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Kohlberg
(October
25,
1927-
January
19,
1987)
was
an
American psychologist best known for his theory of stages of moral development. He served
as a professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Chicago and at the Graduate
School of Education at Harvard University. Even though it was considered unusual in his era,
he decided to study the topic of moral judgment, extending Jean Piaget's account of children's
moral development from twenty-five years earlier. In fact, it took Kohlberg five years before
he was able to publish an article based on his views. Kohlberg's work reflected and extended
not only Piaget's findings but also the theories of philosophers George Herbert
Mead and James Mark Baldwin. At the same time he was creating a new field within
psychology: "moral development". Kohlberg was found to be the 30th most eminent
psychologist of the 20th century.
Kohlberg has refined and extended Piagets theory of moral development by asking 10, 13,
and 16 years old boys to resolve a series of moral dilemmas. Each dilemma challenged the
respondent by requiring him to choose between;
Obeying a rule, law or authority figure
Taking some action that conflicts with these rules and commands while serving a
human need.
Kohlberg originally described moral development as existing in three levels consisting of two
stages each. These levels represent the perspectives people take as they wrestle with moral
dilemmas or problems. The levels and stages of moral development are determined by the
reasons a person gives for making the decisions.
1
Stage 1: Punishment-obedience:
In the punishment-obedience stage, people make moral decisions based on their chances of
getting caught and being punished. They determine right or wrong by the consequences of an
action. The goodness or badness of an act depends on its consequences. The child will obey
authorities to avoid punishment, but may not consider an act wrong if it will not be detected
and punished. For example, if a child was caught and punished, the act was morally wrong; if
not, the act was right. People who do not take an unguarded purse because they fear getting
caught are operating at this stage. The same principle applies in a classroom.
Summary:
At stage 1 child think of what is right as that which authority says is right. Doing the right
thing is obeying authority and avoiding punishment. At stage 2, children are no longer so
impressed by any single authority; they see that there are different sides to any issue. Since
6
References:
1. Paul Eggen. (2004). Educational psychology windows on classroom. 6 th edition.
Pearson education. New Jersey.
2. David R.Shaffer. (2000). Social and personality Development. 4th Edition.
Wordsworth Thomson Learning. United States of America.
3. W.C. Crain. (1985). Theories of Development. Prentice-Hall. pp. 118-136. Retrieved
from: http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberg.