Major Developmental Theories

Major Developmental Theories
Freud, Erikson, Piaget, Bandura, Kohlberg, Kubler Ross

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development
Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months). During the oral stage, the child if focused on oral pleasures (sucking). Too much or too little gratification can result in an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is evidenced by a preoccupation with oral activities. This type of personality may have a stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, or bite his or her nails. Personality wise, these individuals may become overly dependent upon others, gullible, and perpetual followers. On the other hand, they may also fight these urges and develop pessimism and aggression toward others. Anal Stage (18 months to three years). The child’s focus of pleasure in this stage is on eliminating and retaining feces. Through society’s pressure, mainly via parents, the child has to learn to control anal stimulation. In terms of personality, after effects of an anal fixation during this stage can result in an obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and control (anal retentive). On the opposite end of the spectrum, they may become messy and disorganized (anal expulsive). Phallic Stage (ages three to six). The pleasure zone switches to the genitals. Freud believed that during this stage boy develop unconscious sexual desires for their mother. Because of this, he becomes rivals with his father and sees him as competition for the mother’s affection. During this time, boys also develop a fear that their father will punish them for these feelings, such as by castrating them. This group of feelings is known as Oedipus Complex ( after the Greek Mythology figure who accidentally killed his father and married his mother). Later it was added that girls go through a similar situation, developing unconscious sexual attraction to their father. Although Freud Strongly disagreed with this, it has been termed the Electra Complex by more recent psychoanalysts. According to Freud, out of fear of castration and due to the strong competition of his father, boys eventually decide to identify with him rather than fight him. By identifying with his father, the boy develops masculine characteristics and identifies himself as a male, and represses his sexual feelings toward his mother. A fixation at this stage could result in sexual deviancies (both overindulging and avoidance) and weak or confused sexual identity according to psychoanalysts. Latency Stage (age six to puberty). It’s during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed and children interact and play mostly with same sex peers. Genital Stage (puberty on). The final stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges are once again awakened. Through the lessons learned during the previous stages, adolescents direct their sexual urges onto opposite sex peers, with the primary focus of pleasure is the genitals.

Oral Stage Birth to 18 months Oral fixation Oral personality
Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months). During the oral stage, the child if focused on oral pleasures (sucking). Too much or too little gratification can result in an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is evidenced by a preoccupation with oral activities. This type of personality may have a stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, or bite his or her nails. Personality wise, these individuals may become overly dependent upon others, gullible, and perpetual followers. On the other hand, they may also fight these urges and develop pessimism and aggression toward others.

Anal Stage 18 months to three years Anal Retentive Anal Expulsive
Anal Stage (18 months to three years). The child’s focus of pleasure in this stage is on eliminating and retaining feces. Through society’s pressure, mainly via parents, the child has to learn to control anal stimulation. In terms of personality, after effects of an anal fixation during this stage can result in an obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and control (anal retentive). On the opposite end of the spectrum, they may become messy and disorganized (anal expulsive).

Phallic Stage Three to Six years Oedipus Complex Electra Complex
Phallic Stage (ages three to six). The pleasure zone switches to the genitals. Freud believed that during this stage boy develop unconscious sexual desires for their mother. Because of this, he becomes rivals with his father and sees him as competition for the mother’s affection. During this time, boys also develop a fear that their father will punish them for these feelings, such as by castrating them. This group of feelings is known as Oedipus Complex ( after the Greek Mythology figure who accidentally killed his father and married his mother).

Latency Stage Six to Puberty Repression of sexual desires
Same sex peers Latency Stage (age six to puberty). It’s during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed and children interact and play mostly with same sex peers.

Genital Stage Puberty on Reawakening sexual urges
Attention returns to opposite sex peers Genital Stage (puberty on). The final stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges are once again awakened. Through the lessons learned during the previous stages, adolescents direct their sexual urges onto opposite sex peers, with the primary focus of pleasure is the genitals.

