Lawrence
Kohlberg was a well-known psychologist, but later he drove his focus toward the
field of education. Lawrence Kohlberg proposed a theory of moral development in
which he gave a chain of stages in which he stated that people develop their
moral reasoning by going through those stages. Today we will discuss the criticism of
Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development.
The main focus of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development:
Lawrence
Kohlberg has shown that his major focus in his theory of moral development is
The main
focus of Lawrence Kohlberg’s research is that moral reasoning
for a child is a complicated process, and therefore, it needs guidance through
his proposed stages of development.
Related: Perennialists’ perspectives: curriculum & role of a teacher
Criticism of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development:
We
will study the criticism of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development by
Carol Gilligan. According to the criticism of Carol Gilligan on
Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, this theory of development did
not focus on gender differences. This theory of moral development by Lawrence Kohlberg majorly focuses
on males, not females. It happened because this theory did not pay heed to the
perspective of care.
Carol
says that males and females are both of the opposite genders, and in this way,
their social interaction is also completely different. According to her, women
are more concerned about interpersonal relationships and take responsibility
for the welfare of others as compared to males. It is due to the fact that a
child has great interaction with its mother, as well as females, are normally
taught a moral frame of mind by which the care of personal relationships and
focus on community become their priority.
Criticism of Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development:
Carol
Gilligan also presented criticism of the moral development stages of Lawrence Kohlberg. She
presented criticism on the three stages of moral development—pre-conventional,
conventional, and post-conventional.
Criticism of the pre-conventional stage of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development:
According
to Lawrence, in the pre-conventional stage of moral development. External
rewards and punishments control moral reasoning. At this stage, punishment,
self-interest, and reward are the basis of moral thinking. But Carol Gilligan
emphasizes that in the pre-conventional stage, a person cares about himself
only to the extent of a safe way of living. In this phase, a person seems
selfish, but in actuality, he tries to build a connection between himself and
others.
Criticism of the conventional stage of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development:
The
second phase of moral growth by Lawrence Kohlberg in his theory of moral
development is conventional.
Lawrence Kohlberg divides this stage into two parts: interpersonal norms and
social system morality. In the first stage, Lawrence Kohlberg argues that
children give priority to care, faithfulness, and care for others based upon
moral judgment. They adopt moral standards for their parents and struggle to be
"good" or "bad" for them, as this is a rewarding stage for
a child.
In
the stage of social system morality, he says that law, justice, duty, and
social order are the basis of moral judgments. At this stage, a child follows
those laws for the benefit of society and to be a good person to others. But
Carol Gilligan counters this statement by Lawrence Kohlberg in a conventional
stage of moral development. She says that in the conventional stage, a person
becomes responsible and shows care towards others. Furthermore, she argues that
this responsible attitude is usually shown in females, not in males.
Criticism of the post-conventional stage of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development:
Lawrence
Kohlberg says that in post-conventional, a person fully adopts a morality that
is not based upon the calibre of others. He divides this stage into two parts:
the rights
of the community and individual and universal ethical principles. In
the stage of the rights of the community and individual, he says a person
becomes able to admit that laws are crucial for sustaining a society. At the
same time, he knows that laws have the capability of change. Thus, there is the
greater importance of values than laws. Similarly, in the second stage of
Universal Ethical Principles, Lawrence Kohlberg says that people will follow
their conscience over laws even if it involves personal risks. To develop a
moral standard based upon universal human rights, people will consider good as
abstract principles and emphasizes human rights without the care and approval
of society. In contrast, Carol Gilligan argues that in the
post-conventional, the principle of care for self and others is observed in
this stage. At the same time, she says that some people may not be able to
reach this level. Additionally, Gilligan says that Lawrence Kohlberg's
post-conventional stage is not procured by women. But according to her, this
stage of post-conventional is quite difficult for a woman, because she cares
about the relationship. Thus, Carol Gilligan divides the post-conventional
stage into two stages: care-based and justice-based morality. She says that in the very
first stage of post-conventional, the thinking of care-based morality is found
in the female gender, in which they majorly focus on human prosperity.
Why a care-based morality is found in women in criticism of the post-conventional stage of moral development theory of Lawrence Kohlberg?
Carol
Gilligan gives certain reasons by criticizing the moral development theory of Lawrence Kohlberg.
She says that care-based morality is found in women because they are more
concerned about universality and relationships. They show an attitude of
avoidance. Apart from these, women are selflessly engrossed in helping others.
On
the other hand, justice-based morality is found in the male gender. They mostly
focus on making sure that rules and laws that are based on moral principles
stay in place so that justice is done.
So,
here we completely discussed the criticism of Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development by
Carol Gilligan.
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