01 Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

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Overview on Lawrence Kohlberg

Explanation of Kohlbergs Stages of MoralDevelopment

Some criticisms on the Stages

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A moral philosopher and student of child

development.Was a director of Harvard's Center for MoralEducation.

Special area of interest:

the moral development of children

how they develop a sense of right, wrong, and justice.

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Planes of moral adequacy to explain the

development of moral reasoning.Holds that moral reasoning - the basis for ethicalbehavior - has 6 identifiable developmental

constructive stageseach more adequate at responding to moraldilemmas than the last.

These 6 stages grouped into 3 levels: pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional (or principled).

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Extremely rare to regress backward in stages -

to lose functionality of higher stage abilities.No one functions at their highest stage at alltimes.

Not possible to 'jump' forward stagesEach stage provides a new yet necessaryperspective

Each stage is more comprehensive,differentiated, and integrated than itspredecessors.

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LEVEL 3

Post-conventional

(Principled)

6. Following self-chosen ethical principles even ifviolate law universal ethical principles

5. Valuing rights of others and upholding non-relativevalues and rights regardless of majoritys opinion

LEVEL 2

Conventional

4. Maintaining conventional order by fulfilling obligations

Authority and social-order maintaining orientation: Lawand order morality

3. Living up to what is expected by people close to youInterpersonal accord and conformity: The good boy/

good girl attitudeLEVEL 1

Pre-conventional

2. Following rules only when its in your immediate interest

Self-interest orientation: What's in it for me?1. Sticking to rules to avoid physical punishment

Obedience and punishment orientation: How can I avoid punishment?

Source: S. P. Robbins (2000), Essentials of Organizational Behavior , 6th ed, p. 83.6


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Lacks a perspective of society, moral decisions made basedupon the immediate rewards for self or others, purelyconcerned with the self in an egocentric manner.Morality of an action judged by its direct consequences.Consists of the first and second stages of moral development

Stage One - Obedience andpunishment driven

Individuals focus on the directconsequences that their actions will havefor themselves.

Eg. An action is perceived as morallywrong if the person who commits it getspunished. The worse the punishment forthe act is, the more 'bad' the act isperceived to be. In addition, there is norecognition that others' points of vieware any different from one's own view.

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Stage Two - S elf-interest drivenEspouses the what's in it for me position, right behavior being

defined by what is in one's own best interest.Limited interest in theneeds of others, butonly to a point where itmight further one's owninterests: you scratchmy back, and I'llscratch yours attitude.Concern for others isnot based on loyalty orintrinsic respect.

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Decisions made by an individual or group based uponwhat the individual /group perceives as the social normsof the society in which they live.

Morality of actions judged by comparingthese actions to societalviews and expectations .

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Stage Three - Interpersonal accord andconformity driven

The self enters society by filling social roles.Individuals receptive of approval or disapproval from otherpeople - reflects society's accordance with the perceived role.

Try to be a good boy or good girl to live up to theseexpectations, having learned that there is inherent value indoing so.

May judge the morality of an action by evaluating itsconsequences in terms of a person's relationships - begin toinclude things like respect and gratitude.

Desire to maintain rules and authority - exists only to furthersupport these stereotypical social roles.

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Important to obey laws and socialconventions - importance inmaintaining a functioning society.

Moral reasoning beyond theneed for individual approval

Society must learn totranscend individual needs.If one person violates a law,perhaps everyone would

thus an obligation and duty touphold laws and rules .

Stage Four - Authority and social order obedience driven

When someone violates a law, it is morally wrong

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Realisation that individuals are separateentities from society now becomes salient.

One's own perspective viewed before thesociety's.Decisions made based upon the merits ofeach individual situation.Norms of society - ignored as they mayconflict with the principled decision thatought to be made.

Nature of self before others especiallystage six, is sometimes mistaken for pre-conventional behaviours.

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Stage Five - Social contract driven

Individuals viewed as holding different opinions andvalues.Laws regarded as social contracts rather than rigiddictums.If do not promote the general welfare, should bechanged when necessary

to meet the greatest good for the greatest number of

people . Attained through majority decision, and inevitablycompromise, e.g. a democratic government .

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Stage Six - Universal ethical principles driven

Moral reasoning based on abstract reasoning using universal

ethical principles.Laws are valid only insofar as they are grounded in justice,

a commitment to justice carries with it an obligation todisobey unjust laws.

One acts because it is right, and not because it is instrumental,expected, legal or previously agreed upon.

Kohlberg insisted that stage six exists, but had difficulty findingpeople who consistently used it.

Appears that people rarely if ever reach stage six of Kohlberg'smodel.

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Is MORAL REASONING the same thing as MORALBEHAVIOR?

For e.g., a person may say he will do something when given amoral dilemma. Will that person behave in a way that is consistentwith what he says in a real life dilemma?

Moral development theories have been driven from howpeople live in the West .

May not correctly identify moral development status of culturallydifferent people with such tests.

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Reliability of Kohlberg's testing .

Will a child evaluated one day by a particular researcher beassessed at the same moral level a few days later by a differentresearcher?

Kohlberg is biased against women.

Kohlberg doesn't take into account the differences between menand women.

Women are more likely to base their explanations for moraldilemmas on concepts such as caring and personal relationships more likely to be scored at the Stage 3.

Men, however, are more likely to base their decisions for moraldilemmas on justice and equity more likely to be scored at Stage5 or 6.

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Overview on Lawrence Kohlberg

Explanation of Kohlbergs Level and Stages of

Moral DevelopmentSome criticisms on the Stages

Kohlberg

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTzBrjxKHLg

Additional Material:

Willard , N. (2007) Moral Development in the Information Age, University ofOregon. Available: http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/articles/willard.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25uWFqES0OA

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01 Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

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