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Moral Development: A historical perspective

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Title: Moral Development: A historical perspective


1
Moral Development A historical perspective
  • Lawrence Kohlbergs Theory

2
The good, the bad
  • Good
  • Focused on morality as an important area of human
    development
  • Developed a system (moral dilemmas) for measuring
    reasoning
  • Bad
  • Has definite race, class and gender bias. We had
    a hard time accepting that middle-class Caucasian
    males were the most ethical folks on earth
  • Moral reasoning does not predict moral behavior
    well

3
Okay, now that we got that out of our system!
4
Why study Kohlbergs theory?
  • It provides a useful way to analyze our own moral
    reasoning. How do we decide what is right?
  • It is true that knowing what is right and doing
    what is right are two very different things, but
    we believe that if thinking ethically comes first
    then acting ethically may follow.

5
Harvard psychologist, Lawrence Kohlberg, was one
of the first people to seriously study whether or
not an older person has the capabilities to learn
ethical behavior later on in life. He found the
ability to think morally develops in levels and
stages.
6
Kohlbergs Levels
  • Pre-conventional Level
  • Conventional Level
  • Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or Principled
    Level

7
Each level has two stages
8
Pre-conventional Level
  • The first level develops at a very young age.
    Kohlberg called this stage the pre-conventional
    level. At this level a persons view of right
    and wrong is usually influenced by their family,
    mainly their parents and older siblings, and the
    consequences attached to their behavior. If one
    of these authority figures is morally and
    ethically corrupt, there is a good chance the
    child will be to. Right or wrong is identified
    in terms of what results in rewards and
    punishments. Some people stay at this level all
    their lives.
  • The individuals who stay at this level often
    refuse to believe his/her family member did
    something wrong, even when the evidence is
    overwhelming. Parents will defend children,
    individuals will defend siblings, wife's/
    husbands will defend their spouse and children
    will defend their parents unethical behavior. We
    can think of many examples of this on the
    reservation.

9
Pre-conventional Level
  • Stage 0 Egocentric Judgment
  • The child makes judgments of good on the basis
    of what he likes and wants or what helps him, and
    bad on the basis of what he does not like or what
    hurts him. He has no concept of rules or of
    obligations to obey or conform independent of his
    wish. (Kohlberg, 1971)

10
Pre-conventional Level
  • Stage 1 The Punishment and Obedience
    Orientation.
  • The physical consequences of action determine
    its goodness or badness regardless of the human
    meaning or value of these consequences.
    Avoidance of punishment and unquestioning
    deference to power are values in their own right,
    not in terms of respect for an underlying moral
    order supported by punishment and authority (the
    latter is stage 4).

11
Pre-conventional Level
  • Stage 2 The Instrumental Relativist Orientation.
  • Right action consists of what instrumentally
    satisfies ones own needs and occasionallythe
    needs of others. Human relations are viewed in
    terms such as those of the market place.
    Elements of fairness, reciprocity, and equal
    sharing are present, but they are always
    interpreted in a physical, pragmatic way.
    Reciprocity is a matter of you scratch my back
    and Ill scratch your, not loyalty, gratitude,
    or justice. (Kohlberg, 1971)

12
Conventional Level
  • Kohlberg calls the second level of moral
    development the conventional level. Young people
    have internalized the ethical and moral beliefs
    of their family and the group they associate
    with. Kohlberg says this is because of loyalty
    to these groups. Young people at this stage will
    often say, my dad said (family) or, all my
    friends are doing it (society) or, I plan to
    join the army to defend my country (patriotic).
    Many people remain at this level, continuing to
    define right and wrong in terms of what society
    believes or what laws require.

13
Conventional Level
  • Children raised in a society where the parents
    missed work on a weekly basis, where the ones who
    did work falsified time sheets, where leaders
    were known to help only their friends and
    relatives, out of loyalty these children are more
    than likely to develop these same values.

14
Conventional Level
  • Stage 3 The Interpersonal Concordance or Good
    Boy
  • Good behavior is what pleases or helps others
    and is approved by them. There is much
    conformity to stereotypical images of what is
    majority or natural behavior. Behavior is
    frequently judged by intention he means well
    becomes important for the first time. One earns
    approval by being nice. (Kohlberg, 1971)

15
Conventional Level
  • Stage 4 The Law and Order Orientation
  • The individual is oriented toward authority,
    fixed rules, and the maintenance of the social
    order. Right behavior consists in doing ones
    duty, showing respect for authority, and
    maintaining the given social order for its own
    sake. (Kohlberg, 1971)

16
Post-Conventional Level
To reach Kohlbergs final level, which he labeled
the post-conventional level, a person must
continue to develop morally. A person at
this level stops defining right and wrong in
terms of group loyalties or norms. Instead, the
adult at this level develops moral principles
that define right and wrong from a universal
point of view. Simply stated, a person at this
level makes his/her ethical decisions based on
what any reasonable person would know as right
or wrong. These decisions are based on
universal ideals of justice or human rights or
human welfare.
17
Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or Principled
Level
  • Stage 5 The Social-Contract Legalistic
    Orientation
  • EXAMPLE We all know and admire these
    individuals. They are the ones who stand up to
    tribal council members, program directors, and
    other tribal members when they are exhibiting
    questionable behavior. While we admire these
    people, we often dont emulate them because of
    fear.

18
Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or Principled
Level
  • Stage 5 The Social-Contract Legalistic
    Orientation
  • Right action tends to be defined in terms of
    general individual rights and standards that have
    been critically examined and agreed upon by the
    whole society. .. Aside from what is
    constitutionally and democratically agreed upon,
    right action is a matter of personal values and
    opinions. The result is an emphasis upon the
    legal point of view, but with an additional
    emphasis upon the possibility of changing the law
    in terms of rational considerations of social
    utility (rather than freezing it in terms of
    stage 4 law and order). Outside the legal
    realm, free agreement, and contract, is the
    binding element of obligation. The official
    morality of the American government and
    Constitution is at this stage. (Kohlberg, 1971)

19
Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or Principled
Level
  • Finally, Kohlberg also found that when his
    students took courses in ethics that challenged
    them to look at issues from a universal point of
    view, they had a more likely chance of changing
    their moral behavior.
  • Many rez Indians would vehemently disagree with
    this finding. One elder said to me, "It seems
    like they go to school just to learn how to steal
    more. Indeed, on most Indian reservations I am
    aware of, having an advanced degree does not make
    a person more ethical.

20
Post-Conventional, Autonomous, or Principled
Level
  • Stage 6 The Universal Ethical-Principle
    Orientation
  • Right is defined by the decision of conscience in
    accord with self-chosen ethical principles that
    appeal to logical comprehensiveness,
    universality, and consistency. These principles
    are abstract and ethical (the Golden Rule, the
    categorical imperative) they are not concrete
    moral rules like the Ten Commandments. At heart,
    these are universal principles of justice, of the
    reciprocity and equality of the human rights, and
    of respect for the dignity of human beings as
    individual persons. (Kohlberg, 1971)

21
Which one of Kohlbergs stages describes you?
  • Give examples of your own behavior to support
    that stage.
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