Developmental stages moral

Lawrence Kohlberg (October 25th 1927 with Bronxville (New York) - January 19th 1987) is a American Psychologue which taught with the Université of Chicago like to Harvard. According to a classification of Haggbloom et al. , it belongs to the 30 most important psychologists of the XXe century.

Basing its work on the theory of the Stages of acquisition of Jean Piaget, it is mainly known for its research in the field of education, the reasoning and the development, more precisely to have established a series of developmental stages moral, so called scale of the moral development. Others like Elliot Turiel or James Rest, will contribute to the deepening of its theses.

Developmental stages moral

Characteristics

the moral development is sequential, i.e. it develops by successive stages which cannot be preceded.
It is irreversible, except in the case of decays such as the disease of Alzheimer, once one of the acquired stages, a person cannot regress at a former stage.
It is intégratif, a person having acquired a higher stage being capable to include/understand the reasoning of the individuals having reached the lower stages, the opposite not being inevitably true.
It is transcultural, i.e. in all the cultures, the moral development follows the same stages.
the stagnation is possible, everyone does not reach necessarily the following stage. An adult can have easily reached stage 1 without never reaching the next one.

Level préconventionnel

This level is characterized by self-centredness, of the exogenic rules and the importance attached to the punishment and the reward. It is the level in which the child finds itself, but a person can remain in this level all her life.

Stage 1 - Punishment-reward

The good, the good, is connected to an authority out of ego. The good corresponds to acts which are rewarded and the evil, with acts which are punished. In psychoanalytical terms, one could consider that the Surmoi is not integrated yet at this stage. The individual does not consider there yet the interest of the others. The important virtue of this stage is obedience.

Stage 2 - Instrumental

At this stage, is well what satisfies its personal needs and, incidentally, that of the others. The individual learns the value there from the bargaining and lump of a woman. The others start to take importance, but the individual remains egocentric person.

Conventional level

The otherness takes importance. The individual learns how to satisfy waitings. The super-ego becomes interiorized. It is the stage of adolescence, but most of the adults remain there.

Stage 3 - Interpersonal relationships

It is the stage of the relation to the other. One calls the desire of the other there, his attention, his appreciation. At this stage, there is a prospect reduced for the human relations and the good corresponds to the approval which the group can bring to us for our acts.

Stage 4 - Moral conscience

The company is seen like a whole and its standards like absolutes. One seeks the social order and the good performance there. The good, in this case, is the law and the good order and man are a good citizen who follows the operating rules of the company. It can also be the rules of the religion which act like guides for the action.

Post-conventional level

On this level, the individual bases himself on an ethical reflection, values morals and principles which he considers valid. The rules became endogenous. It is the level which one can usually await oneself from an adult, although several do not reach these stages and that only a small portion of the population reaches stage 6.

Stage 5 - Social contract and individual rights

The individual passes from the selfishness to the Altruisme. Its interests, although they are taken into account, take less place than the collective interest. The good comes from a balance between the collective individual rights and rights. The Valeur S guide the action there.

Stage 6 - Universal moral principles

The moral system of the individual can be included/understood like a intégratif whole. The moral conscience there is relevant, coherent, total and universal, and rests in a complete autonomy. The universal figure that one could take as example of a person having reached stage 6 would be Gandhi.

References

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