A Comparison of Two Social Work Theories of Human Development



A Comparison of Two Social Work Theories of Human Development

The Cognitive Development Theory was developed by Jean Piaget. Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896 and died in 1980. Piaget showed his talent as a naturalist while he was still a child, he published an article at the age of ten on albino sparrow he had observed in the park. As he got older he sought to understand how children arrive at their answers to problems, how they reason. Piaget also suggests that knowing is shaped by the interaction between the individual and the environment. Piaget’s theory is stage based, these stages are the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational thought, and formal operation. Each stage identifies how an individual develops from birth to adulthood.

The Moral Development Theory was developed by Lawrence Kholberg. Lawrence Kholberg was born in Bronxville, New York, in 1927. Kholberg’s interest was in the moral reasoning of children he was interested in stages humans go through in developing their sense of what is right and wrong. Kholbergs assumption was that children at different stages of moral development would use qualitatively different forms of reasoning in dealing with dilemmas. Kholberg focused on three levels which are pre -conventional, conventional and post conventional. Each level includes two stages. Kholberg developed these levels to explain the maturational process, and how it depends on the child’s thinking, and experiences within a social context.

Comparison

Moral Development Theory and Cognitive Development Theory shares many of the same concepts. Both the Moral and Cognitive Development Theory are classified as psychological theories. Kholbergs methodology was patterned after the work of Piaget and involved the interviewing of children and adolescents on moral issues. Both theories are also stage theories.

Contrast

Limitations

Both theories are viewed as one sided and linear in its orientation. The...