Erikson’s Stages of Development Part 2:

Sorry for being so sporadic lately on the posts. I will be more consistent from here on out. Thank you for all of your great comments and visits. I have learned a lot from you all.

Stage 2: Will: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt:

In this stage most people are in the ages from 2-4 years of age.  Here the child is beginning to gain more control over his/her environment. They are beginning to explore their surroundings. It is still important for the parents/caregivers to provide security, a base to explore from. This is a stage in which the children will do dangerous things like touching a hot stove, wander into dangerous places and other things like this. It is important that the caregivers provide a safety net for this age. It is also important that the caregivers provide positive reinforcing encouragement for their children. If a parent is too restrictive then it may instill a sense of doubt and reluctance in the child. If the parents encourage self-sufficient behavior the child is more likely to develop a sense of autonomy. If not careful then caregivers may instill a sense of shame and doubt when they are too restrictive.

Just a reminder, look at past posts on temperament of people and also past posts on personalities which have been discussed. The reason I give this reminder is so that we do not judge parents too harshly, not all problems that a child has is because of poor parenting. Yes many problems do and can occur because of poor parenting but not all.

Once again it is important for us as writers to gain a better understanding of our characters past so that we can better understand where they are coming from and why they are acting the way they act. I also think it would make for some great flashbacks for a story. Challenge for today write a flash fiction piece on a 2-4 year olds reason for being autonomous or doubtful. 

Erikson’s Stages of Development Part 1:

Erik Erikson was a Danish-German –American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst. He is best known for his theory on social development of people. He is best known for the phrase “identity crisis.” He trained under Anna Freud, the daughter of Sigmund Freud. It is important to note that Erikson was a Neo-Freudian.

Neo-Freudians are theorist who were influenced by Sigmund Freud, but extended his theories. Some prominent members of this group are Alfred Adler and Jung.

There are a total of eight stages that Erikson theorized human beings go through in life. Each of these stages is made up of opposites, one good the other bad. In order to move on to the next stage a person must learn the good side. A person must go through an “Identity Crisis” in order to move on.

The first stage is the Hope stage. It occurs from birth to about one year. The crisis in this stage is Trust vs. Mistrust.  In this stage the infant relies almost completely on the parents for their needs being met such as food, shelter, love, and comfort.  The child’s understanding of the world comes from parents. Children that are comforted, loved and nurtured in this stage in a dependable manner then the child will trust the world. On the other hand if a child is not given these things and everything is unreliable then they learn to mistrust the world around them.  The point in this stage is for the child to learn whether or not the child can trust the world or if it is undependable and does not merit trust.

Now if you think back over the many previous posts you can begin to think about the different schemas and defense mechanisms that will pop up in this stage. It is interesting to think how much we are influenced at this early stage. Think about the characters you create in your books were they loved and nurtured as children or where they abused and neglected? Did they learn to trust the world at an early age or was their world full of mistrust?

Moral Development Part 4:

Today we will be talking about the highest level and the last two stages.

Level 3. Postconventional Morality:

Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights:

So in stage 4 we talked about society as a whole and how it is important to look at the bigger picture to truly have a mature Morality. In this stage the focus is more on the question of, “What makes for a good society.” There have been plenty of books on the utopian society that eventually break down. We can also read religious beliefs on the utopian society. In this stage a person is going to be looking at what are the responsibilities of society? What rights and values should be upheld by society? These people realize that there must be a contract between society and its members. They understand that individual groups will have differing views and standards but they agree on two points. First they would all want certain basic rights such as liberty, life, and to be protected. Second they would want to have a way to change unfair laws through a democratic procedure.

People in this stage make it clear that laws should not be broken generally and that these laws should be protected until they are changed through a democratic fashion due to their “wrongness.” They also say that the husband has a moral obligation to save his wife and in fact to save the life of a complete stranger. This is a stage where a person acts independently of his own group that he or she may belong to.

