#journal four

"things change, people change, feelings change too... never thought the circumstances would've changed you"

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG is a controversial Jewish-American psychologist, educator, and theorist known for developing Moral Development Theory, which has received widespread criticism from experts in the field of psychology.

               Sir Kohlberg conducted a study on male children aged 16 and under prior to developing the theory. Furthermore, these people are presented with a hypothetical situation and question, from which each participant must draw their individualistic conclusions.

              The situation is termed as the "Heinz Dillema"—Heinz's wife has cancer and is on the verge of death, and the drug to cure her is expensive that he borrowed funds to cover for it, but he only got a fraction of what he needed. He begged the pharmacist to sell it at a discounted cost, which the pharmacist refused; thus, his desperation drove him to break into the pharmacy and steal the drugs.

              According to Kohlberg, this moral development theory is divided into three sections with a total of six stages. Besides which, the study's objective is to assess how a child justifies its actions in the specified dilemma, and to demonstrate that moral logic is at the core of maintaining justice.

              The first division which is (1) the pre-conventionality is divided into two stages. This phase includes children aged 4 to 10, whose movements are motivated by obedience to the authorities. The concept of morality is not entirely grasped as the the adults' standards in terms of moral codes are accordingly instilled in these young children.

              Furthermore, stage one is defined as (1.1) obedience and punishment orientation, in which children are encouraged to abide by the rules in place to evade punishments. And the severity of the punishment is directly proportional to how bad the action is perceived to be. The following stage is (1.2) individualism and exchange, in which the children value differences in people's points of view—humans are created with a unique will and identity based on their interests and beliefs. Aside from that, the second stage focuses on the incentives for work. They are not motivated by honing the social relationships through interaction, but rather by prioritizing the personal advantages on certain circumstances. 

For an instance, when Kael was still consumed by childish desires, he would ask his mother or father to return the favor after they requested something from him. And he would throw  a tantrum the moment his condition is declined—nothing matters at that point except comforting his whims.

              The (2) conventional, on the other hand, occurs between the ages of 10 and 13 years old. They are no longer in oblivion and begin to follow social norms and customs that they have internalized through specific adult role models. In pursuit of societal order and healthy connections, children's sense of justice is highly dependent on the social conventions of the group to which they belong.

              Under this moral development division, there is (2.1) interpersonal and conformity stage, also recognized as good boy, good girl orientation, in which a child has initiated the desire to be accepted and pursues only goodness in order to minimize people's disapproval.

Kael, on the other hand, had no recollection of being such because he is a black sheep in nature, and as a result, his parents simply gave up on guiding him at a young age to let him do what he wanted.

              Nevertheless, the stage of (2.2) authority and social order, in which the laws and social orders are absolute, reigns over the society. Humans essentially respect what they should do by adhering to supreme norms and customs. In contrast to the recent stage, which depicts individual approval, the law-and-order orientation is primarily the dungeon of the majority of people in society, as their morality is heavily dictated by an outside force.

              And the final division, (3) post-conventional—at this stage, people seek to explore beyond convention and determine morality through abstract principles. Humans began to question the norms and to call for changes or elimination of some sort in the laws. Likewise, this is the stage of series realization in which the versatility of rights and ethics is demanded, rather than all-out conformity to the absolute rules and values decided by the majority of society. In other words, self-moral evaluation is what matters over social standards; however, only a few have attained such an abstract moral principle.

              The first stage of post-conventionality is the (3.1) social contract and individual rights, in which people attempt to explain behaviors through an abstract reasoning and are aware that specific rules are hindrance to employ an action.  The final stage is the (3.2) universal ethical principles, in which morality is related to personal values and motivated by self-conscience; ergo, laws are rejected in some perspectives.

              Sir Kohlberg's moral development theory has encountered a series of objections. For example, the study is dependent entirely on children, specifically those aged 16 and under; he then confronted these young minds with hypothetical questions and analyzed how they would justify their decision in a specific incident. No one, on the other hand, can reassure whether a child's justification is objective or subjective; he should consider a person's situational action as well as the nature of instincts, so that different decisions may transpire in comparison to the null answers.

