Transcript Kohlberg`s Stages of Moral Development

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development
Who is Kohlberg?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm34XKECHN
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Theories of Moral Development
• Goal of Kohlberg was to discover what types of moral
decisions most people make and how they develop
their moral decision making abilities.
• He presented people (mostly men) with moral
dilemmas and then analyzed their decisions and
WHY they made their decisions.
• Found that most people go through similar stages of
moral development and that this sequence is the
same for almost all people.
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That all people start from the first and follow a specific
sequence.
Most do not go past level 4/5
Kohlberg’s Theory
 He posed the following moral dilemma to people in
order to gather information:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5czp9S4u26M
Three Levels
Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience
• Children of young ages make moral decisions based
on rewards and punishments.
• They learn that “yes” allows them to do something
which in turn gets a positive response  hug, cookie.
• “No” will result in somehow making them feel
uncomfortable  punishment/negative feedback.
Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience
• For children, good and bad is seen in terms of
earning rewards and avoiding punishment and if you
don’t get punished then it is okay.
• Basic criminal mentality. Many teens and adults
think the same.
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It’s okay to have sex as long as I don’t get a disease or
pregnant.
Okay to cheat as long as I don’t get caught.
Don’t report hitting a parked car if no one saw.
Stage 2 –Personal Usefulness
 Self-centered.
 As children get a bit older they make decisions on
what makes them feel good.
 Right is something that makes them feel good. Bad is
the opposite.
 Selfish because the needs of others is considered only
in so far as they affect one’s own needs.
Stage 2 –Personal Usefulness
 Calls it a reverse Golden rule  “Don’t do to others
what you don’t want them to do to you.”
 “If I do this for you, you’ll do that for me.” You may
harm someone in order to not get harmed yourself.
 Many adults and teens are in this stage of
development.
Stage 3 – Conforming to the Will of the
Group
• Concept of right and wrong depends mainly on what
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pleases or displeases others.
If others approve of a situation or decision then it
must be right.
If everyone is doing it, then it must be a good act.
Also known as the peer pressure stage
Moral decisions at this stage are known as “going
along with the crowd”
Stage 3 – Conforming to the Will of the
Group
 Bad equals whatever causes others to not like them.
 Kohlberg’s research shows that many adults never
reach this stage and those that do stay in it for the
rest of their lives.
Stage 3 – Conforming to the Will of the
Group
 Appears in the early teens – The girl who wants to be
really liked by a boy (boyfriend) will do anything to
please him.
 The excuse “but everybody else...” is the great
reasoning behind the actions.
Stage 4 – Authority and Social Order
• Many adults never reach the fourth level of moral
development in their thinking or in the basis of their
decision making.
• Those who do seem to remain at this level.
• Basically viewing right as doing that which is
obedient to the law and to legitimate authority.
• Legally right makes it moral. No law does not make it
morally wrong.
Stage 4 – Authority and Social Order
• The individual follows the ruling by the legitimate
authority without having to think about it. If the
religion says it’s wrong then it is automatically
morally wrong.
• Teens at this level think something is alright so long
as the authority figures in their life say it is alright.
• You may have sexual interactions as long as your
parents don’t seem to mind.
• No real argument against it leaves it morally open
Stage 5 – Social Contract and Human Rights
 Goes beyond that of law and order – looks behind
the laws and majority opinion.
 What is right is what society’s constitution
guarantees and upholds. What the society agrees to
be common conduct.
 If the laws uphold these they are alright to follow.
 If they do not, they are wrong.
Stage 5 – Social Contract and Human Rights
• The concern is the greater common purpose.
• Most adults never reach this level. Not really
concerned in practice when making their own
decisions about the welfare of the rest of society.
• Students obey school rules not because they are
respecting the rights of others. They don’t vandalize
out of a concern for social concern. They vandalize
because they don’t want to get caught.
Stage 5 – Social Contract and Human Rights
• Individuals don’t speed cause of a concern for
people’s right to life. They don’t want to be part of
the hassles of getting a ticket.
• Adults uphold contracts and promises not because of
what might happen if everyone went against their
word, but because they may get sued, or people will
think bad of them, or punished because they broke
the law.
Stage 6 – Universal Ethical Principle
• Highest level. Based on certain universal principles.
• The “things” that laws and rules are based. They are
seen to be good in themselves.
• What is right is based on their conscience and how to
best apply those principles to any given situation.
• The principle behind the act. More than yourself and
just others.
Stage 6 – Universal Ethical Principle
 Deal with what all as a whole would like.
 Ex. The Golden Rule  Everyone wants and deserves
to be treated with the dignity and respect extended to
certain individuals, regardless of which society or
status they belong to.
 These individuals will put aside self interest for the
sake of a greater good.
Stage 6 – Universal Ethical Principle
 Reward is not their motive, willing to risk
disapproval, willing to take the risk of punishment,
willing to set aside a cultural law.
 The principles they base their decisions on have the
welfare of all peoples, not just theirs or their group’s.
Sometimes they go against their whole country.
 Jesus, Ghandi