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Moral values in the young generation
Criticism of Piaget's moral development theory
Children's social emotional and moral development
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One morning in April 1999, the calm was shattered in the town of Littleton, near Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. Two youths in black trench coats entered the local high school and began shooting at students and teachers. They also detonated bombs. Twelve students and a teacher were killed, and more than 20 were wounded. The perpetrators ended the massacre by taking their own lives. They were only 17 and 18 years old. This is but one incident fostered by the decline of morality as a whole in society today. Dr. Thomas Plante (2012), a professor of psychology laments, “I don't know about you but I'm amazed at what seems to be considered as acceptable behavior out there...a lack of polite civility often rules the day. This has been true for a long time but it appears to be getting worse...perhaps much worse.” The definition of “morality” as well as whether or not schools are encroaching on parental responsibility by teaching and promoting it are hot button issues among many today, but facts are facts. The tragedy above exemplifies the fact; and the fact is the decline in morality has resulted in some very unsettling consequences inside school walls.
Jean Piaget (1932) is among the first of psychologists who embraced the touchy issue of morality, and more specifically, the development of morality in children. To summarize his findings, children’s view of morality undergoes many changes as they age, the most important of these beginning around age ten. Essentially, what Piaget uncovered is that a series of changes occur between the ages of 10 and 12, just when the child begins to enter the general stage of formal operations, and intellectual development continues to develop until at least age sixteen. Therefore, a child’s view ...
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...is teaching youths morality, but simply that the morals are being taught, and soon. The consequences are irreversible and deadly.
Works Cited
1. Plante, T. (2012, January 18). Do the right thing: What ever happened to nice as a virtue? [Blog]. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/do-the-right-thing/201201/what-ever-happened-nice-virtue
2. Crain, W. C. (1985). Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. In Theories of development (118-136). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
3. Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press
4. School violence: weapons, crime and bullying. Retrieved from http://www.nssc1.org/cases-in-the-news.html
5. Sommers, Christina Hoff. (March 1999). Are we living in a moral stone age, 127 (2646). Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2646_127/ai_54098986/
Ahrens, Tim. "Nice is Not a Moral Value." socialgospelrisingdotcom. Tim Ahrens, 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. .
Nye, Howard. PHIL 250 B1, Winter Term 2014 Lecture Notes – Ethics. University of Alberta.
Graham, Jesse and Johnathan Haidt. 2011. The Social Psychology of Morality: Exploring the Causes of
moral development. In these stages, Kohlberg concentrates on the reasons why people act the way they do; not the way they think about their actions or what action they take, but the reasoning behind their actions.
By the 1950’s, Americans began to grow concerned about the morality of their children, especially since “the common school inculcates all Christian morals; it founds its morals on the basis of religion; it welcomes the religion of the Bible.”3 School boards across the region began to investigate ways to teach moral...
