| Subject: Re: Assignment #4 |
Author:
Jessika Morris
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Date Posted: 19:05:45 06/29/10 Tue
In reply to:
Dr. Magun-Jackson
's message, "Assignment #4" on 20:31:48 06/28/10 Mon
1) What I like about Kohlberg's theory is that it aligns closely with Piaget's theories - which makes sense because he followed Piaget. I think Piaget's theory is a great heuristic for understanding the way cognitive processes develop, and Kohlberg's theory is a great heuristic as well. However, I dislike Kohlberg's theory as it is greatly culturally biased, as would be most theories of moral development. I have heard it argued that development is moral, and morality is development. Children are born into a culture with set moral regulations that the child is both consciously and subconsciously socialized into. Many non-Western peoples never reach Kohlberg's stage 5 or 6 because the theory does not align with the principles of those cultures.
2) I love Erikson's theory of self-development, because it has taken observable issues in development and turned them into fundamental tasks that must be resolved. In addition, his theory allows the adult to look back and learn about themselves in the context of how they resolved these tasks, and allowed them the opportunity to revisit these tasks and continually work through them. I see these stages in the children I work with regularly, and they seem relatively universal (at least to countries that have a similar school system to those of Western nations). I also like that these stages encapsulate basic virtues that people tend to value in most societies. I find myself to be in the Generativity vs. Stagnation stage, oddly enough (I am only 24 years old!). I find that most of my efforts are motivated by a desire to impact the younger generation - the children with cancer that I work with, the future child life specialists and students that I try to cultivate, and even those in the local community. I am getting married next month and have felt secure in my intimate relationship with my fiancee for several years now, so I find myself to be more in the generativity stage because that is what I am focused on right now, more than building the relationship I already feel like I have.
3) I find Erikson to be more applicable to my work. I work with families from cultures all over the world, and Kohlberg isn't always applicable to them. In addition, I don't deal with moral development as much as I do the stages that Erikson proposes. His stages help me to understand what a child is achieving developmentally, so I can help to cultivate continued development in that area while they are in the hospital setting. The stages help me to foresee what may be most challenging for that particular child's continued development, and I can try to structure the hospital environment to minimize those challenges.
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