Objectives College students wanting to learn about theories

Objectives College students wanting to learn about theories of moral development will be able to: Outline the stage theories of Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan Tell the difference between a justice orientation and a care orientation Describe the study conducted by Stephanie Cain and Sylvia Tellez regarding Kohlberg and Gilligan’s theories.

Moral Development Does gender make a difference? Lawrence Kohlberg Vs. Carol Gilligan Online Biography

Lawrence Kohlberg Born October 25, 1927 in Bronxville, NY Obtained his bachelor’s degree after one year of study at the University of Chicago in 1948 Earned his doctoral degree in 1958 from the same university after writing a dissertation outlining stage theory of moral development Taught at the University of Chicago (beginning in 1962) and Harvard University (beginning in 1968) Performed cross-cultural studies of moral development in Israel and Belize

Kohlberg’s Stage Theory Preconventional { Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange Conventional { Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships Stage 4: Maintaining Social Order { Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights Stage 6: Universal Principles Postconventional

Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation There is a strict set of rules that must always be followed The ideas of punishment and permission are key Preconventional thought expressed

Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange Now there is not one right way of doing things; everything is relative Fair exchange policy The role of punishment weakens

Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships “Good Boy/Nice Girl” Orientation People should live up to the expectations of community Characters’ traits and motives are examined

Stage 4: Maintaining the Social Order There is an emphasis on obeying laws, respecting authority, and performing one’s duties so social order is maintained Perspective changes to society as a whole Not only does the child say a certain action is right or wrong, they explore the reasons why

Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights An individual’s moral judgment is motivated by community respect, respecting social order, and respect for legally/determined laws Thoughts consider the rights and values a society must uphold

Stage 6: Universal Principles Involves universal principles of justice that apply to all people We treat the particular dilemma through unbiased and impartial eyes We can only reach this stage by looking at a situation through someone else’s eyes

Carol Gilligan Born in 1936 Student of Lawrence Kohlberg Obtained an B. A. in English Literature, a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, and a Ph. D. in Social Psychology Has taught at Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and New York University. She currently teaches at the University of Cambridge. Focused most of her studies on gender-related development

Gilligan’s View of Kohlberg Justice orientation/perspective “draws attention to problems of inequality and oppression and holds up an ideal of reciprocity and equal respect. ” Care orientation/perspective “draws attention to problems of detachment or abandonment and holds up an ideal of attention and response to need. ” Gilligan states that “Two moral injunctions – not to treat others unfairly and not to turn away from someone in need – capture these different concerns. ”

Gilligan’s Stages of Development (relating to the Ethics of Care) Transition from selfishness to responsibility to others { Transition from goodness to truth { • Preconventional – Striving for individual survival • Conventional – Good things come out of self-sacrifice • Postconventional – Principle of nonviolence toward oneself and others

Our Problem: When given moral dilemmas, do both groups of children, male and female, follow Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of development? Is there a difference in orientation in moral decision making between the two genders as Carol Gilligan suggests? Are females more inclined to choose care over justice and males justice over care?

Our Hypothesis: We believe that girls are more inclined to make moral decisions based on ideas of care and relationships, whereas boys will base their decisions on justice.

Our Study We selected three moral dilemmas often used in Kohlberg studies to present to 15 fifth grade students (8 girls and 7 boys) at Holy Family of Nazareth school. Before using the dilemmas, we made sure we felt both care and justice responses could be given to each. Each dilemma was presented to the children with a series of questions for them to answer.

“The Heinz Dilemma” In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. the drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $400 for the radium and charged $4, 000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get together about $2, 000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it. " So, having tried every legal means, Heinz gets desperate and considers breaking into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife.

“Heinz Dilemma” 1. Should Heinz steal the drug? 2. 1 a. Why or why not? 3. 2. Is it actually right or wrong for him to steal the drug? 4. 2 a. Why is it right or wrong? 5. 3. Does Heinz have a duty or obligation to steal the drug? 6. 3 a. Why or why not?

“Dad Dilemma” Joe is a fourteen-year-old boy who wanted to go to camp very much. His father promised him he could go if he saved up the money for it himself. So Joe worked hard at his paper route and saved up the forty dollars it cost to go to camp, and a little more besides. But just before camp was going to start, his father changed his mind. Some of his friends decided to go on a special fishing trip, and Joe's father was short of the money it would cost. So he told Joe to give him the money he had saved from the paper route. Joe didn't want to give up going to camp, so he thinks of refusing to give his father the money.

“Dad Dilemma” 1. Should Joe refuse to give his father the money? 2. 1 a. Why or why not? 3. 2. Does the father have the right to tell Joe to give him the money? 4. 2 a. Why or why not? 5. 3. Does giving the money have anything to do with being a good son? 6. 3 a. Why or why not?

