MORAL DEVELOPMENT CAROL GILLIGAN
● Moral development refers to changes in Carol Gilligan is a psychologist best known for
people’s sense of justice and of what is her innovative views on the development of
right and wrong and in their behavior women’s morality and sense of self, which she
related to moral issues. detailed in her 1982 book In a Different Voice.
● Developmentalists have considered
moral development in terms of children’s GILLIGAN’S VIEW OF MORALITY
reasoning about morality, their attitudes
toward moral lapses, and their behavior ● Gilligan suggested that differences in
when faced with moral issues. the ways boys and girls are raised in our
society lead to basic distinctions in how
men and women view moral behavior.
LAWRENCE KOHLBERG
● Boys view morality primarily in terms of
● Lawrence Kohlberg formulated a theory broad principles such as justice or
asserting that individuals progress fairness, while girls see it in terms of
through six distinct stages of moral responsibility toward individuals and
reasoning from infancy to adulthood. willingness to sacrifice themselves to
help specific individuals within the
● Kohlberg suggested that people move context of particular relationships.
through these stages in a fixed order
and that moral understanding is linked ● Compassion for individuals, then, is a
to cognitive development. more prominent factor in moral behavior
for women than it is for men.
PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL
Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience GILIGAN'S THREE STAGES OF MORAL
Orientation. At stage 1, what is seen as right DEVELOPMENT FOR WOMEN
is obedience to authorities. Children’s
“conscience” is fear of punishment, and their Stage 1: Orientation toward individual
moral action is motivated by avoidance of survival
punishment. ● Initial concentration is on what is
practical and best for self. Gradual
Stage 2: Instrumental and Exchange transition from selfishness to
Orientation. At stage 2, what is right is what is responsibility, which includes thinking
in one’s own best interest or involves equal about what would be best for others
exchange between people.
● Example: a first grader may insist
playing only games of her own choosing
CONVENTIONAL LEVEL when playing with a friend
Stage 3: Good Boy, Nice Girl Orientation. In Stage 2: Goodness as self-sacrifice
stage 3, good behavior is doing what is ● Initial view is that a woman must
expected by people who are close to the sacrifice her own wishes to what other
person or what people generally expect of people want Gradual transition from
someone in a given role. "goodness" to "truth" which takes into
account needs of both self and others
Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation. Right
behavior in stage 4 involves fulfilling one’s ● Example: now older, the same girl may
duties, upholding laws, and contributing to believe that to be a good friend, she
society or one’s group. must play the games her friend
chooses, even if she herself doesn't like
POSTCONVENTIONAL LEVEL them
Stage 5: Social Contract or Individual Stage 3: Morality of nonviolence
Rights Orientation. At stage 5, right behavior ● A moral equivalence is established
involves upholding rules that are in the best between self and others. Hurting
interest of the group, are impartial, or were anyone-including one's-self is seen as
agreed upon by the group. immoral. Most sophisticated form of
reasoning according to Giligan
Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle
Orientation. Right behavior in Stage 6 is ● Example: the same girl may realize that
commitment to self-chosen ethical principles both friends must enjoy their time
that reflect universal principles of justice. together and look for activities that both
she and her friend can enjoy.
