Lawrence Kohlberg
Lawrence Kohlberg conducted research on
moral development, using surveys as his
major source of assessment. He
presented surveys with moral dilemmas and asked
his subjects to evaluate the
moral conflict. In developing his theory, he made
an intensive study using
the same survey techniques of the bases on which
children and youths of
various ages make moral decisions. He found that moral
growth also begins
early in life and proceeds in stages throughout adulthood and
beyond which is
until the day we die. Influenced by Piaget's concept of
stages,
Kohlberg's theory was created based on the idea that stages of
moral development
build on each other in order of importance and significance
to the person. On
the basis of his research, Kohlberg identified six stages
of moral reasoning
grouped into three major levels. Each level represented a
fundamental shift in
the social-moral perspective of the individual. At the
first level, the
preconventional level, concrete, individual perspective
characterizes a person`s
moral judgments. Within this level, a Stage 1
heteronomous orientation focuses
on avoiding breaking rules that are backed
by punishment, obedience for its own
sake and avoiding the physical
consequences of an action to persons and
property. As in Piaget's framework,
ego-centrism and the inability to consider
the perspectives of others
characterize the reasoning of Stage 1. At Stage 2
there is the early
emergence of moral reciprocity. The Stage 2 orientation
focuses on the
instrumental, pragmatic value of an action. Reciprocity is of the
form, "you
scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." The Golden Rule
becomes, "If someone
hits you, you hit them back." At Stage 2 one
follows the rules only when it
is to someone's immediate interests. What is
right is what's fair in the
sense of an equal exchange, a deal, an agreement. At
Stage 2 there is an
understanding that everybody has his (her) own interest to
pursue and these
conflict, so that right is relative in the concrete
individualist sense.
Individuals at the conventional level of reasoning,
however, have a basic
understanding of conventional morality, and reason with an
understanding that
norms and conventions are necessary to uphold society. They
tend to be
self-identified with these rules, and uphold them consistently,
viewing
morality as acting in accordance with what society defines as
right.
Individuals at Stage 3 are aware of shared feelings, agreements,
and
expectations, which take primacy over individual interests. Persons at
Stage 3
define what is right in terms of what is expected by people close to
one's self,
and in terms of the stereotypic roles that define being good.
Being good means
keeping mutual relationships, such as trust, loyalty,
respect, and gratitude.
The perspective is that of the local community or
family. There is not as yet a
consideration of the generalized social system.
Stage 4 marks the shift from
defining what is right in terms of local norms
and role expectations to defining
right in terms of the laws and norms
established by the larger social system.
This is the "member of society"
perspective in which one is moral by
fulfilling the actual duties defining
one's social responsibilities. One must
obey the law except in extreme cases
in which the law comes into conflict with
other prescribed social duties.
Obeying the law is seen as necessary in order to
maintain the system of laws
which protect everyone. Finally, the post
conventional level is characterized
by reasoning based on principles, using a
"prior to society" perspective.
These individuals reason based on the
principles, which underlie rules and
norms, but reject a uniform application of
a rule or norm. While two stages
have been presented within the theory, only
one, Stage 5, has received
substantial empirical support. Stage 6 remains as a
theoretical endpoint
which rationally follows from the preceding 5 stages. In
essence this last
level of moral judgment evokes reasoning rooted in the ethical
fairness
principles from which moral laws would be devised. Laws are evaluated
in
terms of their coherence with basic principles of fairness rather than
upheld
simply on the basis of their place within an existing social order.
Thus, there
is an understanding that elements of morality such as regard for
life and human
welfare transcend particular cultures and societies and are to
be upheld
irrespective of other conventions or normative obligations. There
is some
controversy that Kohlberg`s theory of moral development is sexist
towards women.
Kohlberg's theory is based on data drawn from an all-male
sample. Kohlberg's six
stages that describe the development of moral judgment
from childhood to
adulthood are based on a study of eighty-four boys whose
development Kohlberg
has followed for a period of over twenty years. Although
Kohlberg claims
universality for his stage sequence, those groups not
included in his original
sample rarely reach his higher stages. Those who
appear to be deficient in moral
development when measured by Kohlberg's scale
are women. Their judgments seem to
reach only the third stage of his
six-stage sequence. At this stage, morality is
expressed in interpersonal
terms and goodness is equated with helping and
pleasing others. This
conception of goodness is considered by Kohlberg to be
functional in the
lives of mature women in the home. He implies that if women
enter the
traditional arena of male activities, then they will recognize the
inadequacy
of this moral perspective, and only in this way can they progress
like men
toward higher stages where relationships are subordinated to rules and
rules
to universal principles of justice. Women researchers have views of their
own
on Kohlberg`s implications that women don`t reach a full development
of
maturity. The reason why women cannot reach the higher stages of
Kohlberg's
scale is not because their moral development cannot reach
maturity. Research has
found that woman's moral development centers on the
elaboration of the knowledge
of the importance of responsibility,
relationships, and care. This importance is
something that women have known
from the beginning. However, because that
knowledge in women has been
considered "intuitive" or
"instinctive," psychologists have neglected to
describe its
development. The women's care for and sensitivity to the needs
of others
traditionally has been defined as the "goodness" of women, but
these
also mark the women as deficient in moral development. Lawrence
Kohlberg`s
theory is the basis for debates today on moral development.The six
stages of his
theory are dependent on the other from simple to the complex.
Each stage also is
more cognitively complex than the previous stages.The
works of Jean Piaget on
cognitive development influenced Kohlberg. There is
some controversy on whether
his theory is sexist. Arguments on this matter
frequently arise
among
psychologists.