Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development Research Paper

Bowman et al. (2010) states that "third-level reasoning…prevents abuse of professional skills for one's own advantage or for that of one's social group" (2010).

Kohlberg believed that the U.S. government, the official morality, requires fifth stage moral reasoning (Lewis & Gilman 2005). This level asks for respect of individual rights and it accepts critically examined values (2005). While this stage is not the highest stage (the highest being a stage where life is considered "sacred"), it is above the norm. This should also be the level that administrative officials, as well as other individuals in positions of power, strive to attain. To be an administrative authority necessitates the belief that all individuals inherently have freedoms and values that cannot be manipulated in any way. Lewis and Gilman (2005) stress that when one is looking at the principles of Kohlberg's different levels and stages, it isn't about "the invoking of 'high principles' that credits a subject with high-stage thinking, but rather the way that a subject sets up the problem and deals with the claims of all participants in a dilemma" (Rest 1980; 2005).

Kohlberg's theory of moral development is a sound theory, however, we cannot deny that people, because of their different positions in stages, have different ways of viewing moral problems and thus respond in a different manner (Lewis & Gilman 2005). Kohlberg also believed that people could respond in ways that mix the different stages together (2005) -- that is, a person could use moral reasoning of right and wrong learned when they were a child and mix it with moral reasoning concerning law and order.

In the article entitled, "Are women more ethical? Recent findings on the effects of gender upon moral development," White (1999) investigated whether gender played a role in moral development. Are women generally more ethical than men? The study investigated 299 male and female members of the U.S. Coast Guard, focusing on public ethics.If gender was found to play a role in ethical behavior, then White (1999) believed that "a profound impact on administrative behavior can be hypothesized." Carol Gilligan believed that women do, in fact, have a different conception of morality -- a moral of responsibility, while men have a morality of rights (1999). "Very early in life, men's individualism and separation from the feminine gives them an ethics of justice, while women's affiliation with mothers and others teaches them an ethics of care" (1999).

In the U.S. Coast Guard study, women scored higher than their male counterparts. There could be many reasons for the difference in moral development and behavior of men and women. One example White (1999) offers is the notion that perhaps women join the Coast Guard for more altruistic reasons than their male counterparts, indicating a higher level of moral development in the women. Or, the men could be the "problem," scoring lower because of their joining the Coast Guard for less altruistic reasons (1999).

Individuals who work in business, public service, and politics are often faced with having to make decisions that will affect not only themselves but also others in a significant way; therefore these authorities must bring their moral and ethical beliefs into part of the decision-making process. Administrative work necessitates a very special and refined understanding of how moral and ethical decisions will affect others. Kohlberg's theory of moral development addresses the problems that are inherent in society and helps to explain the normal vacillations that occur in decision-making

References:

Barger, Robert N. (2000). A summary of Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development. CSUDH. Retrieved on October 11, 2010, from http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/kohlberg01bk.htm

Bowman, James S., West, Jonathan P., & Beck, Marcia A. (2010). Achieving

competencies in public service (the professional edge). M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

Lewis, Carol W. & Gilman, Stuart C. (2005). The ethics challenge in public service: a problem-solving guide. John Wiley & Sons, Inc......