KOHLBERG: CHILD as the MORAL PHILOSOPHER Flashcards
AIM
show how, as young adolescents develop into young men they move through distinct levels and stages of moral development
METHODOLOGY
longitudinal study which followed the development of the same group of 75 American boys from chicago, for 12 years from 10-16 yrs and again at 22-28 yrs
undertook interviews to collect qualitative data that included corss-cultural comparisons; studied moral development in other cultures GREAT BRITIAN, CANADA, TAIWAN, MEXICO and TURKEY
PROCEDURE
- he created 9 HYPOTHETICAL DILEMMAS (all purposefully philosophical)
- each PPs was asked to discuss THREE of the dilemmas, prompted by around 10 OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS: ‘should Heinz steal the drug?’, ‘should he steal the drug for a stranger?’
- the answers to such questions were analysed and common themes were identified so that the stage theory could be constructed
- each boy was re-interviewed every 3 years- interviews lasted 2 hours (58 were followed for 20 years)
FINDINGS
PRE-CONVENTIONAL LEVEL, estimated 9 years and younger
children accept the rules of authority figures and judge actions by their consequences, actions that resulted in punishment was bad, those that bring rewards were good
FINDINGS
CONVENTIONAL LEVEL, estimated 9-18 years
individuals continue to believe that conformity to social rules are desirable, but this is not out of self- interest. Maintaining the current social system ensures positive human r’ships and social order
FINDINGS
POST-CONVENTIONAL LEVEL, estimated 18 and over
this individual moves beyond questioning compliance with norms of their own social system. The individual now defines morality in terms of abstract moral principles that apply to all societies and situations
CONCLUSIONS
- stages are universal and invariant, meaning everyone goes through them, whatever their culture in the same order
- each new stage represents a more equilibrium form of moral understanding, meaning that the child is able to weigh up moral dilemmas in a balanced way: becoming more logical and mature
-discussing moral dilemmas with children will result in them moving forward in the next stage
STRENGTHS of VALIDITY in this research
(+)HIGH INTERNAL VALIDITY due to the face value questions, staying coherent with the aim of the study
WEAKNESSES of VALIDITY in this study
(-) LOW INTERNAL VALIDITY as it measures language and cognitive development rather than moral development, such as the children might not be able to express themselves fully due to them not having the terminology for it
STRENGTHS of the METHODOLOGY in this study
(+) LONGITUDINAL DESIGN provides a picture over multiple years, showing the development of time: providing HIGH RELIABILITY
WEAKNESSES of the METHODOLOGY in this study
(-) PPS may drop out due to the extreme length of the study which can affect the sample and its representativeness
STRENGTHS of INTERVIEWS in this study
(+) provides high internal validity as the qualitative nature provides a greater insight into the child’s response, which is useful when tackling a extremely complex topic
WEAKNESSES of INTERVIEWS in this study
(-) can have low internal validity due to a risk of demand characteristics, as a result of the children wanting to please the researcher which would give unreliable results
STRENGTHS of the SAMPLE in this study
(+) high population validity
- allows comparisons to be made across differing countries and cultures with various social norms
WEAKNESSES of the SAMPLE in this study
(-) was all male
- Gilligan (1982) says that this study actually showed the moral development of men
- led to to a gender biased theory that does not represent both males and females
