Kohlberg (1963)

Kohlberg (1963)

1. Aim

   • Evidence of progression through moral development

2. Procedure

   • Participants
     • 58 boys from Chicago
     • Middle class background
     • Aged...
       • 7
       • 10
       • 13
       • 16
   • 2 hour interview
   • Solve 10 dilemmas
     • E.g. Heinz Dilemma
       • Stealing a potentially life saving drug for his wife
         • Should he have broken in to the lab?
           • Why?
         • Should the chemist have inflated the price?
         • What should happen to Heinz
   • Also studied children in...
     • UK
     • Mexico
     • Taiwan
     • Turkey
     • USA
     • Yucatan
   • Longitudinal
     • Some boys followed up at 3 yearly intervals
     • Till age 30-36

3. Results

   • Consistent with cross cultural studies
     • Younger boys...
       • Stages 1 & 2
     • Older boys...
       • Stages 3 & 4
     • Progression = slower in non-industrialised society
     • No support for stage 6

4. Conclusion

   • Thornton and Reid
     • 1982
     • Supports similar findings
     • Committing crime for financial gain..
       • More immature than violent offenders
     • Kohlberg can be applied to criminals

5. Evaluation

   • Method
     • Self report
       • Strengths
         • Standardised for all Ps
           • Reliable
         • Quant + Qual can be collected
           • In depth + easily compared
         • Replicable
           • Standardised settings
           • Easy to follow procedure
       • Weaknesses
         • Social desirability
         • Researcher Bias
         • Time consuming
         • Small sample
   • Approach
     • Developmental
       • Strengths
         • Longitudinal
         • Understanding of human development and chamge
         • Not Endocentric
           • Repeated in other areas
       • Weaknesses
         • Difficult to replicate
           • Lomgitudinal
         • Andocentric
     • Cognitve
       • How the P perceives each dilemma
         • E.g. seriousness
       • Where do cognitions come from?
   • Issues
     • Quant + Qual
     • Longitudinal
     • Reliabilty
       • High
         • Results consistent with T & R
         • Consistent across cultures
       • Low
         • Can't verify Ps answers
     • Validity
       • Eco Val
         • Low due to children instead of criminals
         • High due to actual people used
         • Low, dilemmas were not real
       • Measures what it intends to
     • Retrospective
     • Hisrorical Bias
   • Deabates
     • Determined by...
       • Class
         • Middle
       • Environment
         • Chicago
     • Reductionist
       • Ignores biological factors
       • Ignores individual factors
     • Nature vs Nurture
       • Nature
         • All males/children
           • Go through same stages
       • Nurture
         • Upbringing
         • Environment
     • Ethnocentric
       • Ps all from Chicago
       • Repeated with children from other cultures
     • Situational
       • Age
       • Stage of moral development
     • Useful
       • Can help bring better schooling system

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