Stage 6. Universal Principle’s:

Stage 5 is looking at changing the laws based on a democratic process which at times may mean that the minority gets left behind. Stage 6 defines the principles by which we achieve justice. This stage we look at all as having universal rights whether we are the majority or the minority. This is very interesting to me because often times we and I mean society forgets the rights of the minorities but also we (society) at times justify taking from the majority for the sake of the minority. Society tends to try and play a balancing act that has to take from one side in order to give to the other side. Thus we have laws that often hurt one group whether they be a majority or a minority in order to help the other group. At this stage each party must look through each other’s eyes to  better understand one another.  All parties must be seen as equal and the people in the groups must consider each situation as if they did not know which side they would be on.

In the beginning of Kohlberg’s experiment he was rating more people at a level 6 but more recently he has not done this as often finding that people are not consistent in all situations. 

This is a long post but I hope that you have found it interesting. It is a hard thing to think through other people’s eyes and situations. I like the saying, “Don’t judge another person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes” Atticus in To Kill A Mockingbird.

Moral Development Part 3:

Some things to keep in mind about Kohlberg:  1. The stages are not necessarily a product of maturation. The stages do not unfold like a blue print. 2. Kohlberg also does not believe that the stages are a product of socialization. This means that they are not taught directly by a teacher, parent…. 3. He believes the stages emerge from our own thinking about moral problems. So, social influences put us into certain situations in which we may need to think about the dilemmas. Another way is the debates that we have with others will also make us ponder and think. This can also occur when we take on new roles and we are forced to consider others’ viewpoints.   Kohlberg believes the more democratic and open interactions are the better the results of moral progression.

Level 2 Conventional Morality: Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships:

Most people reach this stage by their teens. In this stage morality is seen as more than just deals. The person is starting to believe that they must live up to expectations of others. The person is starting to have interpersonal feelings such as love, empathy, trust, and concern for others. In our example from a couple of days ago Heinz is seen as doing good and the druggist is “greedy,” only thinking of himself. This is where the concept of the loving husband, unfair druggist, and understanding judge comes in to play. It is referred to conventional morality because generally speaking the person would say it is wrong to steal but in special circumstances it is okay. Here the person has shifted to a more relativistic outlook.

Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order:

This is characterized by a broader understanding of society as a whole, whereas stage 3 is looking more into the feelings of individual’s, generally one on one.  The emphasis in this stage is obeying the laws to make sure that order is maintained. They look at the example and ask, “What would happen if we all started to break the laws?” Here you will see that stage 1 and stage 4 answers are similar but the why is different. Stage 1 is looking at only being punished. If I could get away with it then I would do it, whereas in stage 4 the person is looking at the better of the whole.  Stage 4 has a deeper meaning to the reason why in which a stage 1 person could never understand.

I appreciate all of the comments that I have been receiving on these posts and I am glad that you have enjoyed them. Thanks Emily for the example of Harry Potter it was excellent example for that stage. What are some examples of characters in books or movies for these stages? How do we put our characters into debates to help them change their moral thinking without boring the reader? Can a person grow without changing the level of morality he/she is in? 

Moral Development Part 2:

Today we will continue looking at Kohlberg’s stages of moral development.  Just a little more information on Kohlberg’s theory first though. Kohlberg tested his theory and on 72 boys from both middle and lower class families in Chicago. They were ages from 10-16. (Later on he sampled younger children as well) By the way do you see any problems with this sample? Anyways he also had other researchers test the same children and then compared notes with them. This is call interrater reliability. On this sample they found that the reliability was high. Meaning they agreed with each other on the scores given.

So onto the first level: Preconventional Morality. Stage 1 is called Obedience and Punishment Orientation. This stage is characterized by the person believing that powerful authorities have a fixed set of rules that must be followed without question. This stage corresponds with Piaget’s first level (we will talk about this in later posts).  At this stage the concern is with what the authorities permit and punish.

The second stage is also in the first level it is the Individualism and Exchange stage. This stage is characterized by people realizing that there is not just one right view. The person understands that different persons have different perspectives. In this stage the person believes that each individual is able to pursue his or her individual interests. In this stage what is right is whatever the individual perceives or wants to be right.

In both of these stages it is about punishment. However, perceive it differently. In stage 1 punishment is tied up in wrongness whereas in stage 2 it is more about the risk that a person wants to avoid.

