Lawrence Kohlberg facts for kids

Lawrence Kohlberg (October 25, 1927 – January 19, 1987) was an American psychologist. He is best known for his important ideas about how people develop their sense of right and wrong. This is called his theory of stages of moral development.

Kohlberg was a professor at the University of Chicago and later at Harvard University. He studied how people make moral choices, which was not a common topic for psychologists at the time. He built on the work of another famous psychologist, Jean Piaget, who had studied children's moral growth years before. Kohlberg's work helped create a new area in psychology called "moral development." He is considered one of the most important psychologists of the 20th century.

About Lawrence Kohlberg

Early Life and Education

Lawrence Kohlberg was born in Bronxville, New York. He was the youngest of four children. His parents separated when he was young and later divorced. He went to high school at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts.

After World War II, Kohlberg worked on a ship that helped Jewish refugees travel to Palestine. He was briefly held in a camp but later escaped. He returned to America in 1948 and started studying at the University of Chicago. He earned his bachelor's degree in just one year. He then continued his studies and received his doctoral degree in psychology in 1958. In 1955, he married Lucille Stigberg, and they had two sons, David and Steven.

During his studies, Kohlberg read Jean Piaget's work. He became very interested in how individuals think and reason about moral decisions. This was different from other ideas at the time, which often said that morality was just about following rules taught by parents or society. Kohlberg believed that people actively think about what is right.

His Career and Research

Kohlberg's first job as a professor was at Yale University. He then moved to the University of Chicago and later became a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1968. He stayed at Harvard until his death.

Stages of Moral Development

Kohlberg's most famous idea is his stages of moral development. He wrote about these stages in his 1958 doctoral paper. These stages explain how our moral thinking grows and changes as we get older. He was inspired by Piaget's work and by watching how children reacted to difficult moral problems.

Kohlberg believed that humans naturally want to understand and do well in their surroundings. When it comes to social development, we often look up to people we see as good role models. We learn from them about what is right and wrong. He also thought that people in all cultures learn to get along by understanding how to cooperate and respect others.

Kohlberg's stages show how our understanding of fairness, care, and respect grows to include more and more people. It starts with our family, then friends, and then the wider community. Each stage means we can think about moral problems in a more complete way.

His theory says there are six stages of moral reasoning. These stages are grouped into three levels:

• Pre-conventional: This is about following rules to avoid punishment or to get rewards.
• Conventional: This is about following rules because they are the law or because it's what society expects.
• Post-conventional: This is about thinking about universal principles of justice and human rights, even if they go against specific laws.

Kohlberg studied moral reasoning by giving people "moral dilemmas." These were stories with difficult choices. He would then look at how people explained their answers and place their reasoning into one of his six stages. He believed that higher stages of moral development help people make better decisions in complex situations.

Moral Education Ideas

Kohlberg was also very interested in how schools could help students develop their moral thinking. He suggested three main ways:

• Moral Exemplars: He believed that learning about people who showed strong moral principles, like Martin Luther King, Jr. or Abraham Lincoln, could help others think more morally. While he didn't prove this directly, later research shows that seeing good actions can inspire people to be better.

• Dilemma Discussions: Kohlberg tested this method in schools. Students would discuss moral dilemmas in class. He found that talking about these problems actually helped students improve their moral reasoning. It worked best when students discussed with someone who thought just one stage higher than them.

• Just Community Schools: In 1974, Kohlberg helped schools set up programs where students and teachers had an equal vote on school rules. The goal was to build a strong sense of community and teach democratic values. This idea was influenced by his time living in an Israeli kibbutz (a community where people live and work together).

His Writings

Many of Kohlberg's important ideas were put into his books, like Essays on Moral Development, Volumes I and II. These include The Philosophy of Moral Development (1981) and The Psychology of Moral Development (1984). Other books about his theories include Consensus and Controversy and Lawrence Kohlberg's Approach to Moral Education.

Discussions and Criticisms

Like all big ideas, Kohlberg's theory also faced some questions and criticisms.

Carol Gilligan, another researcher, suggested that Kohlberg's theory might focus too much on justice and rules. She thought that people, especially women, might also make moral choices based on caring for others and relationships. She wrote a book called In a Different Voice about this idea. Kohlberg agreed that caring is important in morality. However, he disagreed that women scored lower on his stages because of this. He pointed to studies that showed no big difference between men and women in moral development.

Another point of discussion was whether moral reasoning always leads to moral behavior. Kohlberg knew that just thinking about what's right doesn't always mean someone will act on it. He suggested that people also need other skills to carry out moral actions. Some newer research also suggests that people often make quick "gut reactions" when making moral decisions, rather than always using deep reasoning. These discussions have helped psychologists understand morality even better.

Later Life and Passing

In 1971, while doing research in Belize, Kohlberg got a parasitic infection. This caused him a lot of pain and affected his health for many years. He also worked very hard on his "Just Community" programs in schools and prisons.

Lawrence Kohlberg passed away on January 19, 1987. After his death, his former students and colleagues honored his important contributions to psychology.

See also

• Heinz dilemma

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