Moral Development

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer maintains that Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development is a cornerstone of our understanding of moral development. The writer notes that in the tradition of Piaget, Kohlberg proposed that children form their ways of thinking--including their moral reasoning--through their experiences during development. Thus, the writer relates that moral development and reasoning is a function of the usual childhood development and lies well within the realm of psychology. The writer concludes that Kohlberg's theory of moral development is a strong extension of work already conducted by Jean Piaget on the developmental process. However, the writer claims that it is severely limited in its applicability as Kohlberg imagines incorrectly it can function as a universal guide for moral reasoning.

From the Paper:

"Kohlberg's theory of moral development is built on a foundation of Jean Piaget's own work on the question of moral judgment and development. Piaget's work on the subject divided moral judgment into two stages of development, with a stark division in ways of thinking between children aged more or less than ten or eleven. Younger children, Piaget argued, view morality and rules as fixed and absolute, while older children treat moral issues in more relativistic terms based on individual circumstances. Piaget found that a number of related changes occur at about the same time, when children are roughly ten or eleven. In addition to above mentioned change, when children pass this milestone they also shift from a focus on consequences to a focus on intentions. For a young child, the end result of a decision is the basis for the child's evaluation of the decision as moral or not. An older child will consider the intention of the act before making any strict judgments. Piaget's two stages of moral development are, however, quite limited and do not consider potential changes in moral reasoning that might occur as individuals pass other developmental milestones. Kohlberg recognized this deficiency and extended Piaget's work to develop a greater number of stages in moral reasoning. He argued for a more gradual, longer process of moral development that involved six distinct stages divided into three discrete levels of development. This extension of Piaget's work has been one of Kohlberg's greatest contributions to the study of moral development."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Crain, W.C. (1985). Theories of Development. Prentice-Hall. Pp. 118-136. Retrieved April 23, 2007, from http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm
• Nucci, L. (2002). Moral development and moral education: an overview. Studies in Moral Development and Education. Retrieved April 23, 2007, from http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/overview.html

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