Jessica Chirillo
June 21, 2021
DEP 2004
Professor K.
Ch 9 Assignment
According to Kohlberg’s stages of morals, different people fall into different levels of morality. I
was raised as more of a stage 3. According to Kohlberg, people who fall into stage 3 tend to base
their morality on a family and community basis. With this being said, if I was in Sharon’s shoes I
would not tell Jill’s name to the security officer. I wouldn’t tell her name because if they officer
had enough evidence he would have detained her at the time of her being in the store/walking
out. He also could not get Jill in serious trouble because she was not part of it. The point of this
assignment was probably to say she should tell Jill’s name, especially the way the questions flow.
If Sharon fell into Kohlberg’s fourth stage she would feel just because it is the law she should tell
on Jill. Stealing is definitely a crime and is wrong but sometimes its just not up to a civilian such
as Sharon to make that decision, and like I had mentioned earlier, if the security had enough
evidence he would have detained her already.
The conclusion I came to was without considering any favors by the girls. If they are close
enough friends than the favor would be irrelevant. If they were not good friends I honestly would
probably feel the same way just because if I were in Sharon’s shoes I’d feel like I was being
harassed. If Sharon was in a different stage of morality she may have felt that it’s was the best
decision to tell on Sharon. Especially if they were not good friends. However it does not make
sense that she was not detained already.
There are many factors to consider when thinking about Sharon making a decision. The story
does not specify why Jill had stolen the merchandise. Jill may not have anyone at home to buy
her clothes. She may not have clothes for school or may be abused at home. If any of these were
the case I definitely would go with my choice to keep quiet. Stealing is wrong, do not get me
wrong, but some people don’t have it so easy. Whether right or wrong, if it was meant for Jill to
get caught, it would not be up to Sharon to make that choice, but she would have got caught.
Sharon did not know what was going on as it was described to be “to Sharon’s surprise”.
Shoplifting is definitely wrong but it happens every day. It happens on all levels, wealthy people
steal, poor people steal, etc. Aside from the legal and moral aspects of stealing, consider this:
when you steal it is not the company that pays for shoplifters, but consumers do. Companies will
pad their prices to make up for it, and the people that suffer are the shoppers. The consumer will
end up repaying what you stole. Or the company might make cuts to make up for it. These cuts
include letting go of the people at the lowest level of the company.