Kohlbergs Theory of Moral Development

Heinz Steals the Drug

In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug-for his wife. Should the husband have done that? (Kohlberg, 1963, p. 19)

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Level Level One: Preconventional Morality Level Two: Conventional Morality
Level Three: PostConventional Morality

Stage Stage 1: Punishment-Obedience Orientation Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation

Stage 3: Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle Orientation

Stage of Moral Reasoning

Arguments Arguments Favoring Heinz Against Heinz Stealing the Drug Stealing the Drug
Heinz should steal the drug to avoid being blamed if his wife dies. Heinz shouldnt steal the drug because he would be punished for stealing it if he were caught and would be sent to jail.

Stage 1: Obedience and punishment orientation; behavior is judged good if it serves to avoid punishment

Stage 1
At this stage, the individual: Obeys rules in order to avoid punishment Determines a sense of right and wrong by what is punished and what is not punished Obeys superior authority and allows that authority to make the rules, especially if that authority has the power to inflict pain Is responsive to rules that will affect his/her physical well-being Is usually over the age of 7

Stage of Moral Reasoning Stage 2: Instrumental purpose orientation; behavior is judged good when it serves personal needs or interests

Arguments Favoring Heinz Stealing the Drug Heinz should steal the drug because he needs his wife and she might die without it.

Arguments Against Heinz Stealing the Drug Heinz would likely be sent to prison and his wife would probably die before he gets out, so it wouldnt do her or himself any good to steal the drug.

Stage 2
At this stage, the individual: Is motivated by vengeance or an eye for an eye philosophy Is self-absorbed while assuming that he/she is generous Believes in equal sharing in that everyone gets the same, regardless of need Believes that the end justifies the means Will do a favor only to get a favor Expects to be rewarded for every non-selfish deed he/she does Is usually over the age of 10

Stage of Moral Reasoning

Arguments Arguments Favoring Heinz Against Heinz Stealing the Drug Stealing the Drug People would lose respect for Heinz if he didnt at least try to save his wife by stealing the drug. Heinz shouldnt take the drug because others will see him as a criminal, and that would bring shame and dishonour to his family.

Stage 3: Good boynice girl orientation; conforming with rules to impress others

Stage 3
At this stage, the individual: Finds peer approval very important Makes moral decisions on the basis of what will please a limited group and make the person feel included Thus models behavior on that of the majority which is the behavior of the in crowd or peer group Feels that intensions are as important as deeds and expects others to accept intentions or promises in place of deeds Begins to put himself/herself in anothers shoes and think from another perspective May continue to be in this stage until him/her has reached the 20s in age

BACK

Stage of Moral Reasoning

Arguments Arguments Favoring Heinz Against Heinz Stealing the Drug Stealing the Drug Heinz must steal the drug because he has a duty to protect his wife. People need to do their duty even if they might get punished for it. People should not be permitted to break the law under any circumstances. The law must be respected.

Stage 4: Authority or lawand-order orientation; obeying rules and laws because they are needed to maintain social order

Stage 4
At this stage, the individual: Continues past actions and behaviors in tradition since the maintenance of law and order is supremely important Is a duty doer who believes in rigid rules that should not be changed Respects authority and obeys it without question Supports the rights of the majority or majority rule without concern for those in the minority Is part of about 80% of the population that does not progress past stage 4 BACK

Stage of Moral Reasoning Stage 5: Social contract orientation; viewing rules and laws as based on mutual agreement in the service of the common good.

Arguments Favoring Arguments Against Heinz Stealing the Heinz Stealing the Drug Drug While laws should be obeyed to maintain order in society, an exception should be made in Heinzs case because a law should not take precedence over protecting a human life. Though Heinz faces a difficult choice, he reasons that respect for the law outweighs individual needs no matter what the circumstances.

Stage 5
At this stage, the individual: Is motivated by the belief in the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people Believes in contracts in which both parties compromise and yet both receive benefits Believes in consensus (everyone agrees), rather than in majority rule Respects the rights of the minority especially the rights of the individual Believes that change in the law is possible but only through the system Has reached the same stage as the official morality of the nation BACK

Stage of Moral Reasoning

Arguments Favoring Arguments Against Heinz Stealing the Heinz Stealing the Drug Drug

Stage 6: Universal ethical principle orientation; adopting an internal moral code based on universal values that takes precedence over social rules and laws.

Heinz would be morally wrong not to steal the drug because it would violate his belief in the absolute value of a human life.

Sometimes doing what we believe is right requires personal sacrifice. If Heinz truly feels that stealing is worse than letting his wife die, he must not steal the drug.

Stage 6
At this stage, the individual: Loses the ability to compromise high principles and thus may forfeit his/her life in order to uphold them Believes that there are high moral principles than those represented by social rules and customs Obeys these self-chosen high moral principles Is willing to accept the consequences for disobedience of the social rule he/she has rejected Uses only passive resistance and has no use for violence in any form Believes in granting justice and dignity to all human beings as inalienable human rights Respects justice for its moral nature and its legal nature Believes that the dignity of humanity is sacred and that all humans have value BACK

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Putting Theory into Practice

Implementing Kohlbergs Moral Development Theory Choose/create an ethical dilemma. Interview a teacher on the best method in handling the dilemma. Next, interview your classmates on their way in handling the dilemma. Analyze both the teachers and your classmates responses by grouping their answers into the six stages of Kohlbergs Moral Development Theory.

Presentation
For you presentation it is advisable that your visual aids be in the form of a graph/chart/table. Explain which stage is the highest and the lowest. Highlight the most interesting response(s) that you managed to get from your respondents. The ethical dilemma must be clear to your classmates and your lecturer. Hence, by just reading it will not appear interesting. So maybe you can do a role play, a video presentation, etc. Be as creative as possible to make your presentation stands out.