Id, Ego, Super Ego Id-the impulsive, child-like portion of the psyche that operates on the "pleasure principle" and only takes into account what it wants and disregards all consequences. Id is equivalent to the devil sitting on one's shoulder. Super-Ego-plays the critical and moralizing role in the psyche, aims for perfection, includes ego's ideals, punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt. Super-ego is equivalent to the angel on one's shoulder. Ego- the organized, realistic portion on the psyche that acts according to the "reality principle" and seeks to please the id’s drive in realistic ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bringing grief. Ego is equivalent to one's conscience.

Eric Erickson Eight-Stage Theory of Psycho-Social Development

Trust vs. Mistrust Birth to 18 months Major emphasis on mother's positive and loving care Big emphasis on visual contact and touch Learns to trust - life basically okay, basic confidence in the future. If needs are not met, we may end up with a deep-seated feeling of worthlessness and a mistrust of the world in general. Most significant relationship is with the maternal parent, or whoever is our most significant and constant caregiver.

Learn to master skills for ourselves.
2. Early Childhood: 18 Months to 3 Years Autonomy vs. Shame Basic Strengths: Self-control, Courage, and Will Learn to master skills for ourselves. Learning finer motor development, toilet training. Build self-esteem and autonomy, gain more control over our bodies and acquire new skills, learning right from wrong. Can be very vulnerable May feel great shame and doubt of our capabilities and suffer low self-esteem Most significant relationships are with parents. Autonomy vs. Shame Early Childhood – 18 months to 3 years Learn to master skills for ourselves. Learning finer motor development , toilet training. build self-esteem and autonomy, gain more control over our bodies and acquire new skills, learning right from wrong. can be very vulnerable may feel great shame and doubt of our capabilities and suffer low self-esteem The most significant relationships are with parents.

-Experience a desire to copy adults around us
3. Play Age: 3 to 5 Years Ego Development Outcome: Initiative vs. Guilt Basic Strength: Purpose -Experience a desire to copy adults around us -Take initiative in creating play situations, playing out roles in a trial universe -Experimenting with what we believe it means to be an adult -WHY? -become involved in the classic "Oedipal struggle" and resolve this struggle through "social role identification." -If frustrated over natural desires and goals, may easily experience guilt. -The most significant relationship is with the basic family. Initiative vs. Guilt 3 – 5 years Experience a desire to copy the adults around us Take initiative in creating play situations, playing out roles in a trial universe, Experimenting with what we believe it means to be an adult WHY? We usually become involved in the classic "Oedipal struggle" and resolve this struggle through "social role identification." If frustrated over natural desires and goals, may easily experience guilt. The most significant relationship is with the basic family.

-Stage often called the Latency
4. School Age: 6 to 12 Years Ego Development Outcome: Industry vs. Inferiority Basic Strengths: Method and Competence -Stage often called the Latency -Capable of learning, creating and accomplishing numerous new skills and knowledge, thus developing a sense of industry -Very social stage of development, if we experience unresolved feelings of inadequacy and inferiority among our peers - can have serious problems in terms of competence and self-esteem -Most significant relationship is with the school and neighborhood. -Parents no longer the complete authorities - although they are still important. Industry vs. Inferiority 6 – 12 years Stage often called the Latency Capable of learning, creating and accomplishing numerous new skills and knowledge, thus developing a sense of industry Very social stage of development and if we experience unresolved feelings of inadequacy and inferiority among our peers - can have serious problems in terms of competence and self-esteem Most significant relationship is with the school and neighborhood. Parents no longer the complete authorities - although they are still important.

Discover who we are as individuals - now members of a wider society
5. Adolescence: 12 to 18 Years Ego Development Outcome: Identity vs. Role Confusion Basic Strengths: Devotion and Fidelity Adolescence - life getting more complex - attempt to find our own identity, struggle with social interactions, and grapple with moral issues. Discover who we are as individuals - now members of a wider society If unsuccessful in navigating this stage, will experience role confusion and upheaval. Establish a philosophy of life May develop strong devotion to friends and causes. Most significant relationships are with peer groups. Identity vs. Role Confusion Adolescence: 12 – 18 years Prior development mostly depends upon what is done to us - now, development based on what we do Adolescence - life getting more complex - attempt to find our own identity, struggle with social interactions, and grapple with moral issues. Task is to discover who we are as individuals separate from our family - now members of a wider society Many experience period of withdrawing from responsibilities - "moratorium.“ If unsuccessful in navigating this stage, will experience role confusion and upheaval. Establish a philosophy of life - tend to think in terms of ideals, which are conflict free, rather than reality, which is not. May develop strong devotion to friends and causes. Most significant relationships are with peer groups.

