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Exploring Moral Development in Children: The Six Stages Unveiled

Delve into moral development with Kohlberg's framework, studying how children grasp ethical reasoning. Discover the 6 stages, from egocentrism to personal judgment, shaping attitudes and behavior. Uncover cultural and societal influences in morality's construction. Reflect on applications in law, psychology, and societal norms, revealing insights into criminal behavior and child testimonies.

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Exploring Moral Development in Children: The Six Stages Unveiled

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  1. How Moral are you? By Jessica Jancose and Ketan Jain-Poster

  2. Background • Morals: attitudes and beliefs that help people decide what is right and wrong • Influenced by culture, parental influences and peer influences • Humans are born without morals

  3. Hypothesis • Lawrence Kohlberg built off of Jean Piaget’s work • Question: “How does the amoral infant become capable of moral reasoning?” • Hypothesis: Human ability to make moral judgments develops in a predictable way – specific stages

  4. Theoretical propositions • 1) Each stage is uniquely different • 2) Stages always occur in same step-by-step sequence • 3) Children comprehend all stages below their own

  5. Method • Interviewed young boys of varying ages (10,13,16) 10 hypothetical moral dilemmas • The Heinz Dilemma • The Brother’s Dilemma

  6. What the boys said…. • 10 year old boys’ responses focused on what was best for the individual • 13 year old boys’ responses focused on considering relationship roles • 16 year old boys’ responses focused on individual needs vs. society

  7. Results • Discovered six stages of moral development, six types of motives to explain reasoning Categorized into 3 “moral levels”: • Premoral Level- Egocentrism and personal interests • Level 2- Recognition of one’s role in relationship • Level 3- Own views on morality and judgment

  8. Six stages of moral development

  9. Discussion • Children actively organize the morality of the world around them in steps • Morality – emergence of cognitive moral structures influenced by social and cultural environment • Morality is not learned, it is constructed

  10. Criticisms • Moral reasoning = not the same as moral behavior • Study didn’t address situational factors • Six stages of moral reasoning are not universal • Western individualistic societies • Stages do not apply equally to both men and women • Women – care orientation

  11. Applications • Law and criminal justice • Criminals understand moral issues but ignore them • Child eye-witness testimonies • Their understanding of secrecy

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