LEARNING GOAL 9.3: DESCRIBE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORAL REASONING

USING KOHLBERG'S STAGES.

Moral Development

Changes in What Seems Right

Lawrence Kohlberg (1963)Posed a moral dilemma to children of various ages:

A woman is dying of a rare form of cancer. Her pharmacist carries a drug that doctors think might save her; this drug is expensive to manufacture, and the pharmacist is selling the drug for 10 times the manufacturing cost. The woman’s family cannot afford the drug; her husband pleads with the pharmacist to lower the price, but the pharmacist claims the right to charge what he wants. Desperate, the husband breaks into the pharmacy and steals the drug for his wife.

Identified patterns in the responses to categorize three stages of moral reasoning; these stages are NOT linear and do not necessarily change predictably with age

Kohlberg, Stage 1: Preconventional

Right and wrong are determined by punishments, rewards, and needs

Example: “The husband was wrong because he’ll be put in jail”

Example: “The husband was right because he’ll get to keep his wife”

Kohlberg, Stage 2: Conventional

Right and wrong are determined by social norms, authority/order, and sense of duty

Example: “The husband was wrong because stealing is against the law”

Example: “The husband was right because most people will do anything for family”

Kohlberg, Stage 3: Postconventional

Right and wrong are determined by universal ethical principles, rights, and obligations

Example: “The husband was wrong because we must respect the property of others, even of greedy people”

Example: “The husband was justified because everyone has a right to live”

Criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory

Vary with culture (studied in Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Israel)

Carol Gilligan (1982) – gender differences in moral reasoning would tend to place most women at a lower level of Kohlberg’s scale

Moral reasoning is different from moral behavior