Kohlberg holds that persons develop through three stages of moral intellectual that form our emotional growth. He described three levels, pre-conventional before the age of nine, conventional within early adolescence, and post-conventional once formal operational thought is attained with each level having two distinct stages
In the first stage, a child’s behavior is steered by avoiding punishment from figures of authority. At the second stage, an individual is yet to internalize societal codes and depends on consequences that may follow their actions to distinguish right from wrong. On the third stage, a child bases their actions on the approval of others, and they adopt “the good boy-nice girl orientation.” At the fourth stage, Kohlberg believes a child now acknowledges rules due to their relevance in maintaining a functional society since observing a character is seen as valuable. At the fifth stage, an individual apprehends that regulations and laws could or could not favor particular individual interests and therefore, rules are viewed as a social contract, and those that are unacceptable should be changed to meet the standards of the majority (Socioemotional Development, n.d). The last stage is based on universal principles ideology where individuals come up with their moral guidelines which could as well not fit the law. Individuals are willing to go against a majority to defend certain principles regardless of the consequences.
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Kohlberg’s theory helps clarify the dilemma on how people develop moral reasoning. He uses ethical dilemmas to understand how individuals navigate through each scenario. Thus moral development plays an integral part in our social dealings since we know how and why persons make a decision, particularly in ethical dilemmas.
However, Kohlberg limits his theory on childhood and doesn’t explain how grownups could develop their moral reasoning. Therefore most of his dilemmas are peculiar to individuals. Instead, he would have made his dilemmas relatable to all people.
Reference
Socioemotional Development in Middle and Late Childhood. (n.d). Santrock, Chapter 10, 314-328.
