Kohlberg Stages of Moral Development
Directions: For each example write how a person would make a decision and look at the
situation based on each of the six stages. You can group stages 5-6 together so you
should have 5 answers for each question. The assignment can be typed or completed on
loose leaf.
1. Rick has had a pretty successful season playing football. He is a junior and is
trying to get a scholarship to play in college since schools are very expensive, and
his family won’t be able to afford most places. A number of scouts have recently
attended the past few games, but Rick went into a slump and didn’t perform so
well. The next game will be their first playoff game and Rick hears that many
more scouts will be there. He feels a great amount of pressure to do well and
have a breakout game. A number of Rick’s friends on the team have recently
been using performance enhancing substances to help them play better. Rick has
always been clean but he knows that these substances might be able to help him
play well, impress the scouts, and that he would be able to get away with it and
not get caught. How can Rick demonstrate the six different stages?
2. During an important exam, Rob notices that one of his classmates in the next row
has a piece of paper that they continually take out to cheat when the teacher isn’t
paying attention. At the end of the test, the teacher finds the paper on the floor.
The teacher decides to call down students one by one to the office in order to
speak with them about cheating but to keep each person’s testimony private.
Finally, Rob gets called down to speak with his teacher. Rob also knows that his
school has an honor code policy that all students have agreed to follow at the
beginning of the year. How can Rob demonstrate each of the six stages?
3. Jessica and Michelle one night tell their parents that they are going out to the
movies but really sneak out to a friend’s party. Their parents have been very clear
with them about not drinking and in the past when they have disobeyed, the girls
have had some tough punishments. However, they decide that they want to go to
the party since most of their friends will be there and that they can lie to their
parents to get away with it. On the way back from the party they decide to walk
through the park. They hear a person calling for help and as they approach more
closely, they see a person being mugged. Neither person sees Jessica and
Michelle, who observe that nobody is responding to the person’s call for help.
The girls realize that they have been out drinking and if they call for help, the
police or their parents might find out about their drinking. How can Jessica and
Michelle demonstrate each of the different stages?
4. Amy just got a job being a clerk at the grocery store. She has been working there
for a few weeks. The manager who is also her boss has a very strict rule about
inventory and keeping track of items sold, and employees are supposed to report
any discrepancies or what they observe from their coworkers. All employees are
not to give out any items and must give people exact change. Amy noticed that
there has been a homeless person around the neighborhood who sometimes asks
for money outside the store. Several times while passing by, she spoke with the
man who was very friendly and discovered that he was a veteran but was injured,
so he has been unable to get a job. One day he comes into the store and buys a
number of items. While checking out at the register next to hers, Amy notices
that the man doesn’t have enough money for his purchase and is off by quite a bit.
Amy sees her coworker just let the man off with the items. How can Amy
demonstrate each of the six stages?
5. Ben has been a marine officer serving in Afghanistan for several years. He and
his troops just captured one of the head terrorist leaders who has been responsible
for many of the destruction caused by the group. Ben and his soldiers think that
the terrorist leader can give them information about where the rest of the
organization is hiding or what they are planning, but the leader is refusing to talk.
Some of Ben’s soldiers approach him and ask him about either torturing the
leader for information or killing him so that he can’t potentially escape or be
rescued and be more of a threat. How can Ben demonstrate the six different
stages?