Chapter 11 of the course textbook examines cultural aspects of moral development, Kohlberg’s moral reasoning theory, and Gilligan’s alternative approach to Kohlberg.
Reflect on what you have read about the related issues of bullying in schools and teen suicide and consider these materials in light of your experience with bullying, both as a child and, if applicable, as a parent or adult observing this activity among school-age children. Then locate and review one anti-bullying program with an Internet presence.
For this assignment, address the following items, being mindful of your emotional and intellectual responses to bullying and the exercise of asymmetrical power among school-age children:
1) Summarize your thoughts and feelings about bullying and teen suicide as pathologies of moral development in middle childhood.
2) Describe how Kohlberg’s model can be applied to bullying programs in schools.
3) Then explain Gilligan’s critique of, and alternative to, Kohlberg’s approach, evaluating tensions between the two approaches and what each approach brings to an analysis of bullying.
4) Compare and contrast the two approaches with respect to bullying behavior and specifically to bullying behavior among girls versus boys. Do you believe different theoretical tools are necessary to analyze female versus male cases? Why or why not?
5) Finally, evaluate how successfully the program you found on the Internet addresses and accounts for and applies knowledge about moral development as theorized by Kohlberg, Gilligan, and others. How do theories of moral development inform action to prevent and treat the consequences of bullying?