-Initial stage of adulthood - seek one or more companions and love.
6. Young adulthood: 18 to 35 Ego Development Outcome: Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation Basic Strengths: Affiliation and Love -Initial stage of adulthood - seek one or more companions and love. -Generally begin to start a family -If negotiating this stage is successful - experience intimacy on a deep level -If we don't find it easy to create satisfying relationships, our world can begin to shrink as, in defense, we can feel superior to others. -If not successful, isolation and distance from others may occur. -Significant relationships are with marital partners and friends. Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation Young Adulthood – 18 – 35 Initial stage of adulthood - seek one or more companions and love. Generally also begin to start a family If negotiating this stage is successful - experience intimacy on a deep level If we're not successful, isolation and distance from others may occur. And when we don't find it easy to create satisfying relationships, our world can begin to shrink as, in defense, we can feel superior to others. Our significant relationships are with marital partners and friends.

-Occupied with creative and meaningful work/family.
7. Middle Adulthood: 35 to 55 or 65 Ego Development Outcome: Generativity vs. Self absorption or Stagnation Basic Strengths: Production and Care -Work most crucial -Occupied with creative and meaningful work/family. -Expect to "be in charge“ -Strength comes through care of others and production of something that contributes to the betterment of society (generativity) - often fear inactivity and meaninglessness -Faced with major life changes - mid-life crisis – Need to find new meanings and purposes -Lack of success in this stage may lead to self-absorbtion and stagnation -Significant relationships within workplace, community and family. Generativity vs. Self-Absorption or Stagnation Middle Adulthood: 35 – 55/65 Work most crucial Tend to be occupied with creative and meaningful work and issues surrounding our family. Expect to "be in charge," the role we've longer envied. Perpetuate culture and transmit values of the culture through the family and working to establish a stable environment. Strength comes through care of others and production of something that contributes to the betterment of society (generativity) - often fear inactivity and meaninglessness As children leave home, or relationships/goals change, may be faced with major life changes—the mid-life crisis – Need to find new meanings and purposes Lack of success in this stage may lead to self-absorbtion and stagnation Significant relationships are within the workplace, the community and the family.

Late Adulthood: 55 or 65 to Death
Ego Development Outcome: Integrity vs. Despair Basic Strengths: Wisdom Integrity Can often look back on lives with happiness and are content, feeling deep sense that life has meaning and made a contribution to life Strength comes wisdom that world is very large Now have detached concern for whole of life, accepting death as completion of life. Despair May reach this stage and despair at experiences and perceived failures -may fear death as they struggle to find a purpose to life -"Was the trip worth it?" Significant relationship is with all of mankind Integrity vs. Despair Late Adulthood: 55/65 – death Much of life preparing for middle adulthood stage and last stage is recovering from it Older adults we can often look back on lives with happiness and are content, feeling fulfilled with a deep sense that life has meaning and we've made a contribution to life (Integrity) Strength comes the wisdom that the world is very large and we now have a detached concern for the whole of life, accepting death as the completion of life. Conversely, some adults may reach this stage and despair at their experiences and perceived failures -may fear death as they struggle to find a purpose to their lives, wondering "Was the trip worth it?" May feel they have all the answers (adolescence) and end with a strong dogmatism that only their view has been correct. The significant relationship is with all of mankind

