Discount Tutor

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Dr.!O’Brien!

Case!Study!#3!

26!February!2009!

Kohlberg!and!“What!Price!Safety?”!

How!should!we!deal!with!this!problem?!This!is!the!question!that!every!

company!must!answer!at!one!point!or!another,!and!it!is!the!question!Motorola!was!

faced!with!in!the!case!“What!Price!Safety?”.!Tommy,!an!employee,!was!refusing!to!

wear!his!protective!goggles!in!accordance!with!safety!regulations!and!so!his!

supervisor,!Victor,!eventually!“lost!control!of!his!temper…and!slapped!him!several!

times,”!(“What!Price!Safety?”).!Tommy!now!suffers!from!hearing!impairment.!

However,!while!it!is!never!okay!for!a!supervisor!to!hit!another!employee,!we!will!see!

that!he!may!not!have!had!a!choice!because!Tommy!was!behaving!at!such!a!low!

moral!level.!This!paper!will!focus!mainly!on!classifying!the!actions!of!the!two!

employees!based!on!Lawrence!Kohlberg’s!stages!of!judgment,!and!determining!the!

best!decision!for!Motorola!to!make.!

! Lawrence!Kohlberg!was!not!the!first!person!to!classify!individuals!into!stages!

based!on!their!moral!judgment.!In!fact,!Kohlberg!actually!modeled!his!taxonomy!off!

of!that!of!Jean!Piaget,!a!Swiss!philosopher!who!was!well!known!for!his!theory!of!

cognitive!development.!(Huitt)!“Piaget!studied!many!aspects!of!moral!judgment,!but!

most!of!his!findings!fit!into!a!two!stage!theory,”!(Crain).!The!first!stage!included!

children!who!were!younger!than!10!or!11!who!see!rules!or!authority!as!fixed;!rules,!

they!believe,!are!absolute!and!“are!handed!down!by!adults!or!by!God,”!(Crain).!The!

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second!group,!including!all!children!older!than!11!years!of!age,!believes!that!rules!

are!negotiable,!if!all!parties!are!willing!and!the!circumstances!allow.!

! Kohlberg!decided!to!take!this!type!of!thinking!even!further.!Doing!so,!“he!

uncovered!six!stages,!only!the!first!three!of!which!share!many!features!with!Piaget’s!

stages,”!(Crain).!These!six!stages!(seven!if!you!count!stage!zero,!which!was!

developed!at!a!later!date)!are!phases!that!people!go!through!to!become!further!

morally!developed!and!can!be!analogized!to!the!stages!that!children!progress!

through!in!order!to!learn!intellectually.!The!first!stages!(stages!0!through!2)!are!pre^

conventional;!that!is,!people!exhibiting!moral!behavior!in!these!phases!are!classified!

as!ethically!immature!or!underdeveloped.!Subsequently,!stages!3!and!4!exhibit!

conventional!morality,!or!what!is!morally!expected!of!a!person!or!group;!stages!5!

and!6!are,!understandably!then,!post^conventional,!with!people!who!are!classified!as!

unusually!developed!morally.!!

! In!the!case!“What!Price!Safety?”,!Tommy,!the!worker!who!refused!to!wear!his!

protective!goggles,!was!operating!at!a!stage!one,!if!he!were!to!be!classified!by!

Kohlberg’s!taxonomy.!His!sheer!refusal!to!comply!with!safety!regulations!simply!

because!he!was!not!being!punished!exhibits!his!pre^conventional!morality.!In!a!

stage!one,!or!the!Obedience/Punishment!stage,!individuals!behave!in!a!manner!

where!“the!concern!is!with!what!authorities!permit!and!punish,”!(Crain).!This!means!

that!an!individual!acts!based!only!on!what!the!potential!consequences!could!be