cognitive structural theory
COGNITIVE STRUCTURAL REFLECTION PAPER Claudia Zimmerman University of Rhode Island College Student Development and Learning HDF 568 Dr. Katie Branch April 10, 2002 Gilligan’s Theory of Women’s Moral Development Students face many issues during the course of their college experience. Carol Gilligan’s Theory of Women’s Moral Development addresses the subject of moral development and is considered to be an adult cognitive-structural theory Carol Gilligan, who as a research assistant with Lawrence Kohlberg became mindful that women responded differently than men to moral dilemmas. She decided to study these differences more closely rather than disregarding womens views because they dont fit the theory, as some theorists (including Kohlberg) have done, or instead of assuming that women are morally subordinate, as some males (including Freud) have done. ... Her 1982 book, In a Different Voice, presents a theory of moral development, which claims that women tend to think and speak in a different way than men when they confront ethical dilemmas. ... Applying Gilligan’s Theory to Myself I chose to examine Carol Gilligan’s theory because it best relates to my own experience of development and learning when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Rhode Island. In my previous paper on psychosocial theory, I discussed Schlossberg’s transition theory as it related to my father’s death and my return to school.