Jean Piaget - Stages of Cognitive Development
Characterized By Senso-rimotor (Birth- 2 yrs) Differentiates self from objects Recognizes self as agent of action and begins to act intentionally: e.g. pulls a string to set mobile in motion or shakes a rattle to make a noise Achieves object permanence: realizes that things continue to exist even when no longer present to the sense Sensorimotor Stage - During this stage, “the infant changes from a creature who responds primarily through reflexes to one who can organize activities in relations to the environment”. The child can begin to interact with the environment through trial and error and solve simple problems. They are also able to differentiate between themselves and their surrounding environment. There are 6 substages under the sensorimotor stage; however, all of them contribute to achieve one goal. The most important goal of this primary stage of life is to develop a schema of a permanent object. Whether it is by taste, touch, smell, sound or sight, the child must understand that they all contribute to one object, rather than multiple objects. The child must realize that even if the object is taken away from their senses, the object still exists somewhere else. Here is a summary of the 6 substages of the sensorimotor stage (Boeree, 2006): Birth to 1 month Reflex becomes adaptive allowing the baby to actively seek stimulation. months Primary circular reactions The baby starts to reproduce actions that he or she has encountered by chance. The baby starts to coordinate the senses. months Secondary circular reactions Intentional actions by the baby call for a response i.e. a parent’s attention months Coordination of secondary schemata and their application to new situations The infant can now use the newly learned actions and responses to solve simple problems. months Tertiary circular reactions The baby discovers new means through active experimentation (trial and error) months The invention of new means through mental combinations The baby can now picture events and objects in their head without it in front of them and ultimately think. The end of the first stage has inscribed object permanence in the child’s mind. In the second stage, the child learns to think symbolically, being able to use symbols in his or her mind to portray concrete objects, places and people that they have seen in the past. Children who are in the preoperational stage of development are able to produce mental representations, sight or sound, without external cues. The representation is called a signifier and the object the signifier represents is called the significate. Symbols such as auditory, visual, and kinesthetic representations and signs such as words and numbers are used (Papalia & Olds, 1981). However, even when the child becomes proficient in language, he or she will still use these symbols to represent things.

Pre-operational (2-7 years)
Learns to use language and to represent objects by images and words. Thinking is still egocentric: has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others Egocentrism, centration and irreversibility Classifies objects by a single feature: e.g. groups together all the red blocks regardless of shape or all the square blocks regardless of color There are three main characteristics of the preoperational stage of a child’s cognitive development: egocentrism, centration and irreversibility. Egocentrism refers to the inability of a child to take on a role of another person (Passer et al., 2005). For example, when given a three-dimensional model, the child expects that the person on the other side of the model is viewing the same thing as him or her. It is inconceivable to the child that another person would be able to see something else when looking at the same object no matter which direction it is being viewed from. Egocentrism allows the child to recognize his or her own perspective without recognizing the perspective, needs and interests of other people. Egocentrism is very prominent in language as a child in the preoperational stage is unable to have a conversation with another child because he or she is unable to know or care about the interest or topic of the other child. Centration: In Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the second stage is called Preoperational Thought. During this stage, which occurs from age 4-7, the child begins to develop logic or reasoning. One of the processes that develops is that of Centration, which refers to the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation, problem or object. For example, a child may complain that there is little ice cream left in a big bowl. The child will be satisfied if the ice cream is transferred to a little bowl, even though nothing is added, because he only considers how full the bowl appears to be. Irreversibility refers to the inability of a child to realize that an action be done and undone (Jean Piaget’s Stage Theories, n.d.). For example, in the previous water example, the child does not realize that the water can be poured back in into the original glass and is actually the same amount of water as the other glass.

