Bd. Decasterle et al., AN ADJUSTED VERSION OF KOHLBERGS MORAL THEORY - DISCUSSION OF ITS VALIDITY FOR RESEARCH IN NURSING ETHICS, Journal of advanced nursing, 27(4), 1998, pp. 829-835
Critics of Kohlberg's moral theory today focus on the content of his t
heory and more specifically on its justice-orientated moral concept, T
his has led to the well-known 'justice-care debate'. The purpose of th
is article is to critically examine the validity of Kohlberg's moral t
heory for research in nursing ethics from a caring perspective (referr
ing to the content) as well as from a cognitive-structural perspective
(referring to the basic assumptions of the model). The analysis point
s to the usefulness and value of the cognitive-structural model to emp
irically study nurses' ethical behaviour; the content of Kohlberg's mo
del, however, needs to be adapted by adding a caring perspective as we
ll as some personal and situational variables, An adjusted version of
Kohlberg's model is proposed and discussed.