To elaborate, Kael typically expresses his sympathy by advising his friends on what they should do in a particular scenario, where there is no guarantee of committing it because intimidation towards the people involved may play a role.

              Next, the theory is quite sexist in its attempt to generalize women's morality—the subjects are all male samples as a result of his conclusion that men's morality is based on principles of law and justice, while women's is based on compassion and care. A huge contradiction may arise because, as per Kael, the relevance of the gender debate in psychology should not be omitted because it can trigger an impact on the study.

              Nonetheless, cultural bias is depicted throughout the process, in which each individual decides on their own to the point where collectivist culture is ignored.

              But first, what are the individualist and collectivist cultures? The individualist culture shames themselves when they rely on someone because they value independence so much, and they want to stand out and appear unique; however, the collectivist culture is the polar opposite, as they are inclined to society and believe that working together to achieve a common objective is necessary.

              The other criticism, on the other hand, is that it equates reasoning with behavior, when knowing what to do and actually doing it do not equate at all. 

For example, Kael had a classmate who openly shared that he was tempted to peek over Kael's paper because his initial reasoning was to pass the exam and provided his current situation, he would not be able to do so; however, his moral reasoning did not reenact because within him, he still acknowledges what moral behaviors are.

              On the negative side, this criticism can also be applied to online classes, where parents' sentiment was to honor their children because it was their long-held wish for them. Considering their ages and the fact that they are supposed to be guiding their sons and daughters towards the light, their insanity and ambitious preferences tainted their morality. After all, if their goal is for the child to have a good grade—to be an outstanding student, they are not doing it, they are not teaching their child to act like an honor because they are creating a huge slacker in society.

"Again, it is not because you think it as right, it is the right thing to do." Kael whispered nonchalantly.

              Now, proceeding to the last criticism which is the overemphasis on justice in the moral development theory. The theory exhibited much consideration in the process of decision making in absolute justice, equality, impartiality, and human rights; notwithstanding, compassion and interpersonal feelings are neglected in the stated mechanism.

              There was a scene in the Netflix series The Good Doctor where Doctor Murphy noticed the hospital janitor's frequent belching. Thus, he informed Doctor Melendez of his conclusion about this man's pancreatic cancer and the need for a series of tests. Further to that, Doctor Murthy is not mistaken in his diagnosis and immediately persuades the janitor to attend a surgery which was initially declined, but Doctor Murphy specifically stated "... having the surgery could kill you, but not having the surgery will kill you." As a result, the janitor had no other option because his death was inevitable.

              Unfortunately, he died, and his family was unable to accept it; they blamed each other for their father's demise. Until Doctor Murphy intervened and told them that it was the janitor's resolve and that he has no regrets for attempting to survive. The janitor, on the other hand, said nothing such as that, and Doctor Murphy justified himself to his colleague by saying, "When the truth can't help someone, we should lie."

              Was it right for Paul's children to discover the truth? Yes, it is their right; even so, is hurting each other worth that much over someone who will never be able to return? No, and Doctor Murphy did not want that to happen; he appears to care because he was one of the few who accompanied the janitor before dying.

              What was implied here is that excessive adherence to norms and taboos may not always rationalize an uncertainty that a person is developing as a human, as established by Kohlberg. He neglected to anticipate the existence of white lies, which consist of affectionate sentiments in order to correlate with the situation. And this will always transpire, no matter how much he ignores it.

              Sir Lawrence Kohlberg is already a well-known figure; he demonstrated to the world how morality is created within humanity.

Its been about a week since I got my surgery, it hasn't been that bad of a week..unless you count your ex telling you, that they made out with a close friend of yours. I swear..he is like the one person everyone I have been with goes to. Maybe that is just telling me something, maybe I am second best or something. I mean I am glad that me and Rachel are able to at least be just friends, yeah its going to be hard but I think we will be able to do it. I will settle for anything as long as I can keep her in my life.

Nothing to exciting has happened to me as I really can't do much as I am on crutches after all..but I am going to do what Santana tells me every time I pull myself down about this and not be a downer..or something like that.

Until next time.