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Kohlberg (1968) 'The Child as a moral Philosopher' - Coggle Diagram

- - - - This style of morality ignores the intentions behind a behaviour and focuses on obeying rules that are enforced by punishment (e.g. when one boy, Tommy, age 10, is asked 'Is it better to save the life of one important person or a lot of unimportant people?', he thinks of the value of life in terms of the furniture they possess).
    - - Children view actions as 'right' if they satisfy their own needs (e.g. Tommy, age 13, argues that someone in pain would be better off dead but her husband wouldn't like it - the wife's value is in terms of her instrumental value to her husband).
  - - - Laws are seen as relative and flexible. Where they are consistent with individual rights and the interests of the majority, they are upheld (to preserve social order), otherwise they can be changed (e.g. Richard, age 20, considers the right that we all have to make the choice about our own life).
    - - Morality is defined in terms of self-chosen abstract moral principles. Laws usually conform to these principles, but where this is not the case, the individual acts in accordance with their moral principles.
  - - - This is a 'good boy-good girl' orientation. What is right is defined by what is expected by others (e.g. Tommy, age 16, frames his answer more in terms of the wife's importance to the family relationships).
    - - This marks the shift from defining what is right in terms of role expectations to defining what is right in terms of norms established by the larger social system (e.g. a different boy, Richard, age 13, expresses his views about mercy killing in terms of the right to destroy something God created).