of moral reasoning by assigning him to one of six stages, where the first stage is a basic submission to authority and the last is universal ethics for all. As an educator, consider where your students' personal development lies in terms of Kohlberg's six stages. Then work toward achieving optimal moral character along the lines of Kohlberg's level six "Universal Principals" for a positive and constructive learning environment.

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).

At Stage 1, people think that the ‘doing right things’ is what authority says ‘it is right’. Thus, people’s points of view are very similar to each other. This is the stage that all young children start at and a few adults remain in. Rules are fixed and absolute. Obeying the rules is important and valuable because it means avoiding punishment.

Lawrence Kohlberg, a professor at Harvard, creates a theory of human moral development. Since his theory was an expansion of Jean Piaget moral development of children, he elucidates of his theory to have series of stages. Each stage were categorized into three levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. During each level there are 2 stages which are consequent for moral development because they are action that manifest on who we are.

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”).

When it comes to authority figures I think my parents were trying to teach us to act with integrity and not let others think for us or tell us what to do. At first my family seemed to be deontological; when I was younger, I followed these rules because that is what I was taught to do. Today these values appear to be virtuous to me, I now do these things because it is something a good person would do and I prefer to be a good person.

As children, the majority of us are taught to listen to our parents and respect our elders without questioning their judgment. By teaching this form of conformity, parents and guardians are able to gain some control over kids and adolescents who are susceptible into believing a set of cultural values. To an extent, I believe that teaching children conformity is acceptable as a way to establish guidelines of respect. However, after watching this video, I was a bit surprised to see how conformity can inhibit a person from speaking out against a wrongful act out of fear of receiving negative sanctions.

Level I: Preconventional morality: People act under external controls. They obey rules to avoid punishment or reap rewards, or act out of self-interest (Papalia, Olds, & Feldman, 2004, p. 408).

Kohlberg’s stages of moral development were based on a moral philosopher by the name of Lawrence Kohlberg. His main interest was to observe children during growth to develop and conclude which stages they best fit into. After observing both adults and children, he concluded that, “Human beings progress consecutively from one stage to the next in an invariant sequence” (“Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development”). All of the 6 stages he created, represent the morality in which a child or adult can be at; he created an age zone for each stage. There are a total of 6 stages but each main concept consists of 3 levels. Level 1 is the preconventional stage. This stage focuses on punishment/obedience and how the person decides to act due to the

Kohlberg (1963, 1981, 1984; Colby & Kohlberg, 1987) expanded Piaget’s work, developing a most influential cognitive developmental theory of moral development. Kohlberg proposed the progression through the invariant, universal sequence of three moral levels each composed of two distinct stages. According to Kohlberg, no stage can be skipped, neither will there be a regression to an earlier stage.

The second level of moral development is the conventional moral reasoning; “Beginning in middle school, up to middle age – most people end up here” (“Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development.”). At this level,

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)

This level is based on the principles that are chosen by an individual or what we call self-chosen. Moral reasoning in this level is based on the rights and justice of individuals. Individuals now believed that there are some laws that is unfair and those must be changed. It is recognized by a growing realization that individuals have their own perspective and are separate from the society. Individuals may also disobey the rules that are inconsistent with their principles. People in this stage live by their own principles like human rights. They live by their own idea of what is right and wrong.