Carol Gilligan | ap-psychology-blog

Carol is a pioneer in the field of gender difference psychology, which argues that different sexes tend to think differently, mainily when it comes to moral issues. Her best known contribution to psychology is her adaptation of Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development. Gilligan used her research and found that women place a stronger emphasis on caring in moral decision making. Gilligan's research on moral development outlines how a woman's morality is influenced by relationships. She also published In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Woman's Development .

Human Development: The scientific study of human development seeks to better understand and explain how why people change througout life. This includes all aspects of human growth, including physical, emotional, intellectual, social, perceptual, and personality development.

Voice Approach: Used as a method of analysis in her studies. She listens for distinctive features by looking at plot, key phrases, and also for the unspoken(gaps in the narrative, changing of subject).

Moral psychology: The study of moral devlopment. Or the study of the change and understanding of morality from infancy through adulthood. Morality: Principles for how individuals should treat one another, with respect to justice, others' welfare, and rights.

Major Contributions to Psychology

Key Words & Concepts

Birth and Death Dates

Carol Gilligan was born Novemeber 28, 1936 and has not died yet.

Stance on Nature vs. Nurture

Carol Gilligan proposed a theory about moral development that relates to the nature vs nurture debate. Gilligan stated that women are more involved in relationships with other people than men are. This causes them to stress more about these relationships. This involvment is a result of being taught by their mothers about moral perspective when it comes to caring about personal relationships. Gilligan focused on care-based morality, which avoids violence and helps instead, emphasizes connectedness, is more common in girls, and says that girls worry less about issues of fairness, and justice-based morality, which views the world as individuals, avoids inequality, is more common in boys, and says that boys worry more about inequality. Through Gilligan's theory, it is shown that Gilligan sides more with the nurture argument. Both of her aspects look at the environment around the subject to see how they would behave.

Bibliography

Hurst, M. (2014). Carol Gilligan's Theory of Moral Development. Retrieved

October 30, 2014, from http://education-

portal.com/academy/lesson/carol-gilligans-theory-of-moral- development.html#lesson

Description of Political and Social Backdrop

Carol Gilligan lived during a time where change was affecting both political and social decisions. Although Gilligan was born in the late 1930’s, she finished her college career and obtained her doctorate in 1964. By this time the United States was moving into a period of change driven by many of the social injustices that were brought to the forefront in World War II. During this time a push for change in the civil rights was sweeping the United States. After the boom times of World War II, the integration of blacks and whites in the workplace, as well as in social settings was a hot topic issue. The Civil Rights Movement continued until the 1970’s and sparked a series of legislation, such as The Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965. These advancements in civil rights not only provided better opportunities for minorities, but also gave rise to the Gender Equality and Gay RIghts movements. Gender equality soon became the focus of Gilligan’s psychological studies. Gilligan wanted to recognize that women do think differently from men, but there differences in thinking didn’t not men that women were inadequate. Gilligan stressed that women thinking was undervalued in psychology. Gilligan criticized Kohlberg’s previous theory of moral development because he tested on upper class white males, which was a population that did not adequately represent women or minorities. In 1982, Gilligan published In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. The book detailed her criticism of Kohlberg’s theory and her views on female morality. Gilligan’s theories made her influential in the feminist movement, and her followers joined her in encouraging society to view women and men equally.

Important Social and Political Dates Pertaining to Gender Equality From 1936- Present

1936- birth control information is no longer classified as obscene.
1945- World War II ends
1955- Start of the African American Civil Rights Movement
1960- The Food and Drug Administration approves birth control pills.
1961- President John Kennedy establishes the President's Commission on the Status of Women and appoints Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman. The report issued by the Commission in 1963 documents substantial discrimination against women in the workplace and makes specific recommendations for improvement, including fair hiring practices, paid maternity leave, and affordable child care.
1963- Betty Friedan publishes her highly influential book The Feminine Mystique, which describes the dissatisfaction felt by middle-class American housewives with the narrow role imposed on them by society.
1963-Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, making it illegal for employers to pay a woman less than what a man would receive for the same job.
1964-Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bars discrimination in employment on the basis of race and sex.
1966- The National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded by a group of feminists including Betty Friedan.
1967- Executive Order 11375 expands President Lyndon Johnson's affirmative action policy of 1965 to cover discrimination based on gender.
1972- The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is passed by Congress and sent to the states
1974- The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination in consumer credit practices on the basis of sex, race, marital status, religion, national origin, age, or receipt of public assistance.
1978- Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against pregnant women.
1994- The Violence Against Women Act tightens federal penalties for sex offenders, funds services for victims of rape and domestic violence, and provides for special training of police officers.
1999- The Supreme Court rules in Kolstad v. American Dental Association that a woman can sue for punitive damages for sex discrimination if the anti-discrimination law was violated with malice or indifference to the law, even if that conduct was not especially severe.
2009- President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which allows victims of pay discrimination to file a complaint with the government against their employer within 180 days of their last paycheck.

Sources:

Carol Gilligan. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2014, from http://www.goodtherapy.org/famous-psychologists/carol-gilligan.html#

Women's Rights Movement in the US. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2014, from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline2.html

Tiffani-Shae Starks

Unit Most Likely to Cover Gilligan's Contributions

Unit 11 would most liley cover Gilligan's contributiions because it is focused on human developoment across the life span and includes sections on moral developement and reasoning.

TIffani-Shae Starks

School of Thought

Carol Gilligan is the founder of the different feminism branch of psycology. The psychologists In this branch of psycology, push for equality in the way psychologists view the brain as it is related to females and males.