Concrete operational (7-11 years)
Can think logically about objects and events Achieves conservation of number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9) Classifies objects according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension such as size. Formal operational (11 years and up) Can think logically about abstract propositions and test hypotheses systematically. Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and ideological problems. The concrete operational stage is the third stage of development of a child’s thinking that occurs approximately between the ages of six and twelve (Jean Piaget’s Stage Theories, n.d.). Major characteristics of this stage are the understanding of conservation, ordering, realism, animism, and artificialism. During this stage of development, children start to think logically about events and can understand conservation and reversibility; two things that baffled them as toddlers. According to Piaget, the development of conservation comes at different stages at different ages of a child's life. Conservation itself is defined as: the ability to keep in mind what stays the same and what changes in an object after it has changed aesthetically. One who can conserve is able to reverse the transformation mentally and understand compensation. A child is able to conserve substance at around the age of 6 or 7. At around 9 or 10, they are able to conserve weight. Once a child is around 11 or 12 they are able to conserve volume as well as substance and weight. There are three stages in which a child can ultimately learn the concept of conservation. 1. The child fails the conserved. Whether it is being fooled by looks or not being able to grasp the concept of reversibility, the child does not understand conservation. 2. The second stage is the transitional stage where children sometimes get the concept, but sometimes fail. Children usually can focus on more than one aspect or the situation, but does not realize the relationships between them. 3. In this stage, children can finally understand the concept of conservation. They are able to give logical justifications, such as reversibility (something can be put back to how it was before), identity (nothing has been added or taken away), and compensation (one has more width, but the other has more height), to explain the concept. Concrete operational children can use symbols to carry out operations, which are mental activities, rather than just physical activities as they were previously doing. Children in this stage understand the concept of ordering. For example, they can put things in order from shortest to tallest, from smallest to biggest. They can also form mental representations in their mind such as the way the school or the way to the park. Even if they take a different route, they are able to see in their minds ultimately where they are headed, as opposed to solely memorizing and recognizing one direct route. Realism occurs when children confuse events that happen in their minds, such as dreams, with objective reality. Children see names, pictures, thoughts and feelings as actual entities and treat them as unchangeable. For example a block, when called a cube, is a completely different thing; so different it does not even exist. In the first stage of realism, children believe that their dreams are a product of the outward physical environment and that they use their eyes to see their dreams. In the second stage, children understand that dreams come from their minds and are unreal, but still think that they are happening in the room in front of them. In the third stage, children are now able to comprehend that names were given to objects by people and that dreams are thoughts that take place in their heads. Another characteristic of the concrete operational stage of a child is animism. It describes the child's ability to make inanimate objects “come alive.” During the first stage, children believe that everything and anything that has a use is alive. Later on, they believe that everything that moves is alive (like a car). In the third stage, children only believe that things that move on their own, such as the sun and the wind, are alive. Finally, as a child grows up, he or she realizes that only plants and animals and humans are alive. Though we know that the mountains and the sun are not alive, many people, including adults, give life to these elements, using them poetically. Artificialism is also another characteristic of the concrete operational stage of development. The tendency to consider that physical objects and events were created by people. Children in the preoperational stage of development are egocentric, meaning that they believe that they themselves are the center of the universe. They feel that they, or other people, created everything in the world. Through the stage, children go from believing that the sun and moon were created by man, to believing that their creation to be half artificial, half natural, to finally believing that the creation of the world had nothing to do with human activity. Once a child has accomplished these characteristics of the concrete operational stage, he or she has finally reached the fourth and final stage of human development in which all adults are in: Piaget's stage of Formal Operations. The final stage of Jean Piaget's Theory of Child Cognitive Development is the formal operational stage . In this stage, children can now capable of hypothetical and deductive reasoning to solve problems. They are able to think logically and be able to come up with creative solutions to different problems with a more flexible mind. Children can now solve both concrete and abstract problems and be able to differ between reality and imagination. According to Piaget, by the time a child is around 16, his or her “way of thinking is almost fully formed”. There are no more qualitative characteristics or drastic changes after this point. The child's mental and cognitive structure does not change anymore than it already has. However, if a teenager's mind is not encouraged to think in hypothetical situations or use deductive reasoning, it is possible for that adolescent to be never able to reach this final stage of development.

Piaget Development Stages Video

Bandura Social Learning Theory posits: Humans learn from one another
Observation Imitation Modeling Reciprocal Determinism Bandura’s Social Learning Theory posits that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation. Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences. Bandura believed in “reciprocal determinism”, that is, the world and a person’s behavior cause each other, while behaviorism essentially states that one’s environment causes one’s behavior, Bandura, who was studying adolescent aggression, found this too simplistic, and so in addition he suggested that behavior causes environment as well. Later, Bandura soon considered personality as an interaction between three components: the environment, behavior, and one’s psychological processes (one’s ability to entertain images in minds and language).

