Moral Development Theory

The Theory of Moral Development The Theory of moral development was founded by the psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. He argued that starting from infancy extending throughout adulthood, we develop a moral compass that guides us through our life. Each moral judgment can be categorized into three levels, pre-conventional morality, conventional morality, and post-conventional morality, with each level encompassing two stages. As we grow older and gain new experiences, we begin to view the world differently and the moral reasoning for our choices evolves. In this paper I will be determining the moral development stages in which the individuals I interviewed belong. I chose four individuals all from different backgrounds of life, male and female, with their ages ranging from

The chemist refused saying he worked numerous long, hard hours to develop this drug and he was going to make money from it. Heinz was desperate to save his wife, so later that night he broke into the chemist’s laboratory and stole the drug. I asked my interviewees if Heinz should have stolen the drug and their responses were diverse. Connor and Jessica both agreed that Heinz did the correct thing. Connor stated that he would have done the same thing for love, law no longer becomes a concern; however, if it were anyone else he would obey the law. Jessica said that a human’s life holds more value than the million the chemist would have made for the drug. Katie and Dave agreed that Heinz did wrong, stating that stealing is against the law. While the both understood that it would lead to the wife’s demise without the drug, they stood firm that stealing is a sin. Katie then went into the risks of being caught, that Heinz would be thrown behind bars, his wife would die, and it would leave the children’s life shattered. I then asked each of them, what if your close knit community was bound to find out about the theft and looked upon you disapprovingly and if that would change their answer. Connor