Carol Gilligan on Moral Development Essay - 1422 Words

Carol Gilligan (1982) sparked a heated academic debate with her popular book In a different Voice: Psychological Theory and Womens Development. In this book Gilligan departs from the traditional sequential stage modals advocated by luminary psychologists such as Piaget (1925) and Kohlberg (1969) and develops her own moral orientation model. Gilligan criticises these theories as she claims they are insensitive to females different voice on morality and therefore result in women achieving lower stages, thereby labelling them morally inferior to men. Gilligan (1982; also see Langdale 1986; Lyons, 1983; and Noddings, 1984) proposed that male and females hold different life orientations, with particular emphasis on their moral belief†¦show more content†¦Therefore in her theory she claims that males view morality as involving issues of conflicting rights. The other side of Gilligans dichotomy believes that females have a typically care/response orientation because of their perception of the self as connected to and interdependent with others, their basing of identity on close personal relationships, their sensitivity not to endanger or hurt, their concern for welfare and care of others and for harmonious relationships in concrete situations. Thus, Gilligan believes that females view morality as involving issues of conflicting responsibilities. (Walker, 1990). Table 1. presents an example of both a justice and a care orientation. The examples are adapted form Gilligan and Anttanuccis, (1990) article entitled Two Moral Orientations. These examples are drawn from discussions of real life moral dilemmas. In 1J a peer pressure dilemma is presented in terms of how to maintain ones moral standards and withstand pressure from ones peers to deviate from what one knows is right. In 1C a similar decision ( not to smoke) is put in terms of how to respond both to ones friends and oneself; the rightness of the decision not to smoke is substantiated by the fact that it did not ruin any relationships. Attention to ones friends, to what they say and how it will affect the relationship is portrayed as a moral concern. TableShow MoreRelatedThe Relation Between Sex, Gender, and Moral Behavior Essay1231 Words   |  5 PagesThe Relation Between Sex, Gender, and Moral Behavior Our history is an account of changes, struggles and progress. It mostly contains writings and deeds of great men. However, in this century, many nations talent pools have been doubled by the introduction of Womens Suffrage. With that event women in many societies have been able to elevate themselves to a point where they can work towards gaining recognition in domains in which they used to be viewed as inferior. 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