Level of moral reasoning

• Level of moral reasoning


  • The way a person thinks about right and wrong
  • It is presumed that such thinking then applies to moral behaviour - the higher the level, the more that behaviour is driven by a sense of what is right and less it is driven by just avoiding punishment or the disapproval of others
• Moral development


  • Kohlberg proposed that people's decisions and judgements of right and wrong can be summarised in the stage theory of reasoning
  • He based his theory on people's responses to a series of dilemmas, such as the Heinz dilemma
  • Many studies have suggested that offenders show a lower level of reasoning than non-offenders
  • Kohlberg found that a group of violent youths were at a significantly lower level of moral development than non-violent youths
• The pre-conventional stage


  • Kohlberg used a moral dilemma technique and found that offenders tend to be at the pre-conventional stage
  • Non-criminals progress to the conventional level beyond
  • Pre-conventional level is characterised by:
  • A need to avoid punishment and gain reward
  • Less mature, child-like reasoning
  • Offenders may commit crimes if they can get away with it
• Offenders are egocentric and lack empathy


  • Offenders are often self-centred and display poorer social perspective-taking skills - Chandler
  • Individuals who reason at a higher level tend to sympathise more and exhibit behaviours such as honesty, generosity and non-violence