Lawrence Kohlberg developed the theory of Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development, which focuses on the development of moral reasoning in children and adults. The theory consists of six stages grouped into three general stages: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. Kohlberg’s research method focused on the process, not the product, and presented participants with moral dilemmas to determine their moral stage. Kohlberg believed that very few adults reach the post-conventional stage.
Lawrence Kohlberg is a well-known theorist of modern psychology. Born in 1927 to a wealthy family, Lawrence Kohlberg lived a modest life, first as a sailor and then helping smuggle Jews into Palestine. He studied psychology at the University of Chicago in the late 1940s and 1950s, completing his dissertation in 1958. His dissertation outlined the theory he is now quite well known for: Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development. He died in 1987 from a possible suicide.
Lawrence Kohlberg was influenced by the work of Jean Piaget, a psychologist who developed a stage theory for children’s cognitive development. Like the stage theorists who preceded them, Jean Piaget – and, by implication, Lawrence Kohlberg – believed that each stage of development must be completed before an individual could move on to the next. In other words, children cannot skip cognitive lessons learned in infancy or preschool; they need to go through those stages before they can enter each subsequent cognitive state.
The stadium theory developed by Lawrence Kohlberg was somewhat different from other theories, for a couple of reasons. First, Kohlberg did not assign specific age ranges to each stage; in fact, he hypothesized that many people never reach the final stage, no matter how long they live. Second, Lawrence Kohlberg was not concerned with psychological or cognitive development, as earlier stage theorists had. Instead, Kohlberg focused his theory on the development of moral reasoning in children and adults.
Lawrence Kohlberg believed that moral thinking progresses through a series of six stages, which could be grouped into three general stages. The first general phase is called pre-conventional. In this stage, moral reasoning begins as totally based on the notion of punishment and reward, and progresses to the realization that acting according to the laws of punishment and reward is beneficial to oneself. This stage of moral reasoning is found in young children.
According to Lawrence Kohlberg, the next general stage of moral reasoning is called conventional. At this stage, the individual’s attention is no longer solely on himself, but on himself as part of society. Therefore, the first half of this stage is characterized by an understanding of “right” and “wrong” as what will get others to approve or censure. The second half of this stage goes beyond seeking approval from one’s peers and judges right and wrong according to the laws of society.
The third stage of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is called post-conventional. Unlike the first two stages, where right and wrong are determined by self-interest or in relation to others, the post-conventional stage or moral reasoning is governed by ideals of right and wrong. The first half of this stage is characterized by genuine concern for others. The second half is governed by universal principles of right and wrong and the need to satisfy one’s conscience. Lawrence Kohlberg believed that very few adults reach this point; in fact, his research has yielded so few people at this stage that he has been unable to fully describe it in his theories of him.
Kohlberg’s research method was unusual in that he looked for the process, not the product. To determine what moral stage a person was in, Lawrence Kohlberg presented each participant with a classic moral dilemma. However, it was not the person’s decision about right and wrong that mattered to Kohlberg. Rather, it was the reasoning that brought the person there that determined what moral stage one was currently in – how good and evil were determined. This focus on process is at the heart of Kohlberg’s theory and ultimately sets it apart from other theories.
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