Running head: Human Relations and Dignity According to the Code

Human Relations and Dignity According to the Code

Candi Butler

PS502: Ethics and Standards of Professional Psychology

Kaplan University

Introduction

Turiel's research program is often viewed as an attempt to shrink the ethical domain to its proper dimensions. That is, the ethical domain should not include matters of social convention or matters of personal prerogatives, since these are conceptually distinct domains, and even young children know it. Furthermore, ethical and conventional judgments follow independent lines of development, since they are constructed from qualitatively different kinds of social interactions and social experiences. If different domains of social knowledge are constructed from different kinds of social experiences and therefore follow independent lines of development, one would not expect to find interdependencies among these domains (Turiel, 2005). There would be no theoretical reason, for example, to expect one domain of reasoning to be necessary but not sufficient for reasoning in another domain.

Turiel's work is viewed as a strong challenge to Kohlberg's theory. Kohlberg's theory describes, for example, a conventional level of ethical development, implying that ethicality and social conventions are not clearly distinguishable, at least not until one reaches the principled level of ethical reasoning. In addition, Kohlberg did indeed view the relationship among domains of reasoning as a series of interdependencies: Cognitive development is necessary but not sufficient for social-cognitive development (perspective-taking); social-cognitive development is necessary but not sufficient for ethical development. What, then, is the Kohlbergian response to the challenge