Kohlberg and Freud

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development has maintained a dominant position in cognitive moral development literature over several decades. This universal influence has been particularly evident in its application to moral education literature and policy. A closer assessment of Kohlberg’s theoretical conceptualization suggests the application of universal assumptions masked by Eurocentric values and possible unconscious bias. In this paper, the relevance of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development in the South African context is explored in relation to early childhood development. In addition, through the example of violence in South Africa, we illustrate how moral development occurs in ways that are at odds with the universalist claims made by Kohlberg. While acknowledging the value of Kohlberg’s work, our appraisal unveils its blind spots. This appraisal contends that moral reasoning is negotiated in context and thus needs to be understood within the local socio-historical, cultural, and economic milieu.

Although a theory of moral development is not itself a theory of moral education, it can have important implications for moral education. A case in point is the cognitive-developmental theory of Lawrence Kohlberg) Kohlberg and his followers have for several years been attempting to put into practice in classrooms and prisons the implications of this theory for moral education. His theory is being widely discussed by those interested in moral education, and it seems to be attracting an ever larger number of adherents. So, given the likelihood of its having significant impact on the moral education of children, it is important that attempts be made to see to what extent it can withstand critical scrutiny. A comprehensive critical examination would be a large undertaking. This paper has a more modest aim. It will consider Kohlberg's views on the relationship between cognition and affect in moral development. Kohlberg's theory is distinguished by its insistence that there is an invariant, and irreversible, order of stages of moral development. It is called a cognitivedevelopmental theory because, following Piaget, it maintains that each stage of moral development parallels a stage of cognitive development. For Kohlberg, there are 6 stages of moral development, and one cannot advance to a higher stage until one has gone through each of the preceding stages. The six stages can be divided into three levels: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional (or autonomous). One of the most persistent criticisms of Kohlberg's theory is that it does not do justice to the affective aspects of moral development) Although he is aware of this criticism, Kohlberg remains steadfast in focusing primary attention on the cognitive aspects of moral development, with the affective aspects receiving secondary treatment. The aim of this paper is to show that, despite Kohlberg's numerous attempts to respond to this criticism, his critics are essentially right. The upshot will be, not only that he should attend more fully and carefully to the affective aspects of moral development, but also that his particular conception of moral stages is in need of serious reconsideration.

The purpose of the present study was: (a) to investigate how Swedish children and adolescents think and feel about war and peace: (b) to examine whether Piaget's developmental theory and Kohlberg's theory of moral development could be used as a frame of reference for analyzing the data, and (c) to study whether there exists two distinct ways of thinking about moral problems as Gilligan proposes—justice and care—and if they are differentially related to gender. One-hundred-eighty-two schoolchildren (91 females, 91 males), ranging in age from 7 to 18 years, were interviewed individually using a revised version of Cooper's (1965) interview guide. The results showed that Swedish children's and adolescents' reasoning about war and peace was, on the whole, in accordance with previous studies. The discrepancies found were probably a result of different cultural experiences and the timing of study. The unique Swedish situation, being a country with long-standing peace, together with the ongoing war in former Yoguslavia, may have influenced some of the answers. Swedish children had more negative emotions about war and during their teens they viewed peace as a positive personal matter (e.g., a peace of mind) and not as an international political movement. The development of the concepts of war and peace showed a change with age from an egocentric to a sociocentric view, which corresponds to the intellectual and moral development outlined more generally by Piaget and Kohlberg. The results also showed distinct gender differences. Compared to boys, girls (a) put more emphasis on the morality of care, (b) were more concerned about the psychological and social consequences of war, (c) had more negative feelings about war, and (d) placed greater value on peace and avoidance of war.

Kohlberg's theory of moral development is extended and revised. The Chinese perspectives on moral development are integrated into the present 6‐stage model. The last three stages are: (4) Golden mean orientation and social system; (5) Majority rights and individual rights, and (6) Universal ethical principles of natural harmony. The first three stages are hypothesized to be cultural universal but the last three stages are supposed to have a cultural component. For each of the Stages 4, 5 and 6, a general structure is constructed and then a Chinese sub‐structure and a Western sub‐structure are derived from their corresponding general structure. Confucian and Taoistic philosophies are employed to elaborate some of the characteristics of the Chinese sub‐structures.

From an early age, children with high abilities show signs of high moral sensitivity. These children, as well as showing an advanced ability to think about abstract ideas such as justice and fairness, can also show superior performance in one or more areas, in isolation or in combination, when compared to students of the same age group, grade and environmental experiences. The general objective was to describe and characterize the state of knowledge on the moral development of students with high abilities. To this end, an integrative literature review was carried out in five electronic databases from 2002 to 2022 (Periódico CAPES, Sage Journal, Eric, Psycinfo and LILACS). The following results were found: i. In total, 14 articles were selected, which indicates a shortage of scientific publications on this subject; ii. quantitative tests for assessing moral development were the most commonly used instruments for assessing moral development in students with high abilities; iii. two theories of moral development were used in studies to explain the moral development of people with high abilities: Piaget's theory and Kohlberg's theory, the latter being cited in international studies and the former in national studies; and iv. the need for educational interventions for the moral development of students with high abilities. The conclusion is that it is necessary to promote scientific research on this subject, as meeting the emotional and educational needs of children with high abilities and the inclusion of this special education group in school depends on the knowledge accumulated by scientific studies.

Assessment of moral Reasoning Ability of the Nurses in dealing with moral dilemmas

Kohlberg and Piaget on Stages and Moral Reasoning

A team of engineers, scientists, ethicists, and educational specialists are enhancing Duke University's Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) program to ensure that graduate-level researchers in emerging fields are adequately prepared when confronted with macroethical issues associated with applications of new and emerging medical technologies. The focus is on nanoscale laboratory research conducted in the Center for Biologically Inspired Materials and Material Systems and the Center for Biological Tissue Engineering. Most present RCR programs address methodological ethics of the individual researcher or practitioner (i.e., microethical) issues, analogous to Kohlberg's theory of moral development. The resultant model from this project is the basis for departmental, center, and other more targeted ethical challenges stemming from research in emerging technologies, designed to provide comprehensive RCR training. The research successfully identified new ways of teaching students about macroethical issues (i.e., those that affect society). Three main dimensions of ethics in nanotechnology-related research are being stressed, namely, awareness, ethical decision making, and behavior. Workshops appear to enhance awareness of the ethical issues associated with emerging technologies. To date, attempts to affect decision making have been difficult, although in this study workshops were an effective means of identifying strategies to address ethical issues. A principal lesson learned has been the importance of providing a context for macroethical issues. For example, the workshop where an expert presented the technical aspects of environmental consequences of carbon nanotubes led to statistically significant differences between pre- and postworkshop understanding of societal risks. Conversely, in a workshop without the technical introduction, little difference was observed. This indicates that the stage of students' ethical understanding is an important determinant of effectiveness of the education method needed.

Role-taking ability and level of moral development were measured in three groups of boys and girls including 16 moderately retarded adolescents (mean chronological age 15; mean mental age 9), 16 nonretarded adolescents matched for chronological age, and 16 nonretarded children matched for mental age. The mentally retarded adolescents scored significantly lower on role-taking ability and moral development than the adolescents matched for chronological age. They did not differ from children of their same mental age in role-taking ability; and they tended to score lower in moral development. The results supplied qualified support for Kohlberg's theory of moral development.

HRMARS - Many societies around the world face challenges posed by juvenile delinquency, and within this context, moral emotions are highly applicable both to the understanding of the problem and the potential solutions. This study analyses juvenile delinquency in the context of the Maldives and the potential of moral emotions – guilt, shame, empathy, and remorse. This study incorporates Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development, Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, and Agnew’s General Strain Theory. The results of the study indicate that moral emotions are crucial in juvenile behavior and the outcomes of decisions made. The study demonstrates the importance of understanding the socio-cultural context of the Maldives in designing moral emotions and developing socio moral scaffolding, therefore reducing delinquent behavior and aid positive development within the youth.

The present study explored Kohlberg's theory of moral development in relation to Korean and British children. A total of 128 Korean and British children aged 7-16 years were interviewed individually using Kohlberg's moral dilemmas, Form A. It was thought that the children in both cultural groups would develop moral stages at a similar rate. However, they showed cultural differences in the use of moral orientations. In addition, it was not possible to match some of the responses from the Korean children to Kohlberg's manual, implying that there are some Korean traditional concepts which affect Korean children's moral reasoning that Kohlberg was not aware of. Thus, Kohlberg's system could be used to examine children's general moral stage but was insufficient to understand fully Korean children's moral reasoning. The present study suggests that the interpretation of children's moral reasoning should be made based on consideration of cultural influence.

The present article reports two studies in which the validity of the Defining Issues Test (DI[T; Rest 1979) for conservative religious people was examined. In Study 1 we found that from 16 to 25 (of 72) DIT items had differential functioning; that is, the items were measuring a different construct for conservative religious subjects. Study 2 provided evidence that a large proportion of the differential item functioning observed in Study 1 was due to the religious connotations these items had for the religious subjects. We concluded that the DIT is not completely valid for people from some conservative religious cultures. Our studies join with other research in providing evidence that Kohlberg's theory of moral development is to some extent religiously and culturally limited.

