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Running head: LAWRENCE AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS

Lawrence Kohlberg and his Contribution to Ethical Theories


Ethics in Healthcare Administration
Barbara Puryear
Mississippi College

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS

Lawrence Kohlberg was an American psychologist famous for his Theory of Stages of
Moral Development was born on October 25, 1927, in Bronxville, New York to Alfred
Kohlberg, a Jewish German entrepreneur and Charlotte Albrecht, a Christian German chemist.
Kohlberg attended his high school at Philips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. Kohlberg joined
the Merchant Marines during World War 2, during the end of the world war he worked with the
Haganah (Jewish Paramilitary organization which later became core of the Israel defense force)
for a short period of time in which he was actively engaged in smuggling Jews through the
British Blockade for settlement in Palestine (Fowler et al. 1988).
For his actions, he was arrested by British and served time in an internment camp in
Cyprus. Kohlberg was in Palestine during the fighting in 1948 and the formation of State of
Israel, but refused to participate and focused more on the non-violent activism. When Kohlberg
returned to the United States in 1948, he joined University of Chicago and completed his
bachelors in one year. He enrolled for the doctorate in psychology from the same university and
later became a professor at the University of Chicago and Harvard University subsequently. In
1955 he married Lucille Stigberg, and the couple had two sons, David and Steven (Walsh, 2000).
He theorized that the moral development happens in stages and researched this theory
using adults and children. He used qualitative research model based on categorizing responses to
stories featuring moral dilemmas, for example, Heinzs Dilemma. His research led to the
articulation of a hierarchy of moral development, and his theory has been verified by the studies
conducted in the US and throughout the world. Kohlberg was an internationally known ethicist
and a top seed in the name of morality and ethics but his death came as a shock to the world as it
was very tragic.

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS

While doing a research in Belize, in 1971 Kohlberg contracted a parasitic infection due
to which he suffered from extreme abdominal pain, the pain was so severe that it led him into
depression. On January 19, 1987, Kohlberg parked his car on a dead-end street in Winthrop,
Massachusetts, left his wallet and car keys in the car, and walked into the freezing waters of
Boston Harbor. Police recovered his body and pronounced him dead, former colleagues and
students published some of his work to commemorate his contribution to developmental
psychology (Morrison 2015).
Before going towards the theory one need to know what morality is, Morality (from the
latin moralis- character, manner, proper behavior) is the differentiation of intention, decision and
action between those that are distinguished as proper and those that are improper (Long &
Sedley, 1987). In simple words, morality is our sense of what is right and what is wrong. In his
thesis, Kohlberg composed what are now known as Kohlbergs stages of moral development.
Constructed while studying psychology at the University of Chicago, the theory was influenced
by the work of Jean Piaget and a fascination with childrens reaction to the moral dilemma.

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS

Fowler, J. W., Snarey, J. R., & DeNicola, K. (1988). Remembrances of Lawrence Kohlberg: a
compilation of the presentations given at the service of remembrance for Lawrence Kohlberg at
Memorial Church, Harvard University, on May 20, 1987. Atlanta, Ga.: Center for Research in
Faith and Moral Development.
Walsh, C. (2000). The Life and Legacy of Lawrence Kohlberg. Society, 37(2), 36-41.
Morrison, E. E. (2015). Ethics in health care: A practical approach for decision makers (3rd ed.).
Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Long, A. A., & Sedley, D. N. (1987). The Hellenistic philosophers. translations of the principal
sources with Philosophical commentary. pp. 366367. ISBN 9780521275569.

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