| What are some criticisms against Kohlberg's theory of moral development? | 1. Many people never reach the postconventional ethics level of moral reasoning, which raises questions about moral maturity.
2. Moral reasoning depends more on context than Kohlberg acknowledged.
3. Performance at a certain stage depends more on domain-specific knowledge than Kohlberg described.
4. The links between moral reasoning and moral behaviour are relatively weak; people often reason at one stage but behave in another.
5. Kohlberg's theory doesn't adequately take cultural differences into account. |
| Who was Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987)? | Lawrence Kohlberg is an American educator and psychologist. He built on and extended Piaget's work on moral development. Kohlberg used moral dilemmas, ambiguous, conflicting situations that require a person to make a moral decision, as the basis for his research. |
| What is a moral dilemma? | Moral dilemma composes of two words: 'moral' and 'dilemma'. Something is considered a moral issue if it deals with matters of right and wrong. It is a dilemma if the decision that the individual makes has positive and negative consequences.
Therefore, a moral dilemma may be defined as a consequential decision that has ethical weight. |
| What did Kohlberg's theory concluded about children's responses to moral dilemmas? | Kohlberg (1963, 1969, 1981, 1984) believes that moral reasoning exists in stages, and development occurs when people's reasoning advances to a higher stage.
On the basis of research conducted in Malaysia, Great Britain, Mexico, Taiwan, and Turkey, Kohlberg concluded that the development of moral reasoning is similar across cultures. |
| What is a key concept when differentiating between the various stages of Kohlberg's moral reasoning theory? | We must remember that the specific response to a moral dilemma isn't the primary issue; the level of moral development is determined by the REASONS A PERSON GIVES for making decisions. |
| Describe the 3 levels, consisting of 2 stages each, in Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning. | Level I: Preconventional Ethics
(Typical of preschool and elementary students.)
Stage 1: Punishment-Obedience
Stage 2: Market Exchange
Level II: Conventional Ethics
(Seen in older elementary and middle school students and many high school students.)
Stage 3: Interpersonal Harmony
Stage 4: Law and Order
Level III: Postconventional Ethics
(Rarely seen before college, and the universal principles stage is seldom seen even in adults.)
Stage 5: Social Contract
Stage 6: Universal Principles |
| Describe Level I: Preconventional Ethics. | Preconventional morality is an egocentric orientation that focuses on the consequences of actions for the self. This is typical of children up to about age 10. It is called preconventional because children typically don't fully understand rules set down by others. |
| Describe the 'punishment-obedient' and 'market exchange' stages in Level I: Preconventional Ethics. | 1. In the punishment-obedience stage, people make moral decisions based on their chances of getting caught and being punished. If the person is caught and punished, then the act is morally wrong; if not, the act is right. Consequences of acts determine whether they're good or bad. Individuals make moral decisions without considering the needs or feelings of others.
2. In the market exchange stage, people reason that an act is morally justified if it results in reciprocity, such as "You do something for me, and I'll do something for you." The ethics of "What's in it for me?", obeying rules and exchanging favours are judged in terms of benefits to the individual. |
| Describe Level II: Conventional Ethics. | In the conventional level of morality, reasoning no longer depends on the consequences for the individual but instead is linked to acceptance of society's conceptions of right and wrong and the creation of an orderly world.
This is typical of 10-to-20-year-olds. The name comes from conformity to the rules and conventions of society. |
| Describe the 'interpersonal harmony' and 'law and order' stages in Level II: Conventional Ethics. | 1. In the interpersonal harmony stage, ethical decisions are based on concern for or the opinion of others. What pleases, helps, or is approved of by others characterised this stage. People make decisions based on loyalty, living up to the expectations of others, and social conventions.
For example, a teenager on a date who believes she should meet a curfew because she doesn't want to worry her parents is at this stage.
2. In the law and order stage, it involves the ethics of laws, rules, and social order. Rules and laws are seen as inflexible and are obeyed for their own sake. People believe that laws and rules exist to guide behaviour and create an orderly world, and they should be followed uniformly.
For example, a person in Stage 4 would argue that we should not cheat in exams because "It's against the rules to cheat," or "What kind of world would we live in if people thought cheating was okay?" |
| Describe Level III: Postconventional Ethics. | Postconventional morality, also called principled morality, views moral issues in terms of abstract principles of right and wrong. Rarely reached before age 20 and only by a small portion of the population.
People's reasoning in Level III, have transcended both the individual and societal levels. They don't follow rules for their own sake; rather, they follow rules because the rules are principled agreements. |
| Describe the 'social contract' and 'universal principles' stages in Level III: Postconventional Ethics. | 1. In the social contract stage, people make moral decisions based on socially agreed upon principles.
For example, a person reasoning at this stage would say that cheating in exams is wrong because teachers and learners agree in principle that grades should reflect achievement, and cheating violates this agreement.
2. In the universal principles stage, the individual's moral reasoning is based on abstract, general principles that transcend society's laws. People at this stage define right and wrong in terms of internalised universal standards.
"The Golden Rule" is a commonly cited example. Because very few people operate at this stage, and questions have been raised about the existence of "universal" principles, Kohlberg deemphasised this stage in his later writings (Kohlberg, 1984). |
| What are some criticisms against Kohlberg's theory of moral development? | 1. Many people never reach the postconventional ethics level of moral reasoning, which raises questions about moral maturity.
2. Moral reasoning depends more on context than Kohlberg acknowledged.
3. Performance at a certain stage depends more on domain-specific knowledge than Kohlberg described.
4. The links between moral reasoning and moral behaviour are relatively weak; people often reason at one stage but behave in another.
5. Kohlberg's theory doesn't adequately take cultural differences into account. |