“Theft Dilemma” Two young men, brothers, had got into serious trouble. They were secretly leaving town in a hurry and needed money. Karl, the older one, broke into a store and stole a thousand dollars. Bob, the younger one, went to a retired old man who was known to help people in town. He told the man that he was very sick and that he needed a thousand dollars to pay for an operation. Bob asked the old man to lend him the money and promised that he would pay him back when he recovered. Really Bob wasn't sick at all, and he had no intention of paying the man back. Although the old man didn't know Bob very well, he lent him the money. So Bob and Karl skipped town, each with a thousand dollars.

“Theft Dilemma” Which brother was more wrong? Why would you say that? What do you think is the worst thing about cheating the old man? Why is that the worst thing?

Kohlberg Rubric Defined by Kohlberg Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange Stage 3: Interpersonal Relationships Stage 4: Maintaining a Social Order Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights Stage 6: Universal Principles Statements we expect to receive with regard to a given dilemma Concern on a fixed set of unchanging rules We worry about what authorities will permit and punish Punishment=wrong “It’s bad/wrong to…” “You’ll get punished”/ “You won’t get punished” “It’s a sin to…”/ “It is against the Commandments…” Everything is now relative; punishments are now a risk Individuals are seeking favors Fair exchange policy “Just because one person thinks it’s right, someone else might not” “This person may think it’s good/right for him” “It was unfair”/ “The fair way would have been…” “Good Boy/Nice Girl” Orientation Now there is a look at motives of each party involved The children now see the multi-dimensional aspect to a problem Character traits are described “ This person had the right idea” “His intentions were good, but…” This person was “greedy, selfish” or “caring and loving” Emphasis on obeying laws, respecting authority, and performing one’s duties so social order is maintained Not only do we say it’s wrong, but we explore the reasons why it is so “Stealing or breaking the law is never right, even though it is understandable why the person did it” “What would happen if we all did that” “It’s against the law to…because…” Stress on basic rights and democratic procedures to change unfair laws Strong language is used; the idea of right to life “The person has a right to live” “Laws are social contracts that everyone agrees to uphold” Look at problems through all eyes- clear concept of universal principles We decided no child would reach this stage at age 10 or 11

Kohlberg Overall Results

Stage 1 (Preconventional) “No. Because stealing is bad. ” (female) “Yes. Because he is his dad and you should obey his dad. ” (male) “Yes. So he could not get grounded. ” (male)

Stage 2 (Preconventional) “Yes. So his wife could live a longer life. ” (female) “No. Cause his father could give it to him with more” (female) “NO. IT’S HIS MONEY. ” (female)

Stage 3 (Conventional) “No. Because he’s your father. Think of all the things he has done for you. ” (male) “Yes. Because Joe was counting on his father and looking forward to the camping trip. ” (female) “His wife is dying and the guy’s a jerk. ” (female)

Stage 5 (Postconventional) “Yes. It dose not mater who it is all that maters is it is a life of a person. ” (female)

Gilligan Rubric Concept Language Preconventional Actions are done with intent of helping themselves survive or feel better. Reference to the feelings/well-being of the person making the decision in a dilemma. Conventional Willing to give of themselves for the goodness of others. Words such as "help" and reference to the feelings/well-being of people other than the person making the decision Postconventional Want to prevent harm to themselves and others; everyone is a person. Weighing the safety and well-being of everyone involved in the dilemma

Preconventional Responses “It is wrong because you might save your wife but the gilt for stealing would haunt you forever. ” (male) “Both of them are wrong. Karl brock one of the comaments ther forth he will go to Hell. Bob soled and ther forth braking two comamemnts. I think Bob is worst. ” (female) “Yes. Because he wants to go to camp. ” (male)

Conventional Responses “Yes. Because he is helping his wife. ” (female) “No. Because he’s your father. Think of all the things he has done for you. ” (male) “Yes. Because if he gives him the money then he would do a good thing. ” (female)

Postconventional Responses “It is right because it is to save a life. ” (female) “Yes. It dose not mater who it is all that maters is that it is a life of a person. ” (female)

Kohlberg and Gilligan Compared

Conclusion Our hypothesis ended up being incorrect. Through our study, we found that boys and girls rated almost equally on both Kohlberg’s and Gilligan’s scales. If anything, (though even this was questionable) the boys slightly favored the care orientation – not the girls, as we predicted.

Possible reasons for our incorrect judgment: Males and females may differ in orientation at different points in their life. At this point, they just happen to be the same. Most of the studies we read about Gilligan involved women in college, not children. If moral development is related to cognitive development, 5 th grade students may be mostly equal in levels of cognition.

Limitations Written responses rather than verbal Difficulty interpreting data Only using one age group of children

Questions we have after our study: Do males and females differ in orientation at different ages? Does cognitive development make a difference in care or justice orientation? How does the differing role of females in society today versus during Kohlberg’s studies affect moral development? Or does the cultural role of women affect development at all? Would the children have answered differently if they had been shown an image such as the clip art on our Power. Point?

Where would Kohlberg and Gilligan fall on the Nature vs. Nurture line? Kohlberg Rousseau Gilligan Vygotsky Locke NURTURE NATURE Piaget Erikson