Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development



Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Summary of Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

The theory of Moral development presented by Kohlberg has been based on the interviews and research on the age group of young children. In the theory of moral development, Kohlberg presented his participants, series of moral dilemmas, for which they were required to present the reasoning of each case for making their judgements. In his theory of moral development, he presented six stages in which he assessed the behaviours of children at various stages. Kohlberg describes that at first stage, children usually thinks of the right as to what the authority at right says because performing the right things is similar to evading the punishment while right thing is considered to be following the authority. At second stage, children are usually not interested in any of the authorities due to the variety of choices available to them for taking their decision. However they are more interested in taking such decisions that involves exchange and deals with one another. At 3rd and 4th stages, children that are transformed in young individuals of society think about the expectations, values and norms. At 3rd stage, these young individuals are more inclined towards helping others. However at 4th stage, the concern of the young individuals is shifted to the maintenance of society at large level. At the 5th and 6th stages, people are more concerned about the values and principles that have been designed for betterment of society and are least concerned with the maintenance of society. At 5th stage, people emphasize the process of democracy and basic rights which provide individuals something to talk about. At the last stage that is 6th stage, the individuals describe the principles through which the agreement is just at the ...