If you see typos please forgive I was in a hurry J

Have a great day!!

Moral Development Part 1:

Lawrence Kohlberg theorized that moral development has six identifiable developmental stages.  Each stage makes it easier for a person to respond to moral dilemmas than the previous stage.  Kohlberg expanded upon Piaget’s theories and ideas.  There are criticisms of the theory based on its idea that justice being emphasized more than other moral values.  Even though with the criticism it reshaped psychology and the theory is well known and taught today.

This scale is not intended to be used to rank how moral someone’s behavior is but rather how a person justifies that behavior. The higher a person is on the moral scale their behavior should reflect this by being more responsible, consistent and predictable. There is a moral judgment interview created by Kohlberg which help an interviewer to determine where a person is on the scale. It is about 45 minutes long and are made up of fictional short stories that describe situations in which a person must make a moral decision. The answer to the stories is not as important as the why.

Here is a sample question:

A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife. Should Heinz have broken into the laboratory to steal the drug for his wife? Why or why not?

Once again it is not what but why here are some answers that show the different stages. Later we will discuss the stages in greater detail.

Stage one (obedience): Heinz should not steal the medicine because he would consequently be put in prison, which would mean he is a bad person. Or: Heinz should steal the medicine because it is only worth $200, not how much the druggist wanted for it. Heinz had even offered to pay for it and was not stealing anything else.

Stage two (self-interest): Heinz should steal the medicine because he will be much happier if he saves his wife, even if he will have to serve a prison sentence. Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine because prison is an awful place, and he would probably experience anguish over a jail cell more than his wife's death.

Stage three (conformity): Heinz should steal the medicine because his wife expects it; he wants to be a good husband. Or: Heinz should not steal the drug because stealing is bad and he is not a criminal; he tried to do everything he could without breaking the law, you cannot blame him.

Stage four (law-and-order): Heinz should not steal the medicine because the law prohibits stealing, making it illegal. Or: Heinz should steal the drug for his wife but also take the prescribed punishment for the crime as well as paying the druggist what he is owed. Criminals cannot just run around without regard for the law; actions have consequences.

Stage five (human rights): Heinz should steal the medicine because everyone has a right to choose life, regardless of the law. Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine because the scientist has a right to fair compensation. Even if his wife is sick, it does not make his actions right.

Stage six (universal human ethics): Heinz should steal the medicine, because saving a human life is a more fundamental value than the property rights of another person. Or: Heinz should not steal the medicine, because others may need the medicine just as badly, and their lives are equally significant.

Think about how these stages can be used with our characters and once again how they can move between the stages. What level are your characters in?

Information gathered from Wikipedia and verified from my own studies J

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs part 2:

Well it’s back to the grind stone for me. I had a wonderful vacation visiting family both in Arizona and in southern Utah. It is so nice to take a break from the usual stuff and to just relax and enjoy life. Hope everyone else had a great memorial weekend.

There are two more steps in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs they are Esteem and Self-actualization.

Esteem is when a person has confidence and feels that they have achieved something in life. The person feels respect for others and feels respected by others. This is a step that a person gains after feeling secure in the friends and loved ones around them.  Maslow says that this and the following level are not strict separations but are interrelated needs. These needs are also related to others and how we perceive others view us.

Self-actualization is the highest level a person can attain to. Many have said that very few people have reached this level. Some examples would be Mother Theresa, Buddha, and Jesus. This does not mean it is not possible that at times in our lives that we do not reach this level and then step down. In fact there are many times that we cycle through the stages in certain areas. This level is characterized by a person reaching their full potential and understanding that potential. This can be different for different people. For example one person may want to be the very best parent there is, another may want to be the very best writer possible or painter or athlete. This is an individual level. In order to achieve this level the other levels must also be mastered.

Following is a picture of the hierarchy:

Our characters have needs that must be met and as we shape them in our stories remember the different levels that they will be going through. Use the table to guide how your characters are growing throughout the book. If they start on the physiological stage by the end have they self-actualized or are they in the esteem stage.

Tomorrow we will be looking at another hierarchy. Have a great day!