W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1998 The relationship between counselor education and moral development, conceptual development and self-actualization Jered Benjamin Kolbert William & Mary - School of Education Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the Cognitive Psychology Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, and the Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons Recommended Citation Kolbert, Jered Benjamin, "The relationship between counselor education and moral development, conceptual development and self-actualization" (1998). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1550154107. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.25774/w4-zczg-zw67 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. 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FurtherFurther reproduction reproduction prohibited prohibited without without permission. permission. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COUNSELOR EDUCATION AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT, CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT AND SELF-ACTUALIZATION A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the School of Education The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Jered Benjamin Kolbert May 1998 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9825901 UMI Microform 9825901 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COUNSELOR EDUCATION AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT, CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT AND SELF-ACTUALIZATION by Jered Benjamin Kolbert Approved April 1998 by Victoria A. Foster, Ed.D. Chairperson of Doctoral Committee Charles F. Gressard, Ph.D. Thomas rd, Ph.D. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEDICATION The last several years of my life have been particularly growth enhancing as I was engaged in a novel type of personal risk: that of confronting my fear of failing to meet academic challenges. I am grateful to those who inspired and supported me: Victoria Foster, who helped me to believe in myself. She has been my teacher, mentor, and advocate. Rick Gressard, whose comforting persona eased my anxieties and whose like-minded love for baseball offered an often necessary diversion. Also, I do not believe I can repay him and Laurie Rokutani for helping me to meet my basic needs like shelter, food, etc. Tom Ward, who, in modeling self-assuredness, enabled me to believe that is was possible to learn research and statistics. My family, mother, father, step-father, Rachel, and grandparents, who provided support in reassurance in many forms. For their kinds words, patient listening, excitement, money, and love. My trusted friends, John, “the leader”, Linda, the research consultant, Barbara and Sandee, the fellow doctoral students under torture, Nicole, “the audiovisual gal", and my girlfriend Tina, who gave me space and basic needs assistance. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS page LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................ vii ABSTRACT..................................................................................................... viii Chapter I. INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem .................................................... 2 Need for the Study............................................................. 2 Theoretical Rationale .......................................................... 4 Definition of Terms............................................................. 5 Research Hypotheses ....................................................... 8 Sample description & Data Gathering Procedure .... 9 Limitations of the S tudy................................................... 10 Plan for the Study............................................................. 10 II. A SELECTED REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Introduction..................................................................... 11 Counselor Education........................................................ 11 O verview ................................................................... 11 Current S tatus ............................................................ 13 Validation ............................................................. 15 Cognitive Developmental Theory ........................................... 20 O verview ...................................................................20 “Is higher better?’ .......................................................24 Deliberate Psychological Education Model .... 29 Adult Development.................................................... 31 Relationship to Education ...................................... 32 Conclusion................................................................ 33 Relationship Between Cognitive Development and Counseling Behaviors............................... 35 Moral Development ............................................................. 36 O verview ...................................................................36 Validation of Stage M o d e l ...................................... 38 Cross-cultural V a lidity ............................................ 41 Gender Issu e s........................................................... 42 Alternatives to Justice Reasoning ............................... 45 Moral Behavior ..................................................... 48 Rest’s Four Component M od el....................................50 Utilizer S ta tistic ..................................................... 51 Moral Sensitivity .........................................................55 Conclusion........................................................... 57 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. page Conceptual Systems T h e o ry ........................................... 58 O verview.................................................................. 58 Stage M o d e l ........................................................ 59 Conceptual Level Matching M o d e l.............................60 Adaptation of Model to Counselor Characteristics . 61 Validation of T h e o ry .................................................. 63 Conclusion................................................................66 Critiques of Cognitive Developmental T h e o ry ...................... 66 Empirical Critiques of Piaget’s T h e o ry ....................... 67 Ideology C ritiq u e....................................................... 86 Conclusion................................................................91 Self-Actualization T h e o ry ..................................................... 92 O verview.................................................................. 92 Four Major Accomplishments .....................................94 Relationship to Counseling Related Behaviors . 94 Conclusion............................................................... 101 Critiques of Self-Actualization T h e o ry .................................. 101 Summary ....................................................................... 104 III. DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY Population and S a m ple ......................................................