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Lawrence Kohlberg was originally a developmental psychologist whose work began as a professor at Harvard University. In 1949 and 1950, Jean Piaget, the prominent Swiss psychologist, had published his theory involving stages of cognitive development. In the 1970’s Kohlberg expanded Piaget’s theory into his own theory of moral development. ...
These men believed, and Kohlberg was able to demonstrate through his research, that humans progress from an amoral state to a moral state through a series of stages. He believed that there were six identifiable stages that every human being goes through as they age, generally classified into three levels (see Appendix 1). ... A child during this stage of moral development will understand that good behaviour equals reward and bad behaviour equals punishment. ...
The final level of moral development is the Postconventional Level, in which morality is characterised in terms of a broader sense of justice that may or may not be reflected in the laws of the land. Kohlberg felt that many adults never reach this stage (Kenyon, 2000). ... In this stage, the individual identifies his own perceptions of right and wrong or good and bad based on his own moral values, which reflect his conscience. ...
Kohlberg’s theory has quite a few opponents, the most notable of whom is Carol Gilligan, a one-time research assistant to Kohlberg at Harvard University during the 1970’s. ...
Gilligan felt that Kohlberg’s exclusively male studies caused a biased opinion against women. Her major study area eventually became moral development in girls. While Kohlberg’s subjects were concerned with right and wrong or good and bad, Gilligan focused her theory on justice and care (see Appendix 2).
Kohlberg’s sample of 84 middle-class males studied over twenty years showed evidence that the males’ view of individual rights and rules was considered a higher stage of development than the females’ opinion of development in terms of its caring effect on human relationships. As Gilligan herself said in her book “In a Different Voice” in 1982, “herein lies a paradox, for the very traits that traditionally have described the “goodness” of women, their care and sensitivity to the needs of others, are those that mark them as deficient in moral development”.
Approximate Word count = 1687
Approximate Pages = 6.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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