Exploring Developmental Theories: Freud, Erikson, and Moral Education

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Exploring Developmental Theories: Freud, Erikson, and Moral Education1.Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Stages and the Oedipus Complex (1-page)In your response, provide an overview of Sigmund Freud's stages of psychosexual development,along with anexplanation of the three agencies of the mind: the id, ego, and superego. Addressone major criticism of Freud's Oedipus complex theory, specifically regarding either the boy orthe girl. Conclude with a brief summary of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development anddiscuss whether it is necessary for individuals to go through all stages in Erikson's theory, citingevidence to support your answer.(Word count: approximately 300-350 words)2.Moral Development (1-page)After reading the articleMoral Development: An Overview(including Piaget’s theory, Kohlberg’stheory, and related perspectives), summarize the key points from the article. Reflect on yourpersonal opinion regarding the findings. Do you agree or disagree with the theories presented?Provide a detailed explanation of your position. Additionally, discuss what you believe is theresponsibility of schools and teachers in promoting morality and character education in today'ssociety, incorporating your reflections from the provided resources.(Word count: approximately 300-350 words)

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1.The first paper needs to be one page and include the following:Sigmund Freud’s stages of psychosexual development. Including an explanation of his concepts of theagencies of the mind (id, ego, superego) and one major criticism of Freud’s theory of the Oedipuscomplex (with respect to either the boy or the girl).Conclude with brief summary of Erikson’s stages and answer: must we go through all the stages inErikson’s theory? Cite evidence to support your response.2nd paper:SEE and read the attached article and Summarize the information in the article: MoralDevelopment Reflect and report on your opinion of the findings?Do you agree or disagree?Explain yourposition.What do you feel is the responsibility of the school and teachers when considering the role ofmorality/character education in our society?Reflect on the information in the must see websiteshomeCopyright 2008 Larry NucciLast modified: 12/02/08Moral Development and Moral Education: An OverviewPiaget's Theory | Kohlberg's Theory | Domain TheoryCarol Gilligan | Conclusion | Selected ReferencesPrinter Friendly VersionMoral education is becoming an increasingly popular topic in the fields of psychology and education.Media reports of increased violent juvenile crime, teen pregnancy, and suicide have caused many todeclare a moral crisis in our nation. While not all of these social concerns are moral in nature, and mosthave complex origins, there is a growing trend towards linking the solutions to these and related socialproblems to the teaching of moral and social values in our public schools. However, considerations ofthe role schools can and should play in the moral development of youth are themselves the subject ofcontroversy. All too often debate on this topic is reduced to posturing reflecting personal views ratherthan informed opinion. Fortunately, systematic research and scholarship on moral development has

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been going on for most of this century, and educators wishing to attend to issues of moral developmentand education may make use of what has been learned through that work. The following overviewprovides an introduction to the main perspectives guiding current work on moral development andeducation. Readers interested in gaining an in-depth and up-to-date understanding of research andscholarship in the field may do so by returning to this web site each month and selecting FeaturedArticles.back to top | Printer Friendly VersionPiaget's Theory | Kohlberg's Theory |Domain TheoryCarol Gilligan | Conclusion | Selected ReferencesPiaget's TheoryJean Piaget is among the first psychologists whose work remains directly relevant to contemporarytheories of moral development. In his early writing, he focused specifically on the moral lives of children,studying the way children play games in order to learn more about children's beliefs about right andwrong(1932/65). According to Piaget, all development emerges from action; that is to say, individualsconstruct and reconstruct their knowledge of the world as a result of interactions with the environment.Based on his observations of children's application of rules when playing, Piaget determined thatmorality, too, can be considered a developmental process. For example, Ben, a ten year old studied byPiaget, provided the following critique of a rule made-up by a child playing marbles: "it isn't a rule! It's awrong rule because it's outside of the rules. A fair rule is one that is in the game". Ben believed in theabsolute and intrinsic truth of the rules, characteristic of early moral reasoning. In contrast, Vua, agedthirteen, illustrates an understanding of the reasoning behind the application of rules, characteristic oflater moral thinking. When asked to consider the fairness of a made-up rule compared to a traditionalrule, Vua replied "It is just as fair because the marbles are far apart"(making the game equally difficult).In addition to examining children's understanding of rules about games, Piaget interviewed childrenregarding acts such as stealing and lying. When asked what a lie is, younger children consistentlyanswered that they are "naughty words". When asked why they should not lie, younger children couldrarely explain beyond the forbidden nature of the act: "because it is a naughty word". However, olderchildren were able to explain "because it isn't right", and "it wasn't true". Even older children indicatedan awareness of intention as relevant to the meaning of an act: "A lie is when you deceive someone

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else. To make a mistake is when you make a mistake". From his observations, Piaget concluded thatchildren begin in a "heteronomous" stage of moral reasoning, characterized by a strict adherence torules and duties, and obedience to authority.Thisheteronomy results from two factors. The first factor is the young child's cognitive structure.According to Piaget, the thinking of young children is characterized by egocentrism. That is to say thatyoung children are unable to simultaneously take into account their own view of things with theperspective of someone else. This egocentrism leads children to project their own thoughts and wishesonto others. It is also associated with the uni-directional view of rules and power associated withheteronomous moral thought, and various forms of "moral realism." Moral realism is associated with"objective responsibility", which is valuing the letter of the law above the purpose of the law. This is whyyoung children are more concerned about the outcomes of actions rather than the intentions of theperson doing the act. Moral realism is also associated with the young child's belief in "immanentjustice." This is the expectation that punishments automatically follow acts of wrong-doing. One of themost famous cases of such childhood thinking was that of the young boy who believed that his hitting apower pole with his baseball bat caused a major power blackout in the New York city area.The second major contributor to heteronomous moral thinking in young children, is their relative socialrelationship with adults. In the natural authority relationship between adults and children, power ishanded down from above. The relative powerlessness of young children, coupled with childhoodegocentrism feeds into a heteronomous moral orientation.However, through interactions with other children in which the group seeks a to play together in a wayall find fair, children find this strict heteronomous adherence to rules sometimes problematic. Aschildren consider these situations, they develop towards an "autonomous" stage of moral reasoning,characterized by the ability to consider rules critically, and selectively apply these rules based on a goalof mutual respect and cooperation. The ability to act from a sense of reciprocity and mutual respect isassociated with a shift in the child's cognitive structure from egocentrism to perspective taking.Coordinating one's own perspective with that of others means that what is right needs to be based onsolutions that meet the requirements of fair reciprocity. Thus, Piaget viewed moral development as theresult of interpersonal interactions through which individuals work out resolutions which all deem fair.Paradoxically, this autonomous view of morality as fairness is more compelling and leads to moreconsistent behavior than the heteronomous orientation held by younger children.

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