Kohlberg Dilemmas Ethics

Name: Period Grade: /25 pts.
Personal Dilemmas
Activity 1: Read the situations described below and answer the questions that follow. Be prepared to share and explain your
rationale for responses.
Jonathan is a junior in high school and has many decisions to make in his life. He wants to go to college very
much but is unable to pay for it. He has missed the deadline for qualifying for financial aid. He feels he will
excel at any college he attends, but he needs an academic scholarship. Although his grade point average is
good, it is not high enough to earn him the desired scholarship. Knowing this, he thinks about boosting his
scores by cheating on his mid-term exams.
Jonathan has other decisions to make. His girlfriend is very possessive, and he would like to date others
without upsetting her. Mindy, his girlfriend, attends a different high school. There is a big dance coming up
at his school, and he is thinking of asking a girl from his psychology class. He is afraid that Mindy will find out
and get angry.
Jonathan has other problems to face. While Jonathan was on a school field trip, Tim, his best friend, asked
if he could use his locker. Jonathan didn’t quite see the necessity of this but told Tim it was okay. A few days
later, the school searched the student lockers looking for illegal drugs. Jonathan’s locker was identified as
one of those possessing drugs. He was called to the principal’s office and asked to explain. He was told that
the police had been called.
1. Should Jonathan cheat? Why or why not?
2. Should Jonathan ask his classmate to go to the dance with him? Why or why not?
3. Should Jonathan implicate his best friend? Why or why not?
Kohlberg/Livesay 1
Moral Dilemma Quiz
Activity 2: For each situation, decide the stage of Kohlberg’s theory in which the person is responding. Write your answer and
your rationale for choosing a particular stage.
1. Tamara has five tests in one day. She is a good student but did not have time to study for her French test. She knows the
person who sits next to her In French class is also a good student. This girl has copied from Tamara on occasion. Tamara
decides to look at the other girl’s test for the questions she doesn’t know. Besides, thinks Tamara, “I never should have
five tests in one day anyway.”
Stage & Rationale:
2. Scott thought about leaving school early and going to a baseball game. He stayed in school because he was afraid of getting
caught.
Stage & Rationale:
3. Sofia’s friends were at the mall, and someone suggested they do a little shoplifting just to see if they could get away with
It. Sofia wouldn’t participate and said stealing is wrong.
Stage & Rationale:
4. Aamir lives with his mother in an economically depressed section of the city. His mother is quite ill and needs outpatient
services daily at a hospital some miles away from their home. Aamir steals a car to take his mother to the hospital.
Stage & Rationale:
5. Mahari, a young woman living in a war-torn region of the world, distributes food to orphans living in the streets. This
activity is actually against the law. She frequently has to deceive the authorities in order to keep these children alive.
Stage & Rationale:
6. Jamal wants to spend time after school volunteering at the hospital. However, he is a good basketball player, and practice
interferes with this volunteer program. The coach and other teammates pressure him to play. Jamal decides to play with
the team.
Stage & Rationale:
Kohlberg/Livesay 2
Name Period Date
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Level Stage Age Range Description

1 Sees no difference between doing the right thing and
Obedience & Infancy avoiding punishment; focuses on the consequences of
Punishment actions; deference to authority
1: Pre-Conventional
Interest shifts to rewards rather than punishment; effort is
2 Pre-& Early
made to secure the greatest benefit for oneself; operates
Self-Interest School
with a “tit-for-tat” mentality
3 The “good boy/good girl level; effort is made to secure
Conformity & School Age approval and maintain friendly relations with others; views
Interpersonal Accord self in relation to societal roles
2: Conventional
4
Orientates toward law and order. Views the purpose of
Authority & School Age
morality is to maintain social order and a functioning society.
Social Order
Comprehends that others have different values (i.e.,
contingent on culture) and the need for reciprocity and that
5
Teens morally right and legally right are not always the same. Sees
Social Contract
utilitarian (practical) rules that make life better for
3: Post-Conventional everyone.
Here morality is based on principles that transcend mutual
6
Adulthood benefit; adheres to an internal moral code that may
Universal Principles
supersede legal code and/or social norms
Stage 1: Obedience/Punishment
Moral Reasoning Goal: “Might Makes Right.”
Moral decisions are based on the consequences of the action. “Will I be punished?”
Stage 2: Individualism, Instrumentalism and Exchange (Egoist)

Moral Reasoning Goal: “Me First.”
Moral decisions are decided on the benefits derived from the action (satisfying needs). “Will I get what I want?”
In this stage, decisions are also made on the principle of reciprocity. One might ask, “What do I get in exchange?”
What does “reciprocity” mean (in your own words)?
Stage 3: Interpersonal Conformity (Good Boy/Nice Girl)

Moral Reasoning Goal: “It’s better to give than receive.”
Moral decisions are determined by evaluating the action in terms of love and approval of family and friends. “Will
my family or friends get angry with me?”
Stage 4: Law and Order and Social Order (Good Citizen)

Moral Reasoning Goal: “What would happen if everyone...?”
Moral decisions are based on the law and/or religious beliefs. “Is it right according to the law?”
Stage 5: Social Contract

Moral Reasoning Goal: “It’s My Duty.”
Moral decisions are based on fairness, justice, and truth. Oftentimes, civil law is superseded by a higher moral
law as determined by one’s personal conscience. “Is there a higher good that can come from the action I do?”
Stage 6: Universal/Ethical Principles

Moral Reasoning Goal: “It’s the principle of the thing.”
Decisions based on the universal principle that respects the worth of the individual and by extension, life in
general. Here, the individual has fully internalized principles that human beings hold as universally valid (e.g.
the right to live and die with dignity.) The individual does not adopt rules just because they have been given by
authority and may even deviate from the rules of society (e.g. the need to eat/live vs. illegal theft). The coin
phrase at this stage is: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Kohlberg/Livesay 3

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Name: Period Grade: /25 pts.

1. Should Jonathan cheat? Why or why not?

3. Should Jonathan implicate his best friend? Why or why not?

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Level Stage Age Range Description

Stage 2: Individualism, Instrumentalism and Exchange (Egoist)

Stage 3: Interpersonal Conformity (Good Boy/Nice Girl)

Stage 4: Law and Order and Social Order (Good Citizen)

Stage 5: Social Contract

Stage 6: Universal/Ethical Principles

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