Moral development focuses on “the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from infancy through adulthood” (Wikipedia, 2013). Morality is defined as “principles for how individuals ought to treat one another, with respect to justice, other’s welfare, and rights” (Banks, 2013). To better understand how individuals understand morality, “it is essential to measure their beliefs, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors that contribute to moral understanding” (Wikipedia, 2013). The moral development of a person’s character will have a major impact on society as whole. Most importantly the moral responsibilities need to be taught to children at a young age because early years remain crucial to later development (Wikipedia, 2013). There are two theories that provided several stages of moral development. The first theorist is Kohlberg, who came up with “three levels of moral reasoning: Premoral, Convention, and Principled” (Banks, 2013). The second theorist is Gilligan, who “believed that females went through three stages of moral development, morality as individual, morality as self-sacrifice, and morality as equality” (Banks, 2013). Heinz’s Dilemma provides a moral problem that depends on how each person looks at. Heinz is faced with a dilemma of whether to steal the only drugs that make his wife better. He is “contemplating stealing them since the pharmacist will not reach a consensus with him” (Heinz’s Dilemma). Since he cannot afford the drugs, he “has made various suggestions to the pharmacist, but the pharmacist has proven to be stubborn and leaves Heinz with only one option, which is stealing the drugs” (Heinz’s Dilemma). This dilemma shows a person who cares about his beloved person looking at the dilemma from ethic of care p... ... middle of paper ... ...ponsibility, whereas men stress the application of rules in a fair, impartial and equal matters” (Banks, 2013). My findings show that other factors does contribute to what moral is, not only is what right or wrong? For example the male who answered Heinz should steal the medication took in consideration marriage where the husband and wife commit to each other and being there for each other. While females answer shows the concern of resolving the issue with a minimize harm and if there was no hope or a solution than Heinz should stela the medication. Reference: Banks, C. (2013). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice, Edition 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Heinz’s Dilemma. Retrieved from: http://www.brillianttermpapers.com/samples/heinzs-dilemma/ Wikipedia. (2013). Moral Development. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_development
Banks, C. (2013). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice, Edition 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
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Lawrence Kohlberg conducted research on the moral development of children. He wanted to understand how they develop a sense of right or wrong and how justice is served. Kohlberg used surveys in which he included moral dilemmas where he asked the subjects to evaluate a moral conflict. Through his studies, Kohlberg observed that moral growth and development precedes through stages such as those of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development. He theorized that moral growth begins at the beginning of life and continues until the day one dies. He believed that people proceed through each stage of moral development consecutively without skipping or going back to a previous stage. The stages of thought processing, implying qualitatively different modes of thinking and of problem solving are included in the three levels of pre-conventional, conventional and post conventional development. (2)
Theresa based her opinion on the fact that the druggist will be charged with an unfair amount of money for a cheap drug and will not budge on the price. She feels the importance of getting the drug for Heinz’s wife outweighs what’s right or wrong. Theresa is the type of person that views the moral importance of a situation and makes the adjustments for personal gain. Based on the Kohlberg Moral Development theory, we can assume that Theresa falls under the post conventional level of development, which means her age ranges from 13 years and up (Dacey, 2009, p. 248).
This paper is intended to examine ethical issues in Criminological research and criminal justice. This paper will analyze the multitude of ethical concerns, as well as discuss the confidentiality requirements as it pertains to criminological research.
Bentham, Jeremy. "An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation." Jacoby, Joseph E. Classics of Criminology. Illinois: Waveland Press, INC, 2004. 105-109.
Lippman, M. (2012). Contemporary Criminal Law Concepts, Cases and Controversies (3rd ed.). [Vitalsouce Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781452277660/5/3
Why be moral? This is a question that I’ve asked myself for many weeks since the beginning of this class. I wanted to know why is being moral so important to some people myself included. This also lead me to another question, which is why is it easier for some people and harder for others to be moral? First, let 's understand what it is to be moral. One definition of moral is concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. Another definition is a person 's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do. From both of these definitions, we get that being moral concerns right and wrong and being able to differentiation from both of those and having your actions reflect what you believe is right and wrong.
Kohlberg, L. (1984). The psychology of moral development: the nature and validity of moral stages. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
The first two stages of Kohlber’s moral development fall under “Preconventional Morality” which is the first level (Williams & Arrigo, 2012). These stages focus on children from ages one to ten (Williams & Arrigo, 2012). I basically agree with the concept of these stages because young children are clearly responsive to learning right and wrong through the use of some form of punishment (Williams & Arrigo, 2012). However, these two initial stages (punishment and obedience orientation & instrumental purpose and exchange orientation) must have competent authority figures, which are normally going to be the parents for children those ages. In the absence of competent authority figures, which is realism for many children, I believe these two
Banks, Cyndi. Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2009. Print.