In reading the many jw apologist trollish posts on this forum, it keeps reminding me of the various theories of moral/psychological development & has made me realize how much the jw cult stunts such growth. Many different scientists have come up with stage theories of psychological/moral development. Here are some that come to my mind when I’m reading the infamous posts:
| Piagetian Stages of Cognitive Development | ||
| Approximate | Stage | Typical Developments |
| Birth to age 2 | Sensorimotor | Children develop the concept of object permanence and the ability to form mental representations. |
| Age 2 to 7 | Preoperational | Children's thought is egocentric; they lack the concept of conversation and the ability to decenter. |
| Age 7 to 11 | Concrete Operations | Children can decenter; they acquire the concept of conversion; but they cannot reason abstractly or test hypotheses systematically. |
| Starts at age 11 or 12 | Formal Operations | Children begin to reason abstractly. |
Generally, these theories say that a person could for whatever reason not accomplish the tasks of one stage, and it would stunt them for life until they do. Piaget’s preoperational stage above is one I’ve seen JWs get stuck on a lot; the egocentricity of the individual translates into the egocentricity of the group. For example—the teaching that JWs are the one & only true religion—special among the world’s billions of people—and demons are targeting them as individuals for whatever insignificant things they do in the course of their worship.
| Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development | ||
| Approximate | Stage | Substages |
| Birth to 9 | Preconventional |
1) Avoid punishment 2) Gain Reward |
| Age 9 to 20 | Conventional |
3) Gain Approval & Avoid Disapproval 4) Duty & Guilt |
| Age 20+ maybe never | Postconventional |
5) Agreed upon rights 6) Personal moral standards |
Then we have Kohlberg’s conventional stage. JWs are not allowed to develop past that stage; in order to do so, they’d have to develop their own moral standards they follow just because it feels right to them inside, not to escape punishment or disapproval. Getting someone to obey you out of fear or guilt is limiting their potential as a person.
The lack of development increases the likelihood of having real struggles after leaving the cult.
I’ve probably bored the pants off of you by now. lol