Necessary Conditions for Effective Modeling
Attention Retention Reproduction Motivation Necessary conditions for effective modeling: Attention — various factors increase or decrease the amount of attention paid. Includes distinctiveness, affective valence, prevalence, complexity, functional value. One’s characteristics (e.g. sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement) affect attention. Retention — remembering what you paid attention to. Includes symbolic coding, mental images, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal Reproduction — reproducing the image. Including physical capabilities, and self-observation of reproduction. Motivation — having a good reason to imitate. Includes motives such as a past (i.e. traditional behaviorism), promised (imagined incentives) and vicarious (seeing and recalling the reinforced model)

Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
Pre-Conventional Morality Stage 1 Obedience or Punishment Orientation Stage 2 Self-Interest Orientation Conventional Morality Stage 3 Social Conformity Orientation Stage 4 Law and Order Orientation Post-Conventional Morality Stage 5 Social Contract Orientation Stage 6 Universal Ethics Orientation

The Heinz Dilemma In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug-for his wife. Should the husband have done that?

Pre-Conventional Morality
Phase 1 Pre-Conventional Morality Stage 1 Obedience or Punishment Orientation Stage 2 Self-Interest Orientation KOHLBERG'S SIX STAGES Level 1. Preconventional Morality Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation. Kohlberg's stage 1 is similar to Piaget's first stage of moral thought. The child assumes that powerful authorities hand down a fixed set of rules which he or she must unquestioningly obey. This is the stage that all young children start at (and a few adults remain in). Rules are seen as being fixed and absolute. Obeying the rules is important because it means avoiding punishment. Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange. At this stage children recognize that there is not just one right view that is handed down by the authorities. Different individuals have different viewpoints. As children grow older, they begin to see that other people have their own goals and preferences and that often there is room for negotiation. Decisions are made based on the principle of "What's in it for me?" For example, an older child might reason: "If I do what mom or dad wants me to do, they will reward me. Therefore I will do it.“ "Heinz," they might point out, "might think it's right to take the drug, the druggist would not." Since everything is relative, each person is free to pursue his or her individual interests. What is right for Heinz, then, is what meets his own self-interests. You might have noticed that children at both stages 1 and 2 talk about punishment. However, they perceive it differently. At stage 1 punishment is tied up in the child's mind with wrongness; punishment "proves" that disobedience is wrong. At stage 2, in contrast, punishment is simply a risk that one naturally wants to avoid. Although stage 2 respondents sometimes sound amoral, they do have some sense of right action. This is a notion of fair exchange or fair deals. The philosophy is one of returning favors--"If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Respondents at stage 2 are still said to reason at the preconventional level because they speak as isolated individuals rather than as members of society. They see individuals exchanging favors, but there is still no identification with the values of the family or community.

Conventional Morality
Phase 2 Conventional Morality Stage 3 Social Conformity Orientation Stage 4 Law and Order Orientation Level II. Conventional Morality Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships. By adolescence, most individuals have developed to this stage. There is a sense of what "good boys" and "nice girls" do and the emphasis is on living up to social expectations and norms because of how they impact day-to-day relationships. At this stage children--who are by now usually entering their teens--see morality as more than simple deals. They believe that people should live up to the expectations of the family and community and behave in "good" ways. Good behavior means having good motives and interpersonal feelings such as love, empathy, trust, and concern for others. Heinz, they typically argue, was right to steal the drug because "He was a good man for wanting to save her," and "His intentions were good, that of saving the life of someone he loves." Even if Heinz doesn't love his wife, these subjects often say, he should steal the drug because "I don't think any husband should sit back and watch his wife die" As mentioned earlier, there are similarities between Kohlberg's first three stages and Piaget's two stages. In both sequences there is a shift from unquestioning obedience to a relativistic outlook and to a concern for good motives. For Kohlberg, however, these shifts occur in three stages rather than two. Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order. Stage 3 reasoning works best in two-person relationships with family members or close friends, where one can make a real effort to get to know the other's feelings and needs and try to help. By the time individuals reach adulthood, they usually consider society as a whole when making judgments. The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing one's duty and respecting authority. At stage 4, in contrast, the respondent becomes more broadly concerned with society as a whole. Now the emphasis is on obeying laws, respecting authority, and performing one's duties so that the social order is maintained. In response to the Heinz story, many subjects say they understand that Heinz's motives were good, but they cannot condone the theft. What would happen if we all started breaking the laws whenever we felt we had a good reason? The result would be chaos; society couldn't function. As one subject explained, I don't want to sound like Spiro Agnew, law and order and wave the flag, but if everybody did as he wanted to do, set up his own beliefs as to right and wrong, then I think you would have chaos. The only thing I think we have in civilization nowadays is some sort of legal structure which people are sort of bound to follow. [Society needs] a centralizing framework. Because stage 4, subjects make moral decisions from the perspective of society as a whole, they think from a full-fledged member-of-society perspective. You will recall that stage 1 children also generally oppose stealing because it breaks the law. Superficially, stage 1 and stage 4 subjects are giving the same response, so we see here why Kohlberg insists that we must probe into the reasoning behind the overt response. Stage 1 children say, "It's wrong to steal" and "It's against the law," but they cannot elaborate any further, except to say that stealing can get a person jailed. Stage 4 respondents, in contrast, have a conception of the function of laws for society as a whole--a conception which far exceeds the grasp of the younger child.

