Question

Compare and contrast the first two levels of Kohlberg’s stages of moral reasoning. How does a preschool child’s morality differ from that of a school-age child? What are two criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory? Do you think these criticisms are valid? Explain your thinking IN AROUND 200 WORDS PLEASE.

Answer 1

The Theory of moral development was founded by the psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. He argued that starting from infancy extending throughout adulthood, we develop a moral compass that guides us through our life. Each moral judgment can be categorized into three levels, pre-conventional morality, conventional morality, and post-conventional morality, with each level encompassing two stages. As we grow older and gain new experiences, we begin to view the world differently and the moral reasoning for our choices evolves.

The first level, Pre-Conventional morality is typically found in children between the ages of 4 and 10 years old. In the first stage in Kohlberg's level one is the obedience and punishment stage, and is often seen in preschool, most elementary and some junior high school students. In this stage, children obey rules only if established by more powerful individuals. Here the child is motivated to avoid punishment and has little or no independent moral reasoning. The rightness and wrongness of actions is determined by whether actions are rewarded or punished by authorities such as parents or teachers. While in the second stage, individuals realize that people have differing viewpoints and Individuals are focused on fulfilling their own self-interests, while acknowledging that different people have different views. As children move into the school years, their lives expand to include a larger number and range of peers and (eventually) of the community as a whole. At first, in Stage 3, the child’s reference group are immediate peers, so Stage 3 is sometimes called the ethics of peer opinion. Also, in the third stage of second level, individuals emphasize the importance of being kind to other people, engaging in “good” behavior and showing concern for others. This stage includes a strong emphasis on gaining approval. Eventually, as the child becomes a youth and the social world expands even more, he or she acquires even larger numbers of peers and friends. So, when they reach in to the fourth stage The individual is determined to obey the rules, focusing on the value that the law adds to human life. A person at this stage might argue that breaking the law is wrong because the law is designed to protect people.

Even though it explains much about moral development, Kohlberg is often criticized for not only his subject selection, but also the methods by which he tries to extricate data from those subjects. His initial study consisted of school boys from a private institution in Chicago. The problem with this is fairly obvious, that this does not represent a significant portion of the population to allow for generalized conclusions. That is his theory was initially developed based on empirical research using only male participants. Also Kohlberg's stages are not culturally neutral, as demonstrated by its application to a number of different cultures. Although they progress through the stages in the same order, individuals in different cultures seem to do so at different rates. Kohlberg has responded by saying that although different cultures do indeed inculcate different beliefs, his stages correspond to underlying modes of reasoning, rather than to those beliefs. So, while looking towards these we can understand that these criticisms are valid.