A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Cedar Barstow, M.Ed., C.H.T.

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Following last month’s brief notes about Altruism and the Soul, this piece focuses on the development of morality and the ethical values and behaviors that accompany this developmental process. Part III will talk about the Power Paradox and its relationship to the Power Differential. The Power Differential, as mentioned in an earlier column, is the foundation for the need for ethical codes and guidelines for people in professional positions of power and authority. The Power Paradox derives from research pointing to the need for increasing sensitivity to the impacts of the Power Differential on professionals themselves.

Ethical use of power begins in empathy and altruistic pleasure. We are born with a basic moral compass, based in empathy and the natural desire to take action on behalf of others. This is most obvious in the outpouring of care for a family member or a situation in which one is directly involved. Simple moral decisions activate a straightforward brain response. The Snyders have spent a lifetime studying young children as persons. They have consistently found that children have an inborn pre-disposition for justice and caring. “Unless they have been dehumanized by adults….children reveal the capacity to be empathically attuned to each other, to co-create a ‘justice culture,’ to support fairness, safety and the restoration of relationship, and to be naturally interested in what works for the well-being of all.” This is what we would expect from our brain wiring. Of course, when this brain wiring in the frontal lobes is damaged or inoperative, people suffer from a complete lack of empathy and conscience, clinically labeled psychopathy. While not all who meet the definition of psychopath are violent, they live with a lack of the normal empathy and conscience that guides behavior. When in leadership positions, and they are there, these people are particularly difficult if not impossible to deal with.

Our brains are hard-wired for empathic responses toward the well-being of others. There is global agreement about basic human rights, in theory at least elucidated in detail in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, reprinted in the Appendix. There are virtues common to descriptions of what qualities are important to being a good person in the core teachings of major world religions. Linda Kavelin and Dan Popov identified 52 of these through studying the texts of the world’s great religions. Karen Armstrong recently proposed the creation of a contract for compassion to be signed by the leaders of world religions. Global agreement on top values of honesty, responsibility, respect, and fairness exists. Clear situations where there is a choice to alleviate suffering, like picking up a hurt child, giving money to support victims of a fire, sharing food with someone who is hungry, activate a straightforward brain response.

Other situations are more complex and activate competing brain center activity, like abortion, euthanasia, population control, use of global resources. Here’s where the life long process of moral and ethical development begins.

There are many moral development theories. I’ll mention several here. Lawrence Kohlberg, who delineated the classic theory of stages and levels, identifies developmental perceptions of rules and of what “right” is. Oversimplifying his system, rules are to be obeyed to avoid punishment; then rules are to be followed in order not to cause harm; and then rules are seen as beneficial and can be changed if they are unfair. “Right” is first seen as satisfying one’s own needs; then as doing one’s duty and respecting authority; and then right is an integrated and organic expression of concern for all in a given situation. Knowledge of these developmental and perceptual differences has potential value in fine-tuning your skills in dealing with clients, colleagues and superiors who may be guided by different perceptions, especially in talking about ethical codes and the concept of right use of power.

Carol Gilligan, another theorist, using Kohlberg’s model, found that in their moral development, men tend to operate from an ethic of justice while women operate from an ethic of care. While Kohlberg puts focus on justice as a higher stage than a focus on care, Gilligan considers these a same level difference between boys and girls. Gilligan says, “An ethic of justice proceeds from the premise of equality—that all should be treated the same,” while “an ethic of care rests on the premise of non-violence—that no one should be harmed.” The flavor of this difference seems to be reflected in the difference in perspective between relationship prudence (as seen in mediation and restorative justice programs) and jurisprudence (as seen in most grievance processes and in legal actions.) The right use of power model advocated here is a meld of the two concerns—for justice, and for care—power with heart.

Ken Wilber speaks of evolution as proceeding by including and yet transcending what went before. Both he and Gilligan would agree that moral and ethical development proceeds in this fashion. Moral development is seen as a hierarchical in that “each stage has a higher capacity for care and compassion.” Stage 1 is labeled egocentric—morality is centered on “me”. Including and transcending, by Stage 2 called ethnocentric, a person’s identity now extends to members of their group, i.e. community, family, religious affiliation, school. At Stage 3 world centric another inclusion and expansion has taken place and care and compassion is felt and expressed toward all of humanity. Gilligan follows development further in describing the highest stage of moral development, which she calls integrated, as a 4th stage in which the voices of the masculine and feminine, the voices for justice and the voices for compassion, become integrated. It is clear that at the egocentric stage, moral decisions are relatively simple and black and white. Parents and teachers know that children feel empathy and can act on behalf of others. However, as we expand into the ethnocentric, world centric and integrated stages, ethical sensitivity, awareness, and decision-making becomes more and more complex and challenging. These higher levels of development are what I consider the soul work of using power with heart.

I see ethical development as occurring in a spiraling fashion, as in the power spiral described in this book—moral development spiraling through the four dimensions. Ken Wilber speaks of development unfolding in 4 quadrants (4 fundamental perspectives), which seem akin to the 4 dimensions in the right use of power model. Wilber’s 4 quadrants roughly correspond to the 4 dimensions perspectives (see pages 10-11 for more detail) as follows:

4 Quadrants
“I” (the inside of the individual)
“It” (the outside of the individual)
“We” (the inside of the collective)
“Its” (the outside of the collective)

4 Dimensions
Self (Be Compassionate)
Guidance (Be Informed)
Relationship (Be Connected)
Wisdom (Be Skillful)

The power spiral model, is further developed in the book: Right Use of Power: The Heart of Ethics, by Cedar Barstow. The power spiral offers both guidance and a framework for ethical soul work leading to effective and wise world service.

i Maryhelen Snyder, personal conversation about The Young Child as Person, Martha, Ross Sr., Ross Jr.
iinRobert Hercz, internet article Psychopaths Among Us.
Dr. Robert Hare has done research on the nature of psychopathy and developed an instrument called the Psychopathy Checklist which is used to measure psychopathy. Using this instrument, he estimates that 1% of Canadians, exhibit psychopathic behavior. Most of these people are not violent, but about 20% of the inmates in Canadian prisons satisfy the Hare definition of a psychopath and they are responsible for over half of all violent crime.
iii Linda Kavelin and Dan Popov, The Family Virtues Guide
iv see http://www.ted.com/index.php/pages/view/id/162
v Rushworth Kidder, Shared Vaules for a Troubled World: Conversations with Men and Women of Conscience
vi Lawrence Kohlberg, from a summary by Jerry Schueler
vii Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice
viii Ken Wilber, Integral Spirituality, page 13
ix Ken Wilber, op.cit.
x Ken Wilber, op.cit., page 20

©Copyright 2007 Cedar Barstow, M.Ed., C.H.T. All Rights Reserved. Permission to publish granted to GoodTherapy.org. The following article was solely written and edited by the author named above. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the following article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment to this blog entry. Click here to contact Cedar and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile