Instructions: 

Billy (9 years old) cuts through the parking lot of a supermarket on the way home from school. In the bike rack by the wall he sees a beautiful racing bike that he really wants. It seems to be unlocked, and no one is around. Using Kohlberg's work as a guide, what do you think is going through Billy's mind? What action(s) do you think he will do next?

Instructions:
Billy (9 years old) cuts through the parking lot of a supermarket on the way home from school. In the bike rack
by the wall he sees a beautiful racing bike that he really wants. It seems to be unlocked, and no one is around.
Using Kohlberg's work as a guide, what do you think is going through Billy's mind? What action(s) do you think
he will do next? Criteria/ 300
Analyzed the question(s), fact(s), issue(s), etc. and provided wellreasoned and substantive answers.
Supported ideas and responses using appropriate examples and
references from texts, professional and/or academic websites, and
other references. (All references must be from professional
and/or academic sources. Websites such as Wikipedia, about.com,
and others such as these are NOT acceptable.)
Post meets the 300 words minimum requirement and is free from
spelling/grammar errors Kohlberg's Theory
Among the more notable efforts to explain a child's moral development has been that of
Lawrence Kohlberg (1975, 1981). Using Piaget's ideas about cognitive development as a basis,
Kohlberg's moral stages emerge from a child's active thinking about moral issues and
decisions. Kohlberg formulated a sophisticated scheme of moral development extending from
about 4 years of age through adulthood.
moral dilemma
Modified clinical technique used by Kohlberg whereby a conflict is posed for which subjects
justify the morality of their choices.
To discover the structures of moral reasoning and the stages of moral development, Kohlberg
(1975) employed a modified clinical technique called the moral dilemma, in which a conflict
leads subjects to justify the morality of their choices.
In one of the best known, a husband needs a miracle drug to save his dying wife. The druggist is
selling the remedy at an outrageous price, which the woman's husband cannot afford. He
collects about half the money and asks the druggist to sell the drug to him more cheaply or allow
him to pay the rest later. The druggist refuses. What should the man do: Steal the drug or permit
his wife to die rather than break the law?
By posing these conflicts, Kohlberg forces us to project our own views. Kohlberg's theory traces moral development through six stages by successive transformations
of cognitive structures. Middle-childhood youngsters are typically at Kohlberg's
preconventional level of morality. Only as they approach ages 10 to 12 do they begin to edge into
the conventional level of morality, where acts are right because that's the way it's supposed to be
(determined by adult authority). The postconventional level of morality comes at age 13 and
over. Only a small number of adults reason at the postconventional level.
According to Kohlberg, moral judgment requires us to weigh the claims of others against selfinterest. Thus youngsters must overcome their egocentrism before they can legitimately make
moral judgments. Consequently, we again see how the blend of cognitive development and
cultural beliefs shape the nature of moral thinking (Narvaez et al., 1999).
Finally, anyone's level of moral development may not be the same as their moral behavior. To put
it simply, people may know what is right but do things they know are wrong. Research suggests
that when children are in a stage of developmental transition, Kohlberg's moral concepts are
less influential in moral decision making; that is, children are unsure how to interpret actual
events (Thoma & Rest, 1999). Table 9.4 summarizes Kohlberg's theory.
Not all students of moral development agree with Kohlberg. Strenuous objections have been
made to Kohlberg's male interpretation of moral development, especially by Carol Gilligan.
Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Developmen

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