Lawrence Kohlberg

The Effects of Classroom Moral Discussion upon Children's Level of Moral Judgment

Abstract: An experiment is reported on the effects of a moral education programme in schools. Children were pretested on Kohlbergs index of level of moral thinking. The experimental group was then given twelve hours of discussion of moral problems other than those used in Kolhbergs test spread over twelve weeks. Subsequent testing showed that the experimental group had had tended to move towards a higher level of thinking when compared with controls.

Continuities in Childhood and Adult Moral Development Revisited

ABSTRACT This chapter is addressed to the question of existence of adulthood stages and stage change in moral development. Stage change is defined as directed, sequential, qualitative transformations in psychological structure. The existence of adulthood psychological stage change is theoretically important since such change must be the result of experiential interaction with the environment, rather than being linked to biological maturation. Evidence of Piagetian cognitive stages indicates continuing development of formal thought past adolescence but no new postadolescent cognitive stage. In contrast, this chapter indicates that there are moral stages that first appear in young adulthood (over 21) in a longitudinal sample. These are the stages of principled moral reasoning (Stage 5, social contract utilitarian orientation and Stage 6, universal principles of justice orientation). An earlier study by Kohlberg and Kramer (1969) reported attainment of principled moral reasoning in high school followed by “retrogression” to a skeptical egocentric relativism. A scoring system which better differentiates structure from content indicates that this skeptical relativism is a transitional state between conventional and principled morality rather than a retrogression. It also indicates that the high school reasoning scored as principled was only an advanced form of conventional reasoning (Stage 4, member of society orientation). It was suggested that the nature of the experiences leading to adulthood development, e.g., to principled moral thought, were somewhat different than those involved in childhood and adolescent movement to the conventional stages of moral reasoning. Development of moral thought in childhood is an increasingly adequate comprehension of existing social norms and social ideals. Accordingly, it develops through the usual experiences of social symbolic interaction and role taking. In contrast, construction of principles seems to require experiences of personal moral choice and responsibility usually supervening upon a questioning period of “moratorium.” This view of adulthood moral stages linked to experience of personal choice suggests a rapproachement between Eriksons stage theory of adult development and a more cognitive-structural stage theory. This, in turn, invites speculation as to a more ontological or religious seventh stage which might correspond to Eriksons stage of integrity–despair.

The Justice Structure of the Prison- A Theory and an Intervention

ment and obedience orientation; Stage 2, the instrumental exchange orientation; Stage 3, the interpersonal concordance or &dquo;good boy-nice girl&dquo; orientation; Stage 4, the &dquo;law and order&dquo; orientation; Stage 5, the social contract legalistic orientation; and Stage 6, the universal ethical principle orientation. These stages have been found to occur, and occur in the same age order, in every culture studied (Taiwan, Mexico, Turkey, U. S., Israel). They have been found to correspond to an invariant ; step-by-step movement in the longitudinal development of a group of fifty American males studied every three years from age ten to twenty-

Universality and variation in moral judgment: A longitudinal and cross-sectional study in Turkey.

NISAN, MORDECAI, and KOHLBERG, LAWRENCE. Universality and Variation in Moral Judgment: A Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Study in Turkey. CHID DEVELOPMENT, 1982, 53, 865-876. A longitudinal and cross-sectional study of moral judgment development in Turkey is described. Rural and city subjects aged 10 through 28 were individually interviewed on Kohlbergs moral dilemmas. The responses were analyzed using a new manual, which calls for matching responses to criteria judgments. The results support the claim for structural universality in moral judgment: the Turkish responses fitted the moral judgment stages and exhibited the claimed sequence in both the longitudinal and the cross-sectional studies. The study also showed several aspects of variation in moral judgment. Village subjects showed a slower rate of development than city subjects. Beyond the age of 16 all the village subjects showed some conventional judgment; however, they seemed to stabilize at stage 3. Independent of stage level, the village subjects tended to justify their moral decisions mainly in the normfollowing and utilitarian modes, while city subjects (in the older group) showed a tendency to use deontological and perfectionistic justifications.

Development of social-moral reasoning among Kibbutz adolescents: A longitudinal cross-cultural study.

The development of social-moral judgment among Israeli kibbutz adolescents was studied from the perspective of Kohlbergs theory of moral judgment development. The sample included 92 adolescents, 64 of whom were interviewed longitudinally over a two-to-nine year period. The studys purpose was to evaluate the validity of Kohlbergs model and measure in a cross-cultural context and to assess the cultural uniqueness of social-moral reasoning among kibbutzniks. The developmental findings strongly supported the validity of Kohlbergs structuraldevelopmental understanding of moral judgment. Stage change was found to be upward, gradual, and without significant regressions. Analyses also supported the internal consistency of the stages as operationally defined in the standardized scoring manual. There were no significant sex differences in moral development and fewer cultural differences than expected. Overall, the distribution of stage scores among the kibbutz subjects was unusually high when compared to the results of parallel studies in the United States and Turkey, the two previous longitudinal studies of moral judgment development that have used the standardized scoring system. The most important cultural variation involved the use of Stages 4/5 and 5. Whereas all of Kohlbergs stages were present among kibbutz members, not all elements of kibbutz postconventional reasoning were present in Kohlbergs model or scoring manual. In particular, the communal emphasis and collective moral principles of the kibbutz subjects were partially missed or misunderstood. This article presents the results of a longitudinal study of social-moral reasoning among Israeli adolescents. The research oh

Ego development in perspective: Structural stage, functional phase, and cultural age-period models

Abstract Ego development is emerging as one of the more important areas of research in developmental psychology. This paper presents a structural stage approach to ego development and distinguishes it from two other models of ego development, which are termed functional phases and cultural ages . Two subtypes are also delineated within the structural stage approach—a monodomain and a multisubdomain—and the latter is argued for. These concepts are then illustrated through an analysis of four prominent ego development theories—those of Robert Selman, Robert Kegan, Jane Loevinger, and Erik Erikson. The important similarities and critical differences of the theories are clarified, which enables the authors to present a summary integration.

Education, Moral Development and Faith

Abstract: The Natural Law perspective holds that there are universal principles of justice acknowledged everywhere. Justice is a continuing preoccupation of the child. The development of the notion of justice in children has been found to follow six stages, the order of which is constant across different societies. The different stages have been found to be associated with different kinds of behaviour in moral situations. Moral education must be based upon an understanding of this development. There is evidence that the development of religious faith follows a parallel sequence of stages and it is important to understand the relationship between the two. 1An edited version of an address to the National Catholic Education Association, Cleveland, April 18, 1974

Secondary School Moral Discussion Programmes Led by Social Studies Teachers

Abstract An experiment is reported on the effect of a moral discussion programme taught in the schools by regular classroom teachers. Number of discussions and type of teacher preparation were varied. Students’ moral judgment stage was assessed before and after the programme and teachers were observed throughout the course of the year. A substantial degree of moral judgment stage change was shown in some but not all of the classrooms. Three variables associated with likelihood of student moral judgment change were number of discussions, range of pre‐test moral judgment stage within the classroom, and teachers’ skills in eliciting moral reasoning from students during the discussions.

The Just Community Approach to Corrections: A Theory

Abstract: This paper represents the attempt to apply to the prison situation the principles of moral development derived from the study of moral development in children. Existing correctional institutions do not provide the kind of experience which would foster moral growth in their inmates. In order for this to happen democratic situations have to be created in which staff and inmates can freely discuss moral issues and where staff are sufficiently aware of the nature of moral development that they can stimulate inmates to move to higher levels of moral thinking. An account is given of preliminary efforts to do just this.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORAL JUDGMENTS CONCERNING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Data from a 20-year longitudinal study of the development of moral judgment in American males indicate that the most mature stages evince moral condemnation of the death penalty. The authors conclude that American moral standards are evolving towards a view of execution as unjust punishment. They contend that a theory of punishment based on the highest stage of moral reasoning is more valid than lower-stage justifications for capital punishment, and that it provides a rational basis for asserting the immorality--and unconstitutionality--of capital punishment, irrespective of uncertainties as to the deterrent efficacy of the death penalty.