Yvette Cantu

AED/202
Week 8: Assignment: Social and Moral Development










Social and Moral Development
Yvette Cantu
AED/202
Sunday, July 14, 2013











Yvette Cantu
AED/202
Week 8: Assignment: Social and Moral Development

As children grow older they go through a process labeled as child development.
Child development is defined as the discipline devoted to the understanding of all
aspects of human development from birth to adolescence. During the early school age
years a child starts to become more aware of themselves as individuals. They not only
start to build theories about themselves but also about how others see themselves and
how they see others. Different viewpoints are recognized amongst individuals and
children start realizing that what makes them happy may not make everyone else
happy. Much of what we know about the intellectual, social and moral development of
infants at birth and as they grow into adults are through the developmental theories.
Some of the developmental theories are sexual development, social development and
moral development.
Empathy is developed into new levels as a child starts to feel for other in new
ways they have never known before. Children also start to build upon their parents
moral attitudes and lay the foundation for their own. As the children develop and mature
they realize that doing wrong or doing right is not for punishment or rewards sake but
instead for good moral sake. Both Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg view
similarities as well as differences between the theories they each believe in regards to
the development of a child social and moral development. Jean Piaget put forth the
theory of cognitive development wherein he established a clear as well as a logical
connection between the age factor and the childs learning and comprehension abilities.
Nonetheless, the two theorists held views that worked against each other in some
aspects. Though there are various similarities between the stages of cognitive
Yvette Cantu
AED/202
Week 8: Assignment: Social and Moral Development
development and the stages of moral development that make both Piaget and
Kohlbergs views very interesting when applied to the learning of social and moral
development.
There are major differences between the two theories one being that Piagets
theory puts stress on the cognitive development that is the development of thought
processes pertaining to an infant. On the other hand, Kohlbergs theory basically works
on the moral development of a child. The work of this theorist deals with the value
building and image forming processes of a child in the various stages while a child is
growing into an adult. However, unlike, Piagets theory of a childs development,
Kohlbergs theory has little to do with the age factor. Where Piagets theory is based on
age ranges and four different stages, Kohlbergs theory explains the moral development
of a child with the help of distinct levels and six stages all together. Since child
development is more or less a new field of study and that is because of the viewpoints
of children that were predominant before. For instance, historical perspectives
influenced the view of children as miniature adults and burdens. The perspective of
them as miniature adults were present more so in the middle ages when children were
treated like adults, such as in their style of dress, their responsibility of work and
sometimes even marriage and monarchy. The other perspective was of children being
burdens instead of blessings. They were considered burdens because before modern
day contraceptives, many children were unplanned for and unwanted, they only
represented another mouth to feed and back to clothe. As times progressed though the
view began to change thanks to psychologists and new laws that protected the welfare
of children. Also, an influence on the field of child development was philosophies of the
Yvette Cantu
AED/202
Week 8: Assignment: Social and Moral Development
moral nature and development of children. As both theorist are analyzed the evidence
will be clear and understandable by breaking down both theorists believes and
statements.
There are six stages of social and moral development that children will
experience from early childhood to adolescence. The six stages are broken down into
three levels. The first level is Preconvention morality, which contains stages one and
two (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). Stage one in this level is punishment-avoidance and
obedience. In this stage, children make decisions based on what is best for them,
regardless of how it will affect others feelings (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). The only way
that a child will obey rules in this stage is if they are set and established by a more
powerful individual (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). They are will try to get away with
whatever they can and think that their only wrong behaviors are the ones that they will
be punished for if they get caught (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004).In early childhood a child
already knows right from wrong. By age 5, children already know that doing something
wrong could hurt themselves or others. At this age, children know that there are
consequences from doing things that they are not supposed to. Children at this age also
understand that breaking the social norm rules will not hurt anyone that these rules are
socially-defining them. Stage two is when these children start to recognize that others
have needs too. Children in this stage will try to satisfy others needs if their own needs
are met. In stage two, they are starting to realize more what is right and wrong in terms
of consequences for themselves (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004).
The next level is Level two, which is Conventional morality. Level two, just like
level one has two stages that goes with it. These two stages is stage three and stage
Yvette Cantu
AED/202
Week 8: Assignment: Social and Moral Development
four. Stage three is the good boy/good girl stage, and in this stage is where children
start to make decisions that will please others (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). In this stage,
the child is concerned with maintaining interpersonal relationships through sharing, trust
and loyalty (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2004). Between ages six and seven, children are able
to define the difference type of rules there are. Whether the rules are moral rules, social
norms, or personal choices. At this age, children think more before they act or break a
rule. The third stage is the Preoperational stage. At this stage children understand that
they have choices. The choices that children know they have are by doing the right
thing or the wrong thing. Children at this age have the ability to understand that they can
make right or wrong choices leads to more self-control.by ages 7 to 10, children
understand that everyone makes mistakes and that no one is perfect. Children begin to
realize that agents and other authority figures are not perfect.by early adolescence
which I ages 10 or 11, children expand their moral view and see morality as a set of
social guidelines that benefit everyone.by middle adolescence children understand that
following rules is a choice they must make and that their decisions affect those around
them. By late adolescence, they will no longer be afraid of punishment.
All these moral and social stages are very important through a childs life. Us as
parents should help build strong moral values in their children by making sure they feel
important and loved. This motivates a child to act in a way that will gain approval.
Acknowledge and identify your childs emotions from an early age to help her learn how
to identify these feelings in others, and learn to empathize as a result.

Yvette Cantu
AED/202
Week 8: Assignment: Social and Moral Development
References
McDevitt, T. M., & Ormrod, J. E. (2004). Child Development: Educating and Working
with Children and Adolescents, (2nd Ed.). : Prentice Hall.
Global post. (2013). Retrieved from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/moral-development-
childhood-3737.html