Psychological explanations: Cognitive-Level of moral reasoning Pt1

Question 1

A01

What is moral reasoning?

Answer 1

Moral reasoning - process where an individual draws upon their own value system to determine whether an action is right or wrong

Question 2

A01

Outline Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development

Answer 2

Kohlberg applied the concept of moral reasoning to criminal behaviour.
* Proposed that peoples decisions & judgement on issues of right & wrong can be summarised in a stage theory of moral reasoning,
the higher the stage, the more sophisticated the reasoning
* Kohlberg used a series of moral dilemmas (the Heinz dilemma being the most famous one) to determine the stage of moral reasoning at which an individual was operating

Question 3

A01

Kohlbergs model & criminality

Answer 3

criminal offenders classified at pre-conventional level of Kohlbergs model
( stage 1 & 2)
wheras non-criminals progressed to conventional level & beyond
criminals do not progress form The pre-conventional level - characterised by a need to avoid punshsment & gain rewards & associated with less mature, child like reasoning
Thus adults & adolescensts who reason at this level may commit crime if they can get away with it or gain rewards in the form of money or respect

Chandler( 1973) supports this view, suggests criminality is because offenders are more egocentric
whereas those at a higher level of reasoning tend to show more honest behaviours, including generosity & non-violence, & can sympathise more with others

Question 4

A01

Kohlbergs research

Answer 4

A longitudinal study over a period of 12 years
75 American males answered a series of hypothetical and philosophical moral dilemmas in the form of short stories
The participants were aged 10-16 years old at the start of the study; aged 22-28 by the end
Kohlberg compared the males from the USA to those from Canada, the UK, Mexico, Turkey and Taiwan

Question 5

A03

Research supporting reliability-palmer & hollin-compared moral reasoning of offenders & non offenders

Strength

Answer 5

Palmer and Hollin (1998) compared moral reasoning between non-offenders & convicted offenders using Socio-Moral Reflection Measure (SRM) which comprises a series of moral dilemmas, such as questions around stealing & keeping/breaking promises
The offenders showed less mature moral reasoning than the non-offenders groups, showing reliability through consistency for Kolhberg’s theory

Question 6

A03

Gender bias in research

Limitation

Answer 6

Kolhberg’s research can be criticised for suffering from beta bias, as the sample only consisted of males
This means that the findings cannot be generalised to females and therefore lacks some validity