Post-Conventional Morality
Phase 3 Post-Conventional Morality Stage 5 Social Contract Orientation Stage 6 Universal Ethics Orientation Level III. Postconventional Morality Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights. At stage 4, people want to keep society functioning. However, a smoothly functioning society is not necessarily a good one. A totalitarian society might be well-organized, but it is hardly the moral ideal. At this stage (5), people understand that there are differing opinions out there on what is right and wrong and that laws are really just a social contract based on majority decision and inevitable compromise. People at this stage sometimes disobey rules if they find them to be inconsistent with their personal values and will also argue for certain laws to be changed if they are no longer "working". Our modern democracies are based on the reasoning of Stage 5. At stage 5, people begin to ask, "What makes for a good society?" They begin to think about society in a very theoretical way, stepping back from their own society and considering the rights and values that a society ought to uphold. They then evaluate existing societies in terms of these prior considerations. They are said to take a "prior-to-society" perspective. Stage 5 respondents basically believe that a good society is best conceived as a social contract into which people freely enter to work toward the benefit of all They recognize that different social groups within a society will have different values, but they believe that all rational people would agree on two points. First they would all want certain basic rights, such as liberty and life, to be protected Second, they would want some democratic procedures for changing unfair law and for improving society. In response to the Heinz dilemma, stage 5 respondents make it clear that they do not generally favor breaking laws; laws are social contracts that we agree to uphold until we can change them by democratic means. Nevertheless, the wife’s right to live is a moral right that must be protected. Thus, stage 5 respondent sometimes defend Heinz’s theft in strong language: It is the husband's duty to save his wife. The fact that her life is in danger transcends every other standard you might use to judge his action. Life is more important than property. This young man went on to say that "from a moral standpoint" Heinz should save the life of even a stranger, since to be consistent, the value of a life means any life. When asked if the judge should punish Heinz, he replied: Usually the moral and legal standpoints coincide. Here they conflict. The judge should weigh the moral standpoint more heavily but preserve the legal law in punishing Heinz lightly. Stage 5 subjects,- then, talk about "morality" and "rights" that take some priority over particular laws. Kohlberg insists, however, that we do not judge people to be at stage 5 merely from their verbal labels. We need to look at their social perspective and mode of reasoning. At stage 4, too, subjects frequently talk about the "right to life," but for them this right is legitimized by the authority of their social or religious group (e.g., by the Bible). Presumably, if their group valued property over life, they would too. At stage 5, in contrast, people are making more of an independent effort to think out what any society ought to value. They often reason, for example, that property has little meaning without life. They are trying to determine logically what a society ought to be like. Stage 6: Universal Principles. Few people operate at this stage all the time (if at all). It is based on abstract reasoning and the ability to put oneself in other people's shoes. At this stage, people have a principled conscience and will follow universal ethical principles regardless of what the official laws and rules are. Stage 5 respondents are working toward a conception of the good society. They suggest that we need to (a) protect certain individual rights and (b) settle disputes through democratic processes. However, democratic processes alone do not always result in outcomes that we intuitively sense are just. A majority, for example, may vote for a law that hinders a minority. Thus, Kohlberg believes that there must be a higher stage--stage 6--which defines the principles by which we achieve justice. Kohlberg's conception of justice follows that of the philosophers Kant and Rawls, as well as great moral leaders such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King. According to these people, the principles of justice require us to treat the claims of all parties in an impartial manner, respecting the basic dignity, of all people as individuals. The principles of justice are therefore universal; they apply to all. Thus, for example, we would not vote for a law that aids some people but hurts others. The principles of justice guide us toward decisions based on an equal respect for all. In actual practice, Kohlberg says, we can reach just decisions by looking at a situation through one another's eyes. In the Heinz dilemma, this would mean that all parties--the druggist, Heinz, and his wife--take the roles of the others. To do this in an impartial manner, people can assume a "veil of ignorance", acting as if they do not know which role they will eventually occupy. If the druggist did this, even he would recognize that life must take priority over property; for he wouldn't want to risk finding himself in the wife's shoes with property valued over life. Thus, they would all agree that the wife must be saved--this would be the fair solution. Such a solution, we must note, requires not only impartiality, but the principle that everyone is given full and equal respect. If the wife were considered of less value than the others, a just solution could not be reached. Until recently, Kohlberg had been scoring some of his subjects at stage 6, but he has temporarily stopped doing so, For one thing, he and other researchers had not been finding subjects who consistently reasoned at this stage. Also, Kohlberg has concluded that his interview dilemmas are not useful for distinguishing between stage 5 and stage 6 thinking. He believes that stage 6 has a clearer and broader conception of universal principles (which include justice as well as individual rights), but feels that his interview fails to draw out this broader understanding. Consequently, he has temporarily dropped stage 6 from his scoring manual, calling it a "theoretical stage" and scoring all postconventional responses as stage 5. Theoretically, one issue that distinguishes stage 5 from stage 6 is civil disobedience. Stage 5 would be more hesitant to endorse civil disobedience because of its commitment to the social contract and to changing laws through democratic agreements. Only when an individual right is clearly at stake does violating the law seem justified. At stage 6, in contrast, a commitment to justice makes the rationale for civil disobedience stronger and broader. Martin Luther King, for example, argued that laws are only valid insofar as they are grounded in justice, and that a commitment to justice carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust laws. King also recognized, of course, the general need for laws and democratic processes (stages 4 and 5), and he was therefore willing to accept the penalities for his actions. Nevertheless, he believed that the higher principle of justice required civil disobedience.