Baumeister, Gilligan, and Piaget have some similarities and differences. All three were able to see the importance of moral development in childhood. However, Piaget focused on the stages that we develop morality. Gilligan was more focused on the differences of morality in females. Baumeister focus was more on the impact of self-control in moral development. It appears that all three focus on the importance of society and our social interaction in relation to how our morality is developed. It is important to keep in mind that our society is believe to have the biggest impact in our social development. (Santrock, 2011)
Kagan, Jerome. The Emergence of Morality in Young Children. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Kohlberg a well-known theorist in social development, who built on to Jean Piaget’s theory of moral development. Piaget’s theory was based on two-stages of moral development, however the Kohlberg’s theory is based on six stages within three levels of moral development. He wanted to develop his ideas further with the hopes of discovering the ways in which children develop moral reasoning, including how it changes as they grow older. People can only pass through these levels in the order given. Each new stage replaces the reasoning of the earlier stage plus not every person achieves all the
Kohlberg is a well-known theorist in social development, who built on to Jean Piaget’s theory of moral development. Piaget’s theory was based on two-stages of moral development, however Kohlberg’s theory is based on six stages with in three levels of moral development. Kohlberg wanted to develop his ideas further with the hopes of discovering the ways in which children develop moral reasoning and how it changes as they grow older. People can only pass through these levels in the order given. Each new stage replaces the reasoning of the earlier stage. And not everyone achieves all the
"Moral thought, then, seems to behave like all other kinds of thought. Progress through the moral levels and stages is characterized by increasing differentiation and increasing integration, and hence is the same kind of progress that scientific theory represents." Quoted by Mr. Kohlberg himself. Kohlberg developed a set of stages on what he thought how man develops morally. Lawrence Kohlberg's reasoning for the stages of moral development stemmed from Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget; who was one of the first to study systematically moral reasoning in children. Lawrence was also influenced by Socrates, Immanuel Kant, & John Rawls. These were philosophers who preceded Kohlberg and what led him to make "Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development." According to Kohlberg, although the specific content of moral codes can vary from culture to culture, what really distinguishes among cultures is what is only on the surface. He believed that humans, with the exceptions of sociopathic and severely impaired people, have an innate potential for development from the earlier to later stages of moral development. According to Lawrence, "each stage is distinct and reflects a level of moral judgment that is more complex than that of preceding stages." He compares his views of moral development as kind of like a "mathematical" solution to conflicts. Kohlberg's Stages of Moral development consists of three levels and within them six developmental stages; each more sufficient at responding to moral predicaments than its predecessor. Within his works he was predominantly concerned with justice. Level one: Pre-Conventional(early), which deals with the beginning two stages; the first being Punishment and Obedience( How can I elude punishment?) & the second ...
Sylvan, R. and Bennett, D., The Greening of Ethics, Cambridge, U.K.: The White Horse Press, 1994.
Jane doe noted that she always she’s herself as a pleaser she lives to see smiles on people faces. She said” while growing up I was always the nice girl; I don’t think I have a mean bone in my body. My feelings are hurt easily and I figured if I’m always nice others will be nice to me as well.” Kohlberg ,1971 Third stage Interpersonal Correspondence “Nice –boy/Good-girl” explains nice behaviors help others gain approval from others. Being nice to others becomes important for the first time. Jane doe also expressed how she feels about showing others respect especially her close family. She explained that her father drilled in her the importance of showing respect to her elders and how important it is to show respect by answering yes ma’am/sir and no ma’am/ sir when speaking to an Authority figure. This is an example of Kohlbergs,1971 fourth stage Law and Order which suggest that the right behavior consists of doing one duty of showing respect for authority and maintaining the given social order for its own
Moral development “focuses on the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from infancy through adulthood. In the field of moral development, morality is defined as principles for how individuals ought to treat one another, with respect to justice, others ' welfare, and rights.” (Citation) Essential to the success of every society is moral development. Lawrence Kohlberg cultivated and advanced the framework of Piaget’s life’s work in the area of moral development. He theorized that we formulate ways of thinking through our experiences. Such experiences included but weren’t limited to an understanding of the moral concepts of human welfare, rights, equality and justice. Through his research Kohlberg ascertained that we go through various
...s. Throughout the stages of development Freud argues that the powerful human influence came from the parents. Piaget believed that peers are as important or more important than parents are. They both agree that a young child is affected by his parents’ standards, but he is not simply a passive recipient of those standards. Piaget did seem to build on one of Freud’s ideas in that while Freud was only interested in moral feelings like guilt and shame, Piaget expanded his theory to look at the development of moral judgment.
Lawrence Kohlberg served as a professor at Harvard University for many years but rose to fame for his work there starting from the early 1970s. He is mostly known for his moral development theory that he based on the works of philosopher John Dewey and psychologist Jean Piaget. According to him, humans’ progress in their moral reasoning occurs in a series of stages. He formulated three levels of moral reasoning, which he further divided into 6 stages. In the obedience and punishment stage of the pre-conventional level, individuals’ behavior complies with norms that are socially acceptable as told by some authority, for instance, teacher or parent. Obedience is usually informed by the application or threat or punishment (Barger, 2000). The second