Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Kohlberg's theory of moral development consists of six stages within three levels known as preconventional Morality, conventional Morality and postconventional Morality. Kohlberg calls stage one thinking "preconventional" because children are unable to speak as members of society at this point. Instead, they see morality as what the adults say they must do. Kohlberg believes that moral development is a process which occurs throughout the lifespan and does not end at any given time. He is not so much focused on the right or wrong answer but in the reasoning behind the decision making.

Stage one of preconventional morality focuses on obedience and punishment. This stage is most commonly seen in younger children. This is because children see rules as fixed and certain things. Following rules is important and must be done because it is how a child believes they will avoid punishment. A child will remember a specific thing they have done and come to the conclusion that because it resulted in punishment last time it would be wrong to do again. The more severe the punishment for the act is, the worse the act is perceived to be. Although this stage is more commonly seen in children, adults are also persuaded by the fear of punishment and will base their actions accordingly but with more sense of a reason why.

Stage two consists of concepts such as individualism and exchange. At this stage children recognize that there is not one right view that is handed down by the authorities. Different individuals have different viewpoints(McLeod). Children account for individual points of view and act based on how it may serve individual needs. The main priority is typically to serve ones interest. Stage two reasoning shows little interest in oth...

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... rules or laws are not justified. This may lead to a person to go against a law because it isn't considered right, instead of not having a care for it. An individual at this stage will act for the reason that something is morally right or wrong, not because avoids punishment, is in their best interest, expected, legal, or previously agreed upon. Although Kohlberg insisted that stage 6 exists, It was very difficult to identify individuals who consistently operated at this level.

All of Kohlberg's stages evaluate consequences but the main focus is behavior and how thinking leads to certain actions. A child or adult can often categorize into several stages at once and base actions upon different moral thinking. Of course this theory is open to criticism, however it is hardly possible to deny the truth in these stages and how it never goes unnoticed in everyday life.