Explanations for offending: Level of moral reasoning - Forensic Psychology

Level of moral reasoning:

Kohlberg suggested a stage theory of moral development, where some individuals do not progress past certain levels – thus, making them more likely to commit a crime.
It is thought that criminals do not progress past the pre-conventional morality level – suggesting that they have a child-like reasoning.
He proposed that there are 3 levels of moral development (each with a further 2 stages within them): pre-conventional, conventional, post-conventional.

This theory was developed using a dilemma-scenario and therefore it is argued that it’s low in predictive reliability – what someone says they would do in certain situations may differ greatly from what would actually happen in reality and therefore this explanation potentially lacks ecological validity.

Also, it’s based on data from bias which arises the issue of gender bias. Gilligan (1982) looked at moral development of women and argued that women focus on how actions affect other people and men focus on fairness and justice and thus, this suggests that moral development varies between genders, which is further supported by the fact that men also have a much high crime rate – all of this is unaccounted for by Kohlberg.