Classical study Kohlberg 1968 Stages of Moral Development
Classical study: Kohlberg (1968) ‘Stages of Moral Development’ AREA: DEVELOPMENTAL AREA THEME: MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Kohlberg’s study falls under the developmental area How does the developmental area explain behaviour? With consideration to the bullet points below, answer the following question: Define the developmental area (4 marks) • How many explanations does the developmental area believe there are for human behaviour? • The area focuses on how behaviour changes throughout what time? • What influencing factor does it acknowledge may affect ones behaviour?
Kohlberg’s study falls under the developmental area How does the developmental area explain behaviour? With consideration to the bullet points below, answer the following question: Define the developmental area (4 marks) • How many explanations does the developmental believe there are for human behaviour? • • The area focuses on how behaviour changes throughout what time? • • The key idea is that there is no single explanation for behaviour – considers nature and nurture Throughout ones lifespan – from the cradle to the grave What influencing factor does it acknowledge may affect ones behaviour? • It acknowledges that you may be influenced by a range of situations. And the influence, will continue to influence outside of the immediate environment
Strengths of the developmental area As the developmental area is concerned with how we change and adapt over time… 1) Research is typically conducted over a long period of time. • What is this type of study called? • What are the benefits of conducting this research? 2) Research may look at just one person and how this person develops • What is this type of study called? • What are the benefits of conducting this research?
Strengths of the developmental area As the developmental area is concerned with how we change and adapt over time… 1. Research is typically conducted over a long period of time • What is this type of study called? • • Longitudinal study What are the benefits of conducting this research? Rich in data as they inform us of how humans change and develop throughout life • Considered a range of influencing factors – nature and nurture • 2. Research may look at just one person and how this person develops • What is this type of study called? • • Case study What are the benefits of conducting this research? • In-depth information for behaviours which are often difficult to measure
Weaknesses of the developmental area 1. What are the downfalls a longitudinal study has? 2. What are the downfalls of a case study? 3. Is the area reductionist or holistic? Evaluate this
Weaknesses of the developmental area 1. What are the downfalls a longitudinal study has? • Requires a great deal of time and effort to conduct • Too many extraneous variables which cannot be controlled or measured • Limited sample 2. What are the downfalls of a case study? • Too specific – may not be representative of population and cannot be generalised 3. Is the area reductionist or holistic? Evaluate this • Holistic – area of focus is very general, making it difficult to pin point one single influencing factor
Core studies There are four core studies which fall under the developmental area. We have already looked at two so far. List them below. • 1. • 2. We will now be looking at two new studies this week: 1. Kolhberg (1968) Stages of moral development 2. Lee (1997) evaluations of truth telling and lying
KOHLBERG (1968) ‘STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT’ Area: Developmental area Theme: Moral development
Specific key questions developmental psychologists have… Is there a predictable pattern individuals follow regarding thought and language and social development? Do children go through gradual changes or are they abrupt changes?
Moral development Morals are the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong At birth we are all amoral – we lack a system of personal values and judgements about what is right and wrong At what age do you develop morality - what age do you think we develop the knowledge of right and wrong?
Moral dilemma Sometimes it is not as easy as just doing what is right. Sometimes, if you do what is right, there can be a bad outcome; similarly, if you do what is wrong, there may be a good outcome.
Morality and the law Social norms and laws usually determine what we think is right and wrong. However, there might be some laws which you think are wrong. Can you identify any? Below are some acts which are considered illegal in the UK. I want you to consider the questions associated with each crime. • Murder (taking a life) - Is it always wrong or ever morally ok? What circumstances would make it ok? Do you feel the same about the murder of humans in the same way you do about the murder of animals? Explain your answer. • Euthanasia – Why do you think this is not legal in the UK? Should we have a say in when we die? Is it morally ok to remove this choice from a person? Is it morally ok to prolong someones suffering because the law says so? • Death penalty – Do you believe that the death penalty should be legal? If someone is sentenced to death after they have murdered someone for example, it is then someone's job to take this persons life, does that person then become as bad as the murderer? Why is it ok to kill someone because the law says so in this case, but not other cases?
Scenario 1: Johnny Michael Allen was 43 years old when he was murdered in 2004. He was murdered by Cyntoia Brown, a 16 year old girl who Johnny had bought for $150. He put her into a sex trafficking ring and enslaved her for a long period of time. She felt her life was in danger and killed him in a bid for her freedom. She was just 16 years old when she was tried as an adult in court and sentenced to life imprisonment. We all know that murder is wrong and that is why it is illegal. Morally, evaluate Cyntoia actions?
Scenario 2: Dee told her daughter Gypsy from a very young age that she was sick. Gypsy was never told her real age – she was led to believe she was significantly younger than she was. Dee told everyone, including doctors, that Gypsy was disabled and chronically ill. Gypsy was manipulated and controlled by her mothers physical and psychological abuse. After more than 14 years of unnecessary medicine, operations and restraint, Gypsy murdered her mother. Gypsy was sentenced to ten years in prison. Legally, what Gypsy did was wrong. Legally, what Dee did was wrong too. Morally, evaluate Gypsy’s actions?
Consider your thoughts for the last two scenarios. Does the reason behind an act of murder, change how ‘bad’ or immoral the murder is? Or are all incidences of taking a life wrong? James Bulger was only 2 years old when he was brutally murdered by one 10 year old boy and one 11 year old boy. When questioned by the police, both boys did not have any reasoning for why they murdered James. Morally, does their act of murder differ from the past two scenarios?
Levels of responsibility Across the world, the minimum age of criminal responsibility ranges from 717 years old. In some countries, there is no minimum age. Why do you think there is such a range in ages of criminal responsibility?
KEY QUESTION: AT WHAT AGE DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG?
Background: • Kohlberg was inspired by Piaget’s pioneering effort to apply a structural approach to cognitive development rather than linking it to personality traits. • The typology contains three distinct levels of moral thinking, and within each of these levels distinguishes two related stages Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. Everyone progresses through the levels and stages in order. See table in workbook
Level Age 4 -10 Age 11 -13 Stage Moral reasoning Stage 1: Pre-conventional 1. Punishment and obedience Rules are kept to avoid punishment orientation 2. Self-Interest orientation ‘Right’ behaviour is that which ultimately stage brings rewards to oneself Stage 2: Conventional ‘Good’ behaviour is what pleases others Age 14 -16 3. Good boy-good girl orientation Age 14 -16 4. Authority orientation Doing one’s duty, obeying laws is important, the law is the law! Age 17 -20 Stage 3: Post-conventional 5. Social contract orientation ‘Right’ is what is democratically agreed upon Age 17 -20 6. Universal principle orientation Moral action is taken based upon self-chosen principles Kohlberg’s theory of moral development
Aim: • The aim of the study was to see if there was evidence to support his theory of moral development • Consider the fact that Kohlberg had already created his theory before this study was conducted. How might this influence his study?
Method: • Longitudinal study which followed the development of the same group of boys for twelve years (sample 1) • The aim was to show how, as young adolescents develop into manhood, they move through the distinct levels and stages of moral development (as proposed by Kohlberg in his theory of moral development) • The study also was conducted across cultures using hypothetical moral dilemmas (sample 2) • Environment where study conducted is unknown. • • Consider why a researcher may withhold this information? Sampling method unknown. • Consider why a researcher may withhold this information?
Sample: • Sample 1: 75 American boys who were aged 10 -16 at the start of the study. These ppts were followed at three-year intervals through to 22 -28. • As the sample completed the study every 3 years: • Is this event sampling or time sampling? • Identify the experimental method used – Independent measures design, repeated measures design or matched pairs design • Evaluate the likelihood of the following occurring during the study of sample 1: • Demand characteristics • Social desirability • Order effects
Sample: • Sample 2: Boys from Great Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico and Turkey No information was given on how many participants there were in total or how many per country – why do you think this is? What can you assume about the participants? • Kolhberg included this sample to allow comparisons to be made across cultures. Evaluate whether this study really can be considered to encapsulate a range of cultures •
Methodology: • All participants (sample 1 and 2) were presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas in the form of short stories to solve. The stories were to determine each participants stage of moral reasoning. The aspects assessed included: obey the rule or act morally • The value of human life was tested by asking participants questions like “Should a doctor ‘mercy kill’ a fatally ill woman requesting death because of her pain? ”. • Another way Kolhberg assessed morality was through the Heinz dilemma.