Kohlberg Video

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross 5 Stages of Grief

Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance
Denial is a conscious or unconscious refusal to accept facts, information, reality, etc., relating to the situation concerned. It's a defence mechanism and perfectly natural. Some people can become locked in this stage when dealing with a traumatic change that can be ignored. Death of course is not particularly easy to avoid or evade indefinitely. 2 - Anger Anger can manifest in different ways. People dealing with emotional upset can be angry with themselves, and/or with others, especially those close to them. Knowing this helps keep detached and non-judgemental when experiencing the anger of someone who is very upset. 3 - Bargaining Traditionally the bargaining stage for people facing death can involve attempting to bargain with whatever God the person believes in. People facing less serious trauma can bargain or seek to negotiate a compromise. For example "Can we still be friends?.." when facing a break-up. Bargaining rarely provides a sustainable solution, especially if it's a matter of life or death. 4 - Depression Also referred to as preparatory grieving. In a way it's the dress rehearsal or the practice run for the 'aftermath' although this stage means different things depending on whom it involves. It's a sort of acceptance with emotional attachment. It's natural to feel sadness and regret, fear, uncertainty, etc. It shows that the person has at least begun to accept the reality. 5 - Acceptance Again this stage definitely varies according to the person's situation, although broadly it is an indication that there is some emotional detachment and objectivity. People dying can enter this stage a long time before the people they leave behind, who must necessarily pass through their own individual stages of dealing with the grief.

Major Developmental Theories

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