Forensics: Psychological Explanations - Cognitive

Question 1

What is moral development?

Answer 1

Morals are a set of norms and values, usually learnt form parents about what is right and wrong
- in UK, age of criminal responsibility is 10, as over 10 children are deemed to clearly know the difference between right and wrong (this is different for other countries)

Question 2

What did Kohlberg find about moral reasoning?

Answer 2

• 58 working and middle class boys aged 7, 10, 13, 16 given a 2 hour interview with 10 dilemmas to solve. Study was repeated in other countries.
  There was 6 stages:
  1 - punishment stage (will i be punished?)
  2 - Reward stage (what they gain from the behaviour)
  3 - good boy/girl stage (considers what others would think of them - if people close are criminals, criminal behaviour is more likely)
  4 - law and order stage (obedience to the law, is this illegal?)
  5 - social contract stage (adheres to law but may commit a crime in certain circumstances)
  6 - Ethical principle stage (own moral code and may commit if feel the law is unjust)
  —> kohlberg found younger boys tended to perform at stages 1 and 2, with older boys are stages 3 and 4. This pattern was consistent across different cultures.

Question 3

What’s some evidence to support Kohlbergs stage theory?

Answer 3

• Thornton and Reid