Gilligan’s Theory of Gilligan’s Theory of DevelopmentDevelopment

Michelle and Brooke

Background HistoryBackground History

• 1958: Swarthmore College, summa cum laude, major in literature

• 1960: Radcliffe University, Masters in clinical psychology

• 1964: Harvard University, doctorate in social psychology

• 1967: Began teaching at Harvard with Erik Erikson

Gilligan vs. KohlbergGilligan vs. Kohlberg

• 1970: Became a research assistant to Lawrence Kohlberg

• Criticism: – Kohlberg only studied

white, privileged males– Boys and individual

rights – Girls and

Responsibility for others

Theory of DevelopmentTheory of Development

• Moral Development

• Stage Theory

Gilligan's Stages of the Ethic of CareApproximate Age

RangeStage Goal

not listed Preconventional Goal is individual survival

Transition is from selfishness -- to -- responsibility to others

not listed Conventional Self sacrifice is goodness

Transition is from goodness -- to -- truth that she is a person too

maybe never PostconventionalPrinciple of nonviolence: do not hurt others

or self

In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s DevelopmentWomen’s Development

• Gilligan wrote book in1982.• She presents her material against Kohlberg’s Theory.

– Justice– Care

• Mentions the ideals of Freud: how females stay attached to their mother’s and males break free creating a large difference in development.

• 1995: Women's Psychology, Boys' Development and the Culture of Manhood, a three-year program of research on boys.

Projects By Gilligan

• 1997:Harvard Project on Women's Psychology, Boy's Development and the Culture of Manhood

• 12.5 million dollar donation by Jane Fonda for Gender and Education Center at Harvard

• Listening Guide Method

• Helps teach at Harvard Law on occasion

• 1992:Grawemeyer Award in Education

• 1997: Heinz Award

Criticisms

• Christina Hoff Sommers, PhD– says Gilligan has no real data– Only as anecdotal evidence– Test groups were too small– Research needs to be retested – sex-role stereotypes

– Gilligan fought back against claims by showing her proof and tests.

How it Applies to a TeacherHow it Applies to a Teacher

• Realize there is a difference between males and females.

• Males are egocentric and females are more prone to care for others.

References

1. Gilligan's In a Different Voice2. Moral Development and Moral Education: An Over

view

3. Soundbites from Christina Hoff Sommers

4. Carol Gilligan: 1936-Present

5. Notes on A Different Voice by Carol Gilligan

6. The Connection

References

7. In A Different Voice Passages

8. From White Rats to Robots

9. Carol Gilligan’s Work

10. Applied History of Psychology/Moral Development