Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Lawrence Kohlberg: An Introduction To The Stages of Moral Development
Lawrence Kohlberg: An Introduction To The Stages of Moral Development
Objective:
To examine
Lawrence Kohlberg
Self-centeredness
Other-centeredness
External Authority
Internalized Values
Continued:
2. In stage development, subjects cannot
comprehend moral reasoning at a stage
more than one stage beyond their own.
Continued:
-The moral maxim It is better to give than to
receive reflects a high level of development.
The child who honestly asks you why it is
better to give than to receive, does so
because he does not and cannot understand
such thinking. To him better means better
for him. And how can it be better for him to
give, than to get.
10
Continued:
3.
11
Continued:
4.
12
Continued:
5.
13
Continued
Kohlberg believed that only about 25% of persons
ever grow to level six, the majority remaining at
level four.
6.
14
Description
A persons moral reasoning results from
consequences of actions, such as
punishment, reward, or exchange of
favors, and from the physical power of
authority figures. The first level of moral
thinking is that generally found at the
elementary school level.
15
16
Stage 2: Profit
Minimize the pain; maximize the pleasure
Right behavior means acting in one's own
best interests.
Reasoning is largely based on an attitude
of you scratch my back and Ill scratch
yours.
Conscience = cunning
17
19
20
22
Level
Stage
Ages
Social Orientation
Pre-Conventional
2-4
4-7
Individualism, Instrumentalism
7-10
Good Boy/Girl
10-12
Teens
Social Contract
Adult
Principled Conscience
Conventional
Post-Conventional
24
B.
25
26
Lets Practice!
Situation 1
Situation 2
Jordan was not prepared for a difficult chem.
Exam, so he wrote some important formulas on
a slip of paper which he put in his pocket before
the test. Just before the test began, the teacher
informed the class that any student caught
cheating would automatically fail the test. Even
though Jordan needed the information he wrote,
he didnt use it because the teacher stood too
close to his desk during the entire exam.
At what stage? Why?
29
Situation 3
Early in the school year, DeShawn who
started at varsity basketball, asked Caitlin
for a date. Caitlin was not attracted to
DeShawn and politely declined. A few weeks
later Caitlin tried out for cheerleading and
made it. Several of the other cheerleaders
were dating boys on the team. When
DeShawn asked Caitlin to go with him to a
party that the team was having after an
important game, she accepted.
At what stage? Why?
30
Situation 4
Kyle asked his older sister, Gabby, if he could borrow her
car so that he and his friend could go to the beach.
Gabby reminded her brother that she never wanted him
to drive her car. She suggested, however, that if it was all
right with him, they could all go together. Soon after they
got to the beach, Kyles friend got ill. Kyle asked Gabby if
she could drive his friend home. Gabby refused, saying
that she had just come all that way and she was not
going to turn around and go right back. Kyle tried
unsuccessfully to find a way to get his friend home.
Finally, while Gabby was swimming, he wrote her a note
telling her he would be back soon as possible, took her
car keys, and drove his friend back home.
What stage? Why?
31
Situation 5
As Jasons father was leaving for work in the
morning, he asked Jason to clean out the
garage sometime during the day. Jason
responded, saying he already had plans to
play tennis that day. Around noon, Jason
and two friends made plans that required
Jason to borrow his fathers car that
evening. Jason decided to skip playing
tennis and clean the garage.
What stage? Why?
32