Part 1 - Piaget
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Judgment:
- What does it mean to be ‘fair’ (rules/decisions)
- What punishments to be administered when rules broken?
Development of Morality
Corresponding to piaget’s stages of cognitive development, also correlate to child’s level of egocentrism:
Objective Morality (2-7):
- Heteronomous morality (morality defined by others)
Subjective Morality (7-12): - Autonomous morality
Objective Morality:
Rules absolute and unchangeable, because authority figures are to be obeyed
- Punishment is inevitable (even if unseen) and arbitrary (doesn’t need to fit situation)
- Children often believe morality depends on outcome of situation rather than the intentions
Subjective Morality:
Rules are flexible and situational, can be changed if everyone agrees
- Understand sometimes rulebreakers go unpunished, and punishment should fit the crime
- Begin to believe morality depends more on the intentions than outcome
Social Domain Theory:
Framework to understand role of social environment in shaping moral dev
Seperate the arbitrary cultural rules of good behavior within the societal domain from the universal concepts of fairness and justice within the moral domain
Older children come to understand personal domain (clothing / hairstyle) are neither right nor wrong, but pased on personal preferences
Personal Domain | Societal Domain | Moral Domain
Personal behavior decisions | social participation rules | universal concepts of right and wrong
Conscience
With development of a cosncience, children internalize standards of appropriate behavior within their culture
Begin to self-regulate
Parents and peers play and imporant role in prosocial behavior through modeling of behaviors
Part 2 - Kohlberg
Preconventional Morality - Chilcren make self-centered moral judgements at a self-centered lever
Conventional Morality - Older children and most adults, emphasis on laws and rules, would friends and family approve?
Postconventional Morality - Only a minority of adults, behaviors are right if they flow from personal ethical principles or conform to universal moral goals
Preconventional (right if its good for me)
-> to conventional (right if its good for society)
-> to postconventional (right if my conscience compels me to)
Kohlberg’s theory has been criticized as biased against women and collectivist cultures
- Putting individualism on a pedestal
- Gender bias not as strong as believed, cultural bias does exist
Differences between moral reasoning and moral behavior. Do you actual behave according to principles?
Part 3: Kohlbeg’s 6 Stages
Stage 1 - Obedience and Punishment
Stage 2 - Self Interest
Interporsonal Accord and Conformity
Authority and Maintaining Social Order
Social Contract
Universal Ethics Principles