Kohlberg’s Theory PSYCH 600 November 4, 2013 Dr. Judy Pendleton Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development Moral development is a topic that has been researched for many years. It is an interesting topic in psychology as well as education itself. Moral development is the formation of a system of underlying assumptions about standards and principles that govern moral decisions, ("Moral Development-Stages Of Moral Development," 2013). Lawrence Kohlberg who developed his theory based on another psychologist’s theory Jean Piaget developed the best theory of understanding moral development. Moral development is the process of making decisions based on what is right or wrong.
People also have the ability to think morally for themselves so morality is relative to someone’s point of view. The main point favoring the cultural relativism argument is that if there are no moral principles, then the principles can only be relative to culture. If someone were to express their opinion about the morals of a culture that they didn’t agree with, including what the culture already believed to be right, then that person would lose the argument without any question. This can be easily disproved because in one culture, not every person is going to have the same moral judgments about what is right or wrong and people can establish objective moral principles. A culture also can’t think of them as having the power to decide which is right and
Kohlberg was concerned more with reasoning for each participant’s decision rather than their answer (Cherrie, 2012). Kohlberg’s research resulted in the following levels and stages of moral development; Level 1. Preconventional Morality • Stage 1 - Obedience and Punishment The earliest stage of moral development is especially common in young children, but adults are also capable of expressing this type of reasoning. At this stage, children see rules as fixed and absolute. Obeying the rules is important because it is a means to avoid punishment.
For utilitarian school of thought, an individual strives to do the most good, even at the expense of the minority. Utilitarianism and Kantianism find the basis of their differences in the idea that the ends justify the means. Utilitarian beliefs support this idea while Kantian philosophy rejects this. Modern ethics were devised from these two basic ethical beliefs in an attempt to combine the best aspects. Generally, the morally “right” action benefits the majority while affecting the fewest amount in a negative way.
This is a legal but unethical issue. From this we can conclude that compliance ethics expects only the bare minimum, and to be a more ethical organisation, value ethics should be emphasized. Weaver and Trevino (1999) also believe that value ethics would have more of an impact and last longer in the organisation. Next is how formal culture systems promote ethics. Formal ethical systems consist of factors such as leadership, code of ethics, reward systems, orientation, and training programs.
For me I think it starts with morality in a person. Morality, good manners, decency, and other virtues must be teachable (Feinberg, 585). Morality tries to identify and explain why some people do wrong things and do the right form of act that should be followed by everybody. However, Psychological Egoism is directly opposite with the need of good morals. It is like if I'm given a task to do, I work toward satisfying the standard in order to achieve my own self goals.
One major strength of virtue ethics is that it allows the moral agent to make ethical decisions based on his or her moral well-being, not just based on what is legally right. Therefore this ethical system can be seen to have a greater weight over others as someone who follows it are doing so because they believe it’s right rather than following rules. This then also acknowledges that morality is complex and so rejects simplistic maxims as a basis for moral truths. However, this can also be seen to be one of the weaknesses of virtue ethics. Robert Louden stated that as virtue ethics is focused on the individual, it neither resolves nor attempts to resolve big moral dilemmas.
Cultural Relativism is a theory stating the idea that cultural norms and ideas differ from culture to culture. In addition, Cultural Relativism says that there are no universal standards and truth in ethics. It is relative to the culture to determine whether a moral standard is right or wrong. There is no objective standards judging other cultures code as inferior or superior to another. Thus, since cultural relativism states that we can’t judge other cultures moral codes, then we must be tolerant of them.
He set a standard characterized as high quality leadership for his successors to follows and abide by. Ethical or moral leadership involves leading in a manner that respects the rights and dignity of others. The duties of leaders also include the responsibility for ensuring standards of moral and ethical conduct. An effective leader influences a subordinate's attitude and values. Therefore, a moral leader will stimulate a moral influence.
The Cognitive-Developmental approach of Piaget and Kohlberg studies how children become more able to reason morally and make moral judgements, whereas the Freud's psychodynamic approach is more concerned with the development of the conscience and moral feelings such as guilt and anxiety. The social learning theory of Bandura investigates the development of moral behaviour and how role models in the family, society and the media, influence it. Jean Piaget is recognised as the pioneer researcher of moral development in children. His cognitive developmental approach to morality begins with the assumption that the child's mind has its own structure. Piaget, 1934 (Gross, 2000 pg.550) assumed that this structure was unique within each child and proceeded through a precise sequence or order.