Since manager's decisions impact organizational goals and organizational ethical behavior, this researcher investigated the degree to which there are differences in the moral reasoning ability of business managers of selected industries and whether there are significant differences between top, middle, and first-line management levels. To determine the relationship between managers' locus of control and their moral reasoning ability, this study considered three independent variables: reported organizational ethical climate, locus of control, and selected demographic and institutional variables. For a foundation, this researcher relied on Kohlberg's theory of moral development, Victor and Cullen's ethical work climate theory, and Rotter's theory of internal—external locus of control (which evolved from Carl Jung). The short form of Rest's DIT instrument measured the moral reasoning abilities of the participants. The selected demographic and institutional variables (age, work tenure, education, gender, management level and industry category) provided the useful information to investigate these relationships of moral reasoning ability of individual managers. A survey questionnaire was sent to 400 managerial and executive level employees at a random sample of Fortune 500 firms throughout the United States: Dun and Bradstreet provided the researcher with a proportional stratified random sample of these 400 managerial and executive level employees at a variety of organizations. Interestingly, women in this study exhibited slightly higher (more external) mean I—E scores and (more principled) higher mean “P” score than men. While both of these results were anticipated, neither was significant. However, one major finding of this study was the statistically significant relationship between age and perceived organizational ethical climate types (Caring, Law and Code, Rule, Instrument, and Independence). Another major finding revealed a statistically significant relationship between management levels and organizational ethical climate.

The study examines the critical role of professional ethics in auditor decision-making, focusing on public accounting firms in Jakarta, Indonesia. Employing a convergent parallel design, the research integrates qualitative case study findings with quantitative survey results to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing ethical behavior in the auditing profession.The qualitative component explores the ethical dilemmas faced by auditors, drawing on Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development, Rest's Four-Component Model, and the Theory of Planned Behavior. Through in-depth interviews and document analysis, the study reveals that auditors encounter complex ethical challenges stemming from client pressures, organizational incentives, and ambiguous professional guidelines. The findings highlight the pivotal role of ethical culture and leadership in shaping auditors' decision-making processes.The quantitative component complements the qualitative insights by surveying a larger sample of auditors across multiple firms. Descriptive and inferential analyses are conducted to assess the relationships between key variables, including organizational culture, professional guidelines, moral development, and ethical decision-making. The results provide empirical support for the qualitative findings, confirming the significant influence of organizational factors and individual moral reasoning on auditors' ethical behavior. The study offers practical recommendations for enhancing ethical practice in the auditing profession. These include implementing robust ethical training programs, fostering mentorship relationships, and aligning organizational incentives with ethical objectives. The research highlights the importance of cultivating a strong ethical culture within accounting firms and emphasizes the need for clear, unambiguous professional guidelines to support auditors in navigating ethical dilemmas.

Participation of students in physical education classes provides them with the opportunity to experience moods such as competition, a sense of disagreement and confrontation, despair and joy while at the class and, then, to evaluate their own reactions. The idea that physical education and sports have a role in the development of socialization and morals is generally accepted by many researchers. The positive impact of physical education and sports upon social and moral development will not occur automatically by participation in classes. It is more likely to think that it will come through by taking advantage of the opportunities gained by the carefully designed experience. Hellison’s Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) is one of the programs in which these values are successfully applied through sports during physical education classes. The purpose of this study is; to examine the effects that may arise from the intervention of the TPSR by determining the needs of the 9th grade students for fair play behavior within the framework of Kohlberg's moral development theory. In the study, the action research approach was employed and the data were obtained from video records, student reflections, and semi-structured individual interviews. The study was conducted with 30 students in the 9th grade of a medical vocational high school in Ankara and 6 focus students selected by the purposeful sampling method were evaluated. The obtained data were analyzed by content analysis. The findings of the study are grouped under 3 themes. And these are; 1) I can escape from punishment and care only about my own interests, 2) Reciprocal Relations: “They also supported our team”, 3) I am listening to my own conscience: I care about my competitor and respect him. The findings prove that fair play descriprions of students and attitudes are at the preconventional level according to Kohlberg’s moral development theory while descriptions and attitudes after the implementation are mostly at the conventional level or the postconventional level and students can internalize the concept of fair play and can make decisions in accordance with their own moral judgments. As a consequence, TPSR is a very effective model in providing fair play to students when used as a (frisbee) tool. However, the model does not lead to change in children’s thoughts about the behaviors of their favorite teams not in accordance with fair play while influencing the children to acquire values related to and for themselves.