The first five years of a child’s life shape the moral development of the brain for the rest of their life. Moral development is the stages in which people go through throughout their life that help them determine what is right or wrong. Multiple theorists such as: Piaget, Kohlberg, Gilligan, and Damon have contributed to the topic of moral development. Being aware of the contributions these theorists have made will help people understand why others perform the way they do.
According to McLeod (2015), Piaget developed his theory or moral development in 1932. His theory included two stages of moral development: moral realism, otherwise known as heteronomous morality, and moral relativism, also known as autonomous morality. Piaget developed these …show more content…
According to McLeod (2013), Kohlberg started his research by interviewing a set of male children, giving them various scenarios, and recording their responses. The story that I found of greater interest to me, was the one regarding a husband who had a wife dying of cancer. The husband knew of another local guy who had created a drug that could possibly save his wife, but the drug was extremely expensive. The husband tried to raise money to buy the drug, but time was running short and there was no way to raise all the money he would need. So, the question Kohlberg posed to the gentlemen he interviewed was: Should the husband steal the drug to save his wife or should he let his wife die of cancer? Based upon the answers Kohlberg received from interviewing the gentlemen he developed three levels of morality each consisting of two stages; they are as …show more content…
Gilligan was a student and colleague of Kohlberg’s at Harvard University. According to Huff, she had a problem with Kohlberg’s, Freud’s, and Erickson’s male centered theories, due to the fact that all of the experiments used to create their theories were performed on only males. He states, “Her complaint is that it is not good psychology if it leaves out half of the human race.” Gilligan performed her own studies with only women and came up with her own three stages of the ethic of care. She claims that, “Women were not inferior in their personal or moral development, but that they were different.” Kohlberg’s theory of moral development was developed around the main focus of justice and development of cognitive ability, Gilligan’s was developed around the focus of connections between people and development within one’s self. When Gilligan interviewed the women in her experiments she asked questions revolving around the idea of whether or not to receive an abortion. Again, according to Huff, in her texts she comes across unquestionably clear to be pro-choice. Gilligan’s theory is as
According to McLeod (2015), Piaget developed his theory or moral development in 1932. His theory included two stages of moral development: moral realism, otherwise known as heteronomous morality, and moral relativism, also known as autonomous morality. Piaget developed these …show more content…
According to McLeod (2013), Kohlberg started his research by interviewing a set of male children, giving them various scenarios, and recording their responses. The story that I found of greater interest to me, was the one regarding a husband who had a wife dying of cancer. The husband knew of another local guy who had created a drug that could possibly save his wife, but the drug was extremely expensive. The husband tried to raise money to buy the drug, but time was running short and there was no way to raise all the money he would need. So, the question Kohlberg posed to the gentlemen he interviewed was: Should the husband steal the drug to save his wife or should he let his wife die of cancer? Based upon the answers Kohlberg received from interviewing the gentlemen he developed three levels of morality each consisting of two stages; they are as …show more content…
Gilligan was a student and colleague of Kohlberg’s at Harvard University. According to Huff, she had a problem with Kohlberg’s, Freud’s, and Erickson’s male centered theories, due to the fact that all of the experiments used to create their theories were performed on only males. He states, “Her complaint is that it is not good psychology if it leaves out half of the human race.” Gilligan performed her own studies with only women and came up with her own three stages of the ethic of care. She claims that, “Women were not inferior in their personal or moral development, but that they were different.” Kohlberg’s theory of moral development was developed around the main focus of justice and development of cognitive ability, Gilligan’s was developed around the focus of connections between people and development within one’s self. When Gilligan interviewed the women in her experiments she asked questions revolving around the idea of whether or not to receive an abortion. Again, according to Huff, in her texts she comes across unquestionably clear to be pro-choice. Gilligan’s theory is as