Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory: Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory for how the self grows and develops is called moral development. The main idea of Kohlberg’s theory is how people differentiate between what is right and wrong. His theory is made up of three levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. The preconventional level is the level young children experience and their thoughts and actions are very concrete. It is made up of two stages called the reward and punishment stage and the exchange stage. The reward and punishment stage, stage 1, is based on avoiding punishment. An example to explain the reward and punishment stage would be a child not taking a toy from their classmate because the teacher will punish them. The exchange stage, stage 2, is based on doing …show more content…
He showed no differences in this stage. My little cousin showed similarities of stage two because it is based on doing the right thing for an individual’s own interests. He knew if he took care of me, I would continue to take care of him and that is his own individual interest. He showed no differences in this stage. I observered and thought he was showing concrete behavior in these preconventional stages because he knew what was right to do but did not know why it was right. My little cousin might show similarities to stage three because he wants to fill a social role of being a good kid. A difference he could show would be him going to a party without him telling his friends, so his friends still see him as a “good” kid, even though he might feel like a “bad” kid. My little cousin might show similarities to stage four because he thinks following the rule his mom told him is mandatory, even though the right thing to do might be saving the dog on the side of the road. I think in these conventional stages he would really start to understand his feelings because he is thinking if he wants to be a “good” or “bad” kid in society. My little cousin might be showing similarties to stage five in the future when he lets someone steal baby food for their baby because he is learning that different people have different values. My little cousin might be showing similarities to stage six when he says “I will pay taxes because it is the right thing to do” because stage six is based on developing morals. A difference would be if he did not pay his taxes because he knew he could get away with it. This would not show that he is developing morals. I think in these postconventional stages my little cousin would start showing abstract thinking, because he is starting to see sometimes the law might not be morally