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- According to Kohlberg, people pass through a series of stages in their way of making moral judgments.
- Kohlberg suggests that the changes occurring in moral reasoning can be understood best as a three-level sequence.
- Preadolescent children tend to think in terms of concrete, unvarying rules.
- Adolescents understand that morality is not always black and white and that conflict can exist between two sets of socially accepted standards.
- Some people proceed to the third level where morals are based on abstract principles.
Kohlberg found that only a relatively small percentage of adults rise above the second level of his model (Kohlberg & Ryncarz, 1990).
- There are many problems associated with this theory.
- It pertains to moral judgments, not moral behavior.
- The theory applies primarily to Western society and its moral code.
- It applies principally to males.
Carol Gilligan argues a fundamental difference exists in how each gender views moral behavior.
Women see morality it in terms of responsibility toward individuals and willingness to make sacrifices.
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