Kohlberg 's Theory Of Moral Development

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.

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is an adaptation of the development theory of Jean Piaget. Piaget studied many aspects of moral judgment, most of his findings fit into a two stage process of moral development. Put into the simplest of terms, Stage 1: children younger than 10 or 11 years think about moral dilemmas one way and Stage 2: older children consider them differently.

Moral Development is defined as “changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviors regarding standards of right and wrong” (Santrock, 2010). Moral development

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;

Kohlberg’s Moral Stages help to explain how people act the way that they act. Level 1 is Preconventional/Premoral. This is where “the child is responsive to rules and evaluative labels, but views them in terms of pleasant or unpleasant consequences of actions, or in terms of the physical power of those who impose the rules.” Level two is conventional/role conformity where there is good boy/good girl orientation and authority and social order are determined. Level three is post conventional/self-accepted moral principles where norms of right and wrong are defined in terms of laws or institutionalized rules. Then there is where the morality of individual principles of conscience where if one acts against social rules they feel self-condemnation and guilt. These principles help to not only see how people are acting at the time but they also help to show how over time that may be the phone call or afterwards how a person will

Lawrence Kohlberg named six stages of moral development. These stages occurred in three separate levels: level one is preconventional morality, level two is conventional morality, and level three is postconventional morality. Each level consisted of two of the stages. The first level, preconventional morality, consisted of the obedience and punishment stage and the individual interest stage. The obedience and punishment stage stated that behavior was driven by avoiding punishment and the individual interest age stated that behavior was driven by self-interest and rewards. These stages usually occurred with preschool and elementary School level children. The second level, conventional morality, consisted of the interpersonal stage and the authority

Intellectual development, however, does not stop at this point. This is just the beginning of formal operations, which continue to develop at least until age 16. Accordingly, one might expect thinking about moral issues to continue to develop throughout adolescence. Kohlberg, therefore, interviewed both children and adolescents about moral dilemmas, and he did find stages that go well beyond Piaget's.

Lawrence Kohlberg who was a psychologist the framework in establishing six different stages of moral development that occur at three different levels. Each level contains two separate stages. Level I and stage one is considered more associated with younger children prior to reaching adolescence with a focus is on self (Klein, 2016, p. 27). At stage II level one, an individual still to act out of self-interest but starts to realize that punishment is delved out based on the severity of the misconduct or infraction that is taking place (Klein, 2016, p. 28). The concern here

Advancing through Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development is something all individuals experience. All individuals continue on through these stages at different paces and reaching different levels. I have been able to advance through these moral stages relatively faster than other individuals due to events and experiences in my life. I have been able to not only develop morally, but also academically, being capable of learning and applying knowledge to everyday situations. This development has been assisted to by Gardner’s Intelligent Strengths and Kaplin’s Habits of a Scholar.

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

Lawrence Kohlberg laid the groundwork for the current debate within psychology on moral development. He proposed that children form ways of thinking through their experiences which include understandings of moral concepts such as justice, rights, equality and human welfare. Kohlberg followed the development of moral judgment beyond the ages. He determined that the process of attaining moral maturity took longer and was more gradual than other studies have shown.

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,

Goldman Sachs should have been punished for its behavior in the years leading up to the financial crisis. Goldman ended up settling with the federal government for $110 Billion, which I do not believe was sufficient based on the magnitude of problems created. This amount should have been much larger, and at minimum they should have forfeited the $14 Billion paid to them by AIG. (Inside Job, 2011) In addition, AIG should have had the right to sue Goldman Sachs for fraud. It was in the public’s best interest to keep Goldman up and running, however additional penalties could have been put on a repayment schedule to keep them solvent. Instead, you had Goldman giving out large bonuses.

Kohlberg’s research on moral development suggested that morality and moral reasoning progresses through a series of six stages in a fixed order, without skipping a stage. If this is true, the types of moral beliefs, motivations, choices, and actions of everyone will be characteristically different in relation to the stage of cognitive development or intellectual maturity

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)