Stages of Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory

Stages of Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory

Lawrence Kohlberg, an American psychologist, known for the theory of moral development, was born on 25th October 1927 in Bronxville, New York. Towards the end of World War II, he served in the Merchant Marine. He later held captive at a British internment camp after being caught smuggling Jewish refugees from Romania into Palestine. He then escaped and participated in non-violent activism in Palestine during the establishment of Israel as a state. In 1948, he returned to America and achieved his bachelor’s degree in the University of Chicago within the same year. In 1958, he pursued a doctoral degree in psychology while reading Jean Piaget’s work. He also borrowed from American philosopher, John Dewey and James Mark Baldwin who emphasized on the psychological and philosophical development of human beings. Kohlberg developed an individual perspective into moral decision making and defined morality as the ability to recognize the right versus wrong, good verses, evil, respecting, and obeying the rules.

From 1958 to 1961 Kohlberg was appointed as an assistant professor at Yale University in the psychology department. During that time, in 1955 he met and married Lucile Stigberg while beginning his dissertation. He wrote the 1959 dissertation to explain the development of moral reasoning while studying children’s reactions to ethical dilemma as they grow and develop. From 1961 to 1962, he worked at the Center for Advanced Study in behavioral sciences and graduated to assistant professor in the University of Chicago’s psychology department. From 1962 to 1967, he was promoted to associate professor in studying psychology and human development. Later, he became the professor of Social Psychology and Education from 1968 to 1987 when he committed suicide out of depression.

Stages of Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory

Kohlberg described moral disposition as the virtues and vices that outline a person’s moral character in different situations. Therefore, he developed the three levelled, six-stage moral development theory to explain the development of moral reasoning. Level 1, also known as the preconventional stage, consists of stage 1 and 2. Stage 1 occurs during early childhood when the child views morality as an external concept. In this obedience and punishment orientation phase, the child acts right to avoid punishment from the parent. In an ideal situation, the child refrains from stealing or lying because they do not want pu. In individualism and exchange in stage 2, the child recognizes that there are different viewpoints to what is right and wrong when they encounter the teacher as an elementary child. Therefore, they act right to get a fair deal from different authoritative figures. They may excuse their parent to the teacher for not showing up to school by thinking that maybe they had an emergency.

In level 2, also known as the conventional morality, stage 3 ushers in good interpersonal relationships where the individual shifts moral reasoning to suit the kind of groups in which they belong. Step 3 occurs during adolescence when an individual self-identifies with a specific group. A teenager may stop lying due to the threat of being ousted from the group. Without proper guidance, such individuals may become delinquent is to get the approval of others. Stage 4 is maintaining social order where the person is now aware of the rules of the society and upholds the law to avoid guilt. Stage 4 happens during the transition to adulthood. A person may avoid jaywalking even when no one is watching to abstain from breaking the law.

The last level is level 3, which is the post-conventional morality. Within this level, stage 5 explains the social contract and individual rights. Here the person is aware that the rules serve the more significant number but at times will be there to benefit a few. The lesser evil wins. A person may lie to an insurance agent to get their loved one treated for a highly costly procedure. In stage 6 of the universal principles, the person has their set of moral guidelines that exist with or without the law. The stage 5 of moral development as post conventional morality occurs during middle adulthood where the person has their reasoning clear cut. Lastly, stage 6 occurs during late adulthood where the person develops conviction in what they believe in is right or wrong and can stand up against the majority to protect what is right for example, willing to die in violent protests to protect the rights of the minority.

Lawrence Kohlberg contributed to the development of moral education, where he proposed that development is the aim of education. He reinforced his statements by stating that human beings have an inborn will to explore while at the same time developing competence to their environment. He said that as a social being, people would internally develop moral reasoning skills to enable their groups to function well.

Conclusion

I agree with Lawrence Kohlberg on the stages of development because of personal observations on how children and teenagers and adults respond to doing right or wrong. Many toddlers are still learning about their environment and might, therefore, have the urge to explore and act without bounds. Thus, the authority figure of a parent or a teacher in elementary school reinforces the moral codes through the threat of punitive measures as the most effective way of reinforcing morality. So the child learns to react in a manner that will not provoke their guardian into punishing them because they act for their personal best interest. I also agree that as children grow older, they learn to act in a reasonable and conventional manner because they want to fit in and are aware that the societal laws apply to them. Later, as adults, these individuals have developed to learn over time how moral reasoning places them as responsible members of society. They, therefore, act in due diligence and build altruism in catering to the welfare of others. Most people by the time they are grown up they have grown attached to specific social structures such as family and friends and develop human nature in mutual respect for one another and caring for people’s welfare.