Felicity B. Kelcourse

Rough DRAFT review:

"When these two perspectives -- nature/ essentialist and nurture/ constructivitist -- are so starkly contrasted it becomes clear that, far from being discontinuous, they are necessarily interdependent -- no chicken without an egg; no egg without a chicken." Nature finds expression in the world under the influence of individuals embedded in culture. [Introduction, page 3]. Ontogeny (organism) or developmental history of individual versus Phylogeny or evolutionary journey of species. Schemas--basic patters of awareness--develop in infancy. "A baby will smile with fresh delight each time a red ball is rolled across a sunny room." [Introduction page 4] I am pretty certain that I can roll that ball. It will take all of us, however, to keep the sun shining and providing a window in a shelter.

Freud read backward from his patients to the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus. He encouraged his patients, crippled by depression and suffering panic attacks, to tell dreams and free associate. He theorized that the psyche (subconscious) codes the meaning.

"libido" - life energy, expressed in sexuality and aggression. Jung did not want to limit libido to these two categories.

Anna Freud analyzed Erik Erikson. Both were primarily interested in ego psychology -- conscious sense of self under the influence of depth unconscious. His stage theory uses a "unifying template" he called an "epigentic chart". p.36 he borrowed first five stages from Freud, and the relational family trinity (although an adoptee).

"Faith, from an object relations perspective, resides in the creative balance of self-other relating that allows freedom of expression for both self and other."

Piaget - his emotionally labile mother and rational historian father. His work on children's moral reasoning influenced Lawrence Kohlberg and James Fowler. Structuralist perspective supports stage theories. Each encoding psyche contains seeds of change as genetic inheritance, but environmental stimulation may be required to unlock the potentials of each stage. Page 39.

Lawrence Kohlberg 1927-1987. Posits three moral levels in six stages:
1. Preconventional Morality. No sense of right/wrong. Moral Judgement based on ruled imposed by external authorities.
a. Stage 1. Punishment and obedience orientation.
Event judged right/wrong by consequences.
b. Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange. Conforms to rules to gain rewards. "Scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."
2. Conventional Morality. Hope of praise and avoidance of blame replaces tangible rewards and punishments.
a. Stage 3. Good interpersonal relationships. Behavior is good if it pleases and helps others.
b. Stage 4. Maintaining social order. What is right conforms to the law and reflects the will of the community.
3. Post-conventional Morality. Right and wrong based on Justice that may conflict with dictates of local community/authorities.
a. Stage 5. Social Contract and individual Rights. Purpose of just laws is to express the will of majority, but unjust laws should be challenged.
b. Stage 6. Universal principles. Dictates of one's conscience, respect for rights of others transcend any law or social contract. (Reflects moral philospohy of Immanuel Kant and John Rawls.
i. Follows Piaget, in that stages unfold sequentially. Nor do stages of moral development track stages of cognition in maturation. Emergence of new stages can be taught. p. 42
ii. Criticism: like Piaget, assumes Western social values are normative. Some gender distortion.
iii. The great value of Kohlberg's legacy lies in "his insistence that moral reflection can and should be taught".
4. Kohlberg's approach to Faith -- summarized in commandment "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength…You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Deut. 6:4; Mk. 12:28; Mt. 22:34; Lk 10:25. "Kohlberg's scenarios for moral discernment pose this implicit question: What do we hold most dear, most sacred, and why?" [Kelcourse, Theories of Human Development, page 43.]
a. Critique by Carol Gilligan - physical differences ( difference feminism ) are a factor in their moral development. Kohlberg emphasizes individual rights over relationships, a woman's perspective on caring for others with the expectation of being cared for. Consider "the speaker, their embodied, lived experience, the story they tell, as well as the cultural framework in which their story is presented." Faults K for not paying attention to gender, class, social location.
b. Faith is found relationally, not in isolation. Page 45. her three stages progress from selfishness through conventional to postconventional moral principles.… (mehr)