Morality, Ethics, Evil, Greed
The Stages of Moral Development
In 1958, psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg established a framework for understanding moral development. He proposed that moral understanding and behavior develop in a series of stages. This framework, still in use, has led to much research into moral psychology. Kohlberg's work addresses the process of how we think of right and wrong and is based on Jean Piaget's theory of moral judgment for children.
His stages include pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional, and what we learn in one stage is integrated into the subsequent stages. Parenting practices strongly influence moral development.
The pre-conventional stage is driven by obedience and punishment . This is a child's view of what is right or wrong. Examples of this thinking: “I hit my brother, and I received a time-out.” “How can I avoid punishment?” “What's in it for me?”
The conventional stage involves accepting societal views on rights and wrongs. In this stage, people follow rules with a good boy and nice girl orientation. An example of this thinking: “Do it for me.” This stage also includes law-and-order morality: “Do your duty.”
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