Carol Gilligan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Carol Gilligan - Essay Example Moral development has both an intellectual and an impulsive aspect. Children must learn what is right and what is wrong. Then, as soon as they are old enough, they must be given explanations of why this is right and what is wrong.† (Theories of Moral Development -Personality Theories) It is an established fact that the elderly people keep more ethical standards in their life compared to youths. The childhood, adolescent period and the youth period are normally considered as immature periods and hence morality may not have much place in such periods. The ethical standards of a human being will improve immensely as he grows. He will be capable of segregating the rights and the wrongs as he goes past his 30’s or 40’s, more than ever. Carol Gilligan, a famous psychologist has researched a lot â€Å"Gilligans primary focus came to be moral development in girls. Her interest in these dilemmas grew as she interviewed young men thinking about enlisting for the Vietnam War and women who were contemplating abortions.† (Carol Gilligan (1936-present)) She was the first person who revealed the importance of gender differences in developing morality. The attitude of girls and boys towards establishing relationships, caring others are different. The perception of the terms like caring and relationship are different for boys and girls. She believed that women were taught to care for other people and expect others to care for them. (Carol Gilligan (1936-present)) Boys have a different perception about caring. They may not be much concerned about caring others compared to girls. Girls are keener in establishing and sustaining relationships with others than boys. While teaching at Harvard, Carol Gilligan joined as a research assistant to famous psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. Kohlberg is known for his research on moral development and his stage theory of moral development, justice and rights. â€Å"Kohlberg had applied Piagets theory to the development of moral thinking†