Sample 1 only: The Heinz dilemma “Heinz’s wife is dying of cancer. Doctors said a new drug may save her life. The drug had been discovered by a local chemist and Heinz tried to buy some, but the chemist was charging ten times the money it cost to make the drug and Heinz could only raise half of the money. He explained to the chemist that his wife was dying and asked if he could have the drug cheaper or pay the rest of the money later. The chemist refused, saying that he had discovered the drug and was going to make money from it. The husband was desperate to save his wife, so later that night, he broke into the chemist’s and stole the drug. ” The boys would then be asked: • Should he have broken into the lab? Why? • Should the chemist insist on the inflated prices for his invention? Does he have the right? • What should happen to Heinz? • What if Heinz did not love his wife does that make anything different? • What if the dying person was a stranger? • Should the police arrest the chemist for murder if the woman died?
Sample 2 only Participants from sample 2 (only) were told a story involving theft of food: “A man’s wife is starving to death but the store owner won’t give the man any food unless he can pay, which he can’t. Should he break in and steal some food? Why? ”
Sample 1 findings • Kohlberg found that his stages (in his moral development table) were reflected in the answers children gave to each scenario • Kohlberg’s analysis found that 50% of each of the six stages, a participants thinking was at a single stage, regardless of the moral dilemma involved. • In addition, participants showed progress through the stages with increasing age. • In relation to the scenario ‘Should a doctor ‘mercy kill’ a fatally ill woman requesting death because of her pain’, Kolhberg presented the reasoning behind the children’s decision making process.
SAMPLE 2: (Cross cultural findings) • Taiwanese boys aged 10 -13 tended to give ‘classic’ sub stage-2 responses. • Mexico showed the same results however that development was a little slower • At the age of 16, Sub stage-5 thinking was much more noticeable in the US than either Mexico or Taiwan. • In these three divergent cultures, middle-class children were found to be more advanced in moral judgement than matched lower-class children. • No important differences were found in the development of moral thinking among Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Buddhists, or atheists.
Conclusions: • There is a developmental sequence in an individual’s moral development. • Each stage of moral development comes one at a time and always in the same order. • An individual may stop at any given stage and at any age. • Moral development fits with Kohlberg’s stage-pattern theory. • There is a cultural universality of sequence of stages. • Middle-class and working-class children move through the same sequence but middleclass children move faster and further. • This 3 -Stage (6 substage) theory of moral development is not significantly affected by widely ranging social, cultural or religious conditions. The only thing that is affected is the rate at which individuals progress through the sequence
Evaluation Research methods • The study was conducted to support his already existing theory – is this induction or deduction? Evaluate this. Is it likely there would be researcher bias? • Longitudinal study – What is good about this? What does it allow for? • Experimental method used was unknown. What issues are there with this? • Repeated measures design (Participants met every 3 years, all told the same/similar scenarios) – evaluate incidences of (a) demand characteristics (b) social desirability and (c) order effects • Scenarios – Not real life, may not relate to young boys (being asked about saving a wife), are these applicable across all cultures? Type of data • Qualitative data – What does this data allow for? What are issues with this type of data?
Evaluation Ethical considerations Go through the ethical guidelines – identify what were upheld and what were broken Validity List all types of validity – identify which type fits this study & explain why Reliability List all types of reliability – identify which type fits this study & explain why
Evaluation Sampling bias • Sample 1: • 75 individuals took part – evaluate this size of sample • All individuals were from America – what can we assume about these individuals? • Sample 2: • Number of participants unknown • Both sample 1 and 2: • All boys Practical applications • Who in real life would benefit from knowing what stage of development children are in at certain ages? Why would they benefit from this? Think of a concerned parent who isn’t sure if their child is developing like their peers. Ethnocentrism • Based on the sample used, the study is considered cross-cultural. Does the study harbour any cultural bias?
Exam questions Complete exam questions 1 -10 in your workbooks. Be mindful and follow the structure learned from lesson 1 and 2 last week for the following questions.
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