LAWRENCE KOHLBERG’S STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Submitted by: Arellano, Jenneive Byiene M.

BSN 1 – K

Submitted to:
Getting to know the Theorist

 Biography, Background, and How he came up with his theory

- Lawrence Kohlberg was a twentieth-century psychologist best recognized for

his work on moral psychology and development. Kohlberg was born in
Bronxville, New York on October 25, 1927. Despite his family's affluence, he
joined the navy and helped smuggle Jews past the British blockade of
Palestine following WWII. Kohlberg's work was influenced by Swiss
psychologist Jean Piaget and American philosopher John Dewey. Kohlberg
died in an apparent suicide in 1987, following a protracted fight with
depression and painful symptoms caused by a tropical parasite he caught in
Belize in 1971.
- Kohlberg interviewed 72 lower- and middle-class white boys, presenting each
with a moral dilemma: whether it would be permissible for a poor man to
steal medicine for his dying wife. The children's responses became the basis
of his six-stage theory of moral development.

 Explanation
- Cognitive in nature, Kohlberg's theory focuses on the thinking process that
occurs when one decides whether a behaviour is right or wrong. Thus, the
theoretical emphasis is on how one decides to respond to a moral dilemma,
not what one decides or what one does.
 Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
- Kohlberg’s research yielded three levels of moral development. Each level
consisted of two stages, leading to six stages in total. People pass through
each stage sequentially with the thinking at the new stage replacing the
thinking at the previous stage. Not everyone reached the highest stages in
Kohlberg's theory. In fact, Kohlberg believed that many didn’t move past his
third and fourth stages.
 Level 1: Preconventional Morality
- At the lowest level of moral development individuals haven’t yet internalized a
sense of morality. Moral standards are dictated by adults and the
consequences of breaking the rules. Children nine years old and younger tend
to fall into this category.

- Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience Orientation. Children believe the rules

are fixed and must be obeyed to the letter. Morality is external to the self.
- Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange. Children begin to realize that the rules
aren’t absolute. Different people have different perspectives and therefore
there isn’t just one correct point of view.

Level 2: Conventional Morality

- A majority of adolescents and adults fall into the middle level of conventional
morality. At this level, people start to internalize moral standards but not
necessarily to question them. These standards are based on the social norms
of the groups a person is part of.

- Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships. Morality arises from living up to

the standards of a given group, such as one's family or community, and being
a good group member.
- Stage 4: Maintaining the Social Order. The individual becomes more aware of
the rules of society on a broader scale. As a result, they become concerned
with obeying laws and maintaining the social order.

Level 3: Postconventional Morality

- If individuals reach the highest level of moral development, they start to
question if what they see around them is good. In this case, morality stems
from self-defined principles. Kohlberg suggested that only 10-15% of the
 population was able to achieve this level because of the abstract reasoning it
required.

- Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights. Society should function as a

social contract where the goal of each individual is to improve society as a
whole. In this context, morality and individual rights like life and liberty may
take precedence over specific laws.
- Stage 6: Universal Principles. People develop their own principles of morality
even if they conflict with society’s laws. These principles must be applied to
every individual equally.

Metaparadigm in Nursing

 Person – The recipient of nursing care in this theory are children, specifically
boys. Stages of moral development is important because it help a person to
recognize the difference between right and wrong. At each stage of moral
development, a person uses different reasoning for making certain moral
choices.
 Health – This theory states the psychological health and well-being of children.
 Environment – This theory showcases the factors affecting the children’s moral
development at such an early age.
 Nursing - Kohlberg's theory can help nurses make more informed decisions by
encouraging them to consider the moral reasoning of all parties involved in the
situation, including patients, families, and healthcare providers.

Acceptance to the Nursing Community

- Lawrence Kohlberg's views of moral development are particularly significant in

the field of nursing theory, which is why they are widely accepted in the
 nursing community. Nursing ethics are influenced by moral development
because nurses must build a strong moral system in order to keep the severe
ethics required of them.

Education

- Lawrence Kohlberg's Moral Development Theory can be used in education to

help with classroom management. One approach to apply the theory is to
determine which category the students belong to. Knowing this will assist
teachers in determining how they will reason through ethical dilemmas in the
classroom. Understanding Kohlberg's theory of moral development is also
significant because it can assist parents in guiding their children as they
develop their moral character. Parents with younger children may work on
rule compliance, but parents with older children may teach social
expectations.

Research

- - Kohlberg's theory can be applied to real-life situations to better understand

how people make moral decisions. For example, it can assist explain why
different persons react differently to the same ethical quandary depending on
their stage of moral growth. Essentially, it provides as the foundation or
guidance for studies focusing on children's moral development.

Critique

- Carol Gilligan was one of Kohlberg's research assistants. She believed that
Kohlberg's theory was inherently biased against women. Gilligan suggests
that the biggest reason that there is a gender bias in Kohlberg's theory is that
males tend to focus on logic and rules. Moreover, Critics object to Kohlberg's
account of development on three main grounds: (i) he never shows that his
 stages form a logically hierarchical sequence; (ii) his account of 'cognitive
stimulation' as a determinant of progression from stage to stage is too vague;
and (iii) he includes, and must include, concern for human welfare as a
fundamental principle alongside justice, but provides no account of the
development of consideration for others, which is fundamental to m Indeed,
he demonstrates a widespread disregard for the emotive side of moral
formation. It is also mentioned how important it is to account for the more
negative emotions of shame and guilt. The critique concludes with logical and
practical grounds indicating the need of moral content, which Kohlberg
dismisses abruptly with his disdainful comments to a 'bag of virtues'. The
critique's overall goal is to provide a helpful, if speculative, addendum to
Kohlberg rather than to focus on negative comments.

Further Development

- Hoffman, Peevers, and Secord's study is used to demonstrate how a

developmental account of concern for others might improve Kohlberg's
theory. Many scholars questioned Kohlberg's Theory for lacking validity, and
many individuals suggested that the responses of the children he interviewed
would differ in real-life settings. Others noted that in order for his theory to
be concise, it should be free of gender and cultural bias.

Analysis

- Findings from Kohlberg’s theory suggest that moral development is invariant,

individuals go through the stages one at a time and they are in a fixed order,
but some Individuals may not reach the final stage. He also concluded that
the order of stages is universal across all cultures.

Application of the theory

 - As the nursing profession gets increasingly technical, there is a greater need
for compassionate care. As health care gets more impersonal, the ethical
dimension of health becomes more important. While philosophical
frameworks and codes of ethics are useful, Lawrence Kohlberg's research on
moral growth will help nurses understand themselves, as well as their
patients and coworkers.

What kind of data did Kohlberg collect in his research into the stages of moral
development?

His research was cross-sectional, meaning that he interviewed children of different ages
to see their moral development level. A better way to see if all children follow the same
order through the stages would be to conduct longitudinal research on the same
children.

Comparison

- Kohlberg pursues development of universal abstract moral principles while

Gilligan's moral reasoning is contextual and grounded with a goal of taking
ethical actions that preserve both the self and relationships with others.

Strengths

- It helps a person to recognize the difference between right and wrong. At

each stage of moral development, a person uses different reasoning for
making certain moral choices.

Limitations

- A major criticism of Kohlberg's theory is that Kohlberg did not account for
cultural differences in moral reasoning of men and women. Criticism of
Kohlberg's theory regards justice concerns as developmentally more advanced
than reciprocal considerations.
Conclusions

- Moral development is invariant, individuals go through the stages one at a

time and they are in a fixed order, but some Individuals may not reach the
final stage. He also concluded that the order of stages is universal across all
cultures.