Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

This paper is an examination of Lawrence Kohlberg=s theory of moral development, using characters and situations from the film American Beauty (1999), directed by Sam Mendes from a script by Alan Ball. This film is filled with moral choices that show many of the earlier stages of Kohlberg=s scheme. Most of these characters have not been able to progress to the higher levels, and their individual choices have brought them into conflict with those around them and, in many cases, prevented them from being truly happy. While Kohlberg does not posit that higher levels of moral functioning have any relationship to personal happiness, he does argue that progression toward the advanced stages is desirable in aiming toward the perhaps unachievable ideal of the sixth stage of the principled conscience.

American Beauty (1999) is filled with characters facing moral choices - and almost always choosing whatever society would consider to be the immoral path. Lester Burnham is a 42-year-old man in the middle of an enormous mid-life crisis. He is estranged from his real estate agent wife, Carolyn, and his teenage daughter, Jane, who both see him as a loser. His new next-door neighbors include the straight-arrow Marine colonel, Frank Fitz, his almost catatonic wife, and their son, Ricky, a drug dealer and amateur videographer who develops a fascination with Jane.

Lester begins the story with a voice-over that announces, "In less than a year, I'll be dead" (American, 1999). The events which lead to his murder also impel him to move to a higher moral level, while all around him are individuals in various lower stages and levels.

One of the lowest stages, Stage One of Level One, is demonstrated by Ricky's behavior in response to his authoritarian father. As Kohlberg (1971) writes, about this stage, "Avoidance of punishment and unquestioning deference to power are values in their own right, not in terms of respect for an underlying moral ...

Page 1 of 5 Next >

More on Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:02, March 19, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1709621.html