Kohlbergs cognitive theory Flashcards
what does kohlberg’s theory involve
applying moral reasoning to criminal behaviour.
learned through morals as they grow up
what is the heinz dilemma
- Heinz’s wife is dying from a cancer with a new potentially life-saving drug being discovered by a local chemist. the chemist is charging 10x the cost as the price and is much more than Heinz can afford
- Heinz only raises half the money, and explained to the chemist how his wife was dying and wanted to pay the rest later
- Chemist refused saying that it was his discovery meaning he wanted to make money from it. The husband was so desperate he later broke into the house and stole the drug
what does the heinz dilemma raise questions of
Should heinz have stolen the drug?
Does the chemist have the right to charge what he likes?
Would it make a difference if the person was a stranger?
Should the chemist be arrested for murder if the woman died?
explain Kohlberg et al. findings
criminals showed a lower level of moral reasoning than non-criminals. using the dilemma he found a group of violent youths to be far lower in moral development than non-violent.. - even after controlling for social background
how was Kohlberg’s study set up
72 Chicago boys 10-16y/o, 58 were followed up at 3 yearly intervals for 20 years.
Each interviewed for 2 hours on the same 10 dilemmas.
Most interested in the reasoning behind the decisions
what’re Kohlberg’s 3 levels of moral reasoning
- Preconventional
- Conventional
- Postconventional
how do people progress through Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning
only passable through the order.
each new stage replaces the reasoning of the previous.
not everyone reaches all the stages.
how many levels are there in Kohlberg’s explanation
3:
pre-conventional
conventional
post-conventional
how many stages are there in Kohlberg’s explanation
6 (stages 1-6, 2 for each level)
what is stage 1
pre-conventional, punishment orientation - rules are obeyed to avoid punishment
what is stage 2
pre-conventional, instrumental orientation of personal gain - rules are obeyed for personal gain
what is stage 3
conventional, ‘good boy or good girl’ orientation - rules are obeyed for approval
what is stage 4
conventional, maintenance of the social order - rules are obeyed to maintain the social order
what is stage 5
post-conventional, morality of contract and individual rights - rules are obeyed if impartial; democratic rules are challenged if they infringe on others’ rights
what is stage 6
post-conventional, morality of conscience - the individual establishes their own rules in accordance with a personal set of ethical issues
summarise the 6 stages (ascending)
Reward/Punishment, Self-interest, Pleasing others, Law and order, Social contract, Principle
what did Kohlberg’s model say about criminality
criminals most likely to be in the pre-conventional level, whereas non-criminals are typically stages 3+. people at the PreC level may commit crime if they think they can avoid the punishment or gain rewards from the crime
what did Chandler find regarding Kohlberg’s criminality model
offenders are often ego-centric and display poorer social perspectives and skills than non-offenders.
those who reason at a higher level tend to sympathise more with others and show more conventional behaviours (generosity, honesty)
what are 2 neg evals for Kohlberg’s explanation
depends on the offence
criticism of the Heinz dilemma as a tool
how is the type of offence a neg eval on Kohlberg’s moral reasoning
depends on the offence, study found that people who commit crime for financial gain were pre-conv., but impulsive crimes were more likely to be associated with later levels.
cognitive theories may not be able to explain all examples of offending behaviour, and specifically not all types of crimes
what is a neg eval of the Heinz dilemma
Rosen said it lacks validity as the children interviewed can’t assess the questions from their own perspectives as they’ve never married/faced a decision, and it is difficult to imagine from both perspectives.
age bias, most of the subjects were <16 who obviously had no marriage experience. may have been too abstract to understand and a scenario more capable to their everyday concerns may have given different results.
