Page 151 - Meeting with Children Book

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some innocent parties suffer for others who have engaged
in the wrong-doing.

A major change begins as a result of the child’s general
cognitive development evolving from egocetrism to
decentrism and to the growing importance of the peer
group. This includes the focus being on other children and
the heightened importance of negotiation and
compromise.

Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on the earlier work of
cognitive theorist Jean Piaget to explain the moral
development of children. Kohlberg believed that moral
development, like cognitive development, follows a series
of stages. He used the idea of moral dilemmas—stories that
present conflicting ideas about two moral values—to teach
10 to 16 year-old boys about morality and values. The best
known moral dilemma created by Kohlberg is the "Heinz"
dilemma, which discusses the idea of obeying the law
versus saving a life. Kohlberg emphasized that it is the way
an individual reasons about a dilemma that determines
positive moral development. Kohlberg identified 3 levels of
morality each containing two stages, which provide the
basis for moral development in various contexts.

Each level of morality contains two stages, which provide
the basis for moral development in various contexts. The
pre-conventional level one of moral reasoning is especially
common in children, although adults can also exhibit this
level of reasoning. Reasoners at this level judge the morality
of an action by its direct consequences.

Children 8-12 are typically in Level 2 Conventional Morality
(stages 3 and stage 4), and Level 3 (stage 5 ) of moral
development according to Kohlberg's stage model. These
levels and stages of moral development are as follows: