Moral Development in Young Children

Lawrence Kohlberg is the most credited for developing an understanding of moral development in young children. Kohlberg believed that moral development occurred over time in stages. His view came from studying moral development in young children for over twenty years through interviewing them. The children were given a series of stories with moral dilemmas and the children were asked to conduct ethical or moral reasoning about those dilemmas. Based on their answers, Kohlberg derived his theory about levels of moral understanding a child progresses through. They are as follows:

Level 1: Preconventional Reasoning

• At this level, the child shows no internalization of moral values. Moral reasoning is controlled through external sources of punishment and reward

          Stage 1: Punishment and obedience orientation - Children obey because adults tell them to obey. Key concept: AVOID PUNISHMENT.

         Stage 2: Individualism and purpose - Children obey when it is in their best interest to obey.          Obeying  feels good and right. Key concept: SEEK REWARDS.

Level 2: Conventional Reasoning

• At this level, the child abides by certain standards that are the standards of others, such as parents or rules of society. They do not internalize the need to obey.

          Stage 3: Interpersonal norms - Children value trust, caring, loyalty and other like behaviors in others. They see their parents and others using these traits and because they like these traits, they perform them, themselves in order to be thought of as a "good girl" or a "good boy." Key concept: GAIN APPROVAL, AVOID DISAPPROVAL.

          Stage 4: Social system morality - Children understand moral justice and social order. They know right from wrong and want to do good for the sake of society and justice. Key concept: CONFORMITY TO SOCIETY'S RULES.

Level 3: Postconventional Reasoning

• At this level, the child has internalized right from wrong. The child can recognize alternatives to doing wrong, can explore alternate ways of responding when faced with the choice to do wrong, and makes moral choices from a personal internal moral code that is not connected to punishment or reward.

          Stage 5: Community rights versus individual rights - Children realize that rules and laws are important for all of society and that there must be standard ways of enforcing those laws. Key concept: PRINCIPLES ACCEPTED BY THE COMMUNITY.

          Stage 6 - Universal ethical principles - Children realize that there is a universal law of human rights and makes decisions to follow internal beliefs of moral justice even when faced with conflict. Key concept: INDIVIDUALIZED CONSCIENCE.

 About the Author: Dr. Catherine Swanson Cain, PhD, LMFT provides counseling and therapy to families of young children with behavior problems or mental health disabilities. She also provides consultation and training to educators, child care providers, and professionals on a variety of behavioral health issues.