Moral Development

Heinz steals the drug 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. 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. (Kohlberg, 1963)

In your group, answer the following: Should Heinz steal the drug? Suppose the person dying is not his wife but a stranger. Should Heinz steal the drug? If it was a drug for a pet dog that he loves should Heinz steal the drug? Is it important for people to do everything they can to save another’s life? Is it against the law for Heinz to steal? Should people try to do everything they can to obey the law? Did the druggist have the right to charge that much?

Something in this century… Generate every reason you can imagine for AND against the following behaviors (at least 8): Exceeding the speed limit (55, 65, etc.) Cheating in school

Lawrence Kohlberg( 1927- 1987) Harvard Center for Moral Education 20 years of using interviews to investigate the nature of moral thought, by classifying interview responses to a story. The interviewee answers a series of questions about the moral dilemma From these answers Kohlberg hypothesizes three levels of moral development A key concept is internalization – the developmental change from behavior that is externally controlled to behavior that is controlled by internal standards and principles

Lawrence Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development Preconventional Level Stage 1.Obedience and punishment orientation Children obey because adults tell them to obey. People base their moral decision on fear of punishment Stage 2. Self–interest orientation Individuals pursue their own interests and expect others to do the same – what is right involves equal exchange See page 86 in your book for a chart of these stages

Lawrence Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development Conventional Level Stage 3. Mutual interpersonal expectations and conformity Individuals value trust, caring, and loyalty to others as a basis for moral judgements- the views of others matter – avoidance of blame and seeking approval Stage 4 Social system morality Moral judgments based on social law – the importance of doing one’s duty – maintaining the fabric of society See page 86 in your book for a chart of these stages

Lawrence Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development Postconventional Level Stage 5.Social contract and Individual rights Individuals reason that values, rights and principles may transcend the law – difference between moral and legal right Stage 6.Universal ethical principles Individual principles of conscience See page 86 in your book for a chart of these stages

Lawrence Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development Kohlberg believed that levels and stages occur in a sequence and are age-related Before 9 – most children reason in a preconventional way By early adolescence – more conventional reasoning Most adolescents reason at stage 3 , with some signs of stages 2 and 4 By early adulthood a small number of individuals reason in post-conventional ways

Piaget and Moral Development Piaget found that children's thinking on rules tied in with the general stages of cognitive development Pre-operational – no rules at all (egocentric behaviour) Concrete –operational ( from around 7) – good understanding of rules – play to win – do not understand that rules can be negotiated Formal operational ( from around 10) Realize that rules are social conventions governed by mutual consent

Piaget and Moral Development Moral Dilemma Stories For example: John accidentally broke 15 cups Henry purposely broke one cup Who is naughtier John or Henry? Around 7 years – children choose John By age 9 –children choose Henry Pre-moral- before the age of five children do not think much about what makes something right or wrong Moral realism -the first stage of development of moral thinking is heteronomous (imposed from outside), and is dominated by rules imposed by some authority figures. Moral relativism -after about 10 children's moral reasoning becomes autonomous – and they can begin to think about moral issues for themselves

Stages of Moral Development: Heinz Look at your answers to today’s warm up, complete the following tasks: Analyze responses and see if you can allocate them to one of Kohlberg’s and/or Piaget’s stages of moral reasoning. Justify your answer. Note - Whether the individual says to steal the drug or not to steal it is not important in identifying the moral stage. What is important is the level of moral reasoning behind the decision

All Together Now… Preconventional Level Stage 1.Obedience and punishment: People base their moral decision on fear of punishment Stage 2. Self–interest orientation:Individuals pursue their own interests and expect others to do the same Conventional Level Stage 3. Mutual interpersonal expectations and conformity: the views of others matter – avoidance of blame and seeking approval Stage 4 Social system morality Moral judgments based on social law Postconventional Level Stage 5.Social contract/Individual rights: Individuals reason that values, rights and principles may transcend the law Stage 6.Universal ethical principles: Individual principles of conscience Piaget: Pre-moral (Preoperational)- children do not think much about what makes something right or wrong (<5) Moral realism (Concrete operational)- dominated by rules imposed by some authority figures. (6>) Moral relativism (Formal Operational) -begin to think about moral issues for themselves (10+)

Overwhelmed Yet?