Pariksha SaathiLesson 5 of 10 · Child Development and Pedagogy
Moral and Personality Development: Kohlberg, Gilligan and Erikson
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Piaget's start on moral development
Moral development is the growth of a child's understanding of right and wrong and of her ability to act on it. Piaget, in The Moral Judgment of the Child (1932), watched children playing marbles and asked them about short stories. Younger children, in the stage of heteronomous morality or moral realism (roughly 5 to 10 years), treat rules as fixed and made by authorities, and judge an act by its consequences: a child who broke fifteen cups by accident seems naughtier than one who broke a single cup while sneaking jam. Older children, in autonomous morality (from about 10 years), see rules as agreements that can be changed and judge acts by intentions. Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987), an American psychologist, extended this work into a fuller stage theory.
Kohlberg's method and the Heinz dilemma
Kohlberg presented boys aged 10 to 16 with moral dilemmas. In the best known, Heinz's wife is dying of a special kind of cancer; a druggist in the town has discovered a drug that might save her but charges ten times what it cost him to make; Heinz can raise only about half the price, the druggist refuses to sell it cheaper or let him pay later, and Heinz breaks into the shop and steals the drug. Should he have done it, and why? Kohlberg was interested not in whether the answer was yes or no but in the reasoning behind it, since the same 'yes' can come from fear of blame or from a belief in the value of human life. From such reasoning he described three levels, each with two stages.
The three levels and six stages
At the pre-conventional level, typical of most children under about 9, morality is external. Stage 1, obedience and punishment orientation: an act is wrong if it is punished. Stage 2, individualism and exchange: right is what serves one's own interest, and fairness is a deal - 'you help me, I help you'. At the conventional level, typical of older children, adolescents and most adults, the person conforms to the expectations of others and of society. Stage 3, good interpersonal relationships, the 'good boy - nice girl' orientation: be good to win approval. Stage 4, maintaining the social order, the law-and-order orientation: obey laws and do one's duty because society needs order. At the post-conventional level, reached by only a minority of adults, morality rests on self-chosen principles. Stage 5, social contract and individual rights: laws are agreements for the common good and can be changed democratically. Stage 6, universal ethical principles: act on principles such as justice, equality and human dignity, even against the law. The stages occur in an invariant order, none is skipped, and moral reasoning depends on cognitive development, though reasoning does not always predict action.
Gilligan's critique and the classroom
Carol Gilligan, a colleague of Kohlberg, argued in In a Different Voice (1982) that his theory was biased because it was built on an all-male sample and treated an ethic of justice and rights as the highest morality. Women, she said, more often reason from an ethic of care - responsibility, relationships and avoiding harm - and were therefore wrongly scored lower, often at Stage 3. In class, morality cannot simply be lectured into children. Teachers can discuss real dilemmas from stories and school life, ask 'why' instead of accepting a ready answer, let children frame classroom rules together and model fairness themselves; Kohlberg set up 'just community' schools run by democratic discussion.
Erikson's psychosocial theory
Erik Erikson (1902-1994), a German-born American psychoanalyst, reworked Freud's psychosexual stages into a lifespan theory of eight psychosocial stages, set out in Childhood and Society (1950). At each stage a person faces a crisis, a turning point between two outcomes, and a positive resolution gives a basic strength or virtue. The stages are trust vs mistrust (infancy, hope), autonomy vs shame and doubt (about 1 to 3 years, will), initiative vs guilt (about 3 to 6, purpose), industry vs inferiority (about 6 to 12, competence), identity vs role confusion (adolescence, fidelity), intimacy vs isolation (young adulthood, love), generativity vs stagnation (middle adulthood, care) and integrity vs despair (old age, wisdom). Unlike Freud, Erikson stressed social relationships and culture rather than sexual drives, and saw development continuing throughout life.
Erikson in the school years
Three stages matter most for teachers. In initiative vs guilt, preschool children want to plan, make and try things; adults who welcome questions and play build purpose, while constant scolding makes children feel guilty for trying. Industry vs inferiority covers the primary years, when children want to be competent and productive and to be recognised for finished work. A teacher who sets achievable tasks, praises effort and progress and avoids public comparison builds industry, whereas repeated failure and ridicule produce a sense of inferiority. Identity vs role confusion belongs to adolescence: students of Classes VI to VIII begin to ask 'who am I?' and try out roles, friendships and values, so they need clubs, responsibilities, career awareness and respectful guidance rather than labels. Erikson coined the term identity crisis.
Key facts
- Piaget's moral stages: heteronomous (moral realism - rules fixed, judge by consequences) then autonomous (rules changeable by agreement, judge by intentions).
- Heinz dilemma: Heinz steals an overpriced drug to save his dying wife; Kohlberg scored the reasoning given, not the yes-or-no answer.
- Pre-conventional level: Stage 1 obedience and punishment; Stage 2 individualism and exchange ('you help me, I help you').
- Conventional level: Stage 3 good boy - nice girl (approval); Stage 4 law and order (duty, social order). Most adolescents and adults reason here.
- Post-conventional level: Stage 5 social contract and individual rights; Stage 6 universal ethical principles. Reached by only a minority of adults.
- Gilligan, In a Different Voice (1982): Kohlberg's all-male sample and focus on justice ignored the ethic of care.
- Erikson's eight stages (Childhood and Society, 1950): trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, generativity, integrity - each against its opposite.
- Primary school years (about 6-12): industry vs inferiority - set achievable tasks, praise effort, avoid public comparison.
- Adolescence: identity vs role confusion (Erikson coined 'identity crisis'); Marcia's statuses: diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, achievement.
Quick revision
Piaget: heteronomous (consequences) to autonomous (intentions); Kohlberg (Heinz dilemma, reasoning not answer): pre-conventional (1 punishment, 2 exchange), conventional (3 good boy-nice girl, 4 law and order), post-conventional (5 social contract, 6 universal principles); invariant order; Gilligan 1982 ethic of care; Erikson 8 psychosocial stages: initiative vs guilt 3-6, industry vs inferiority 6-12, identity vs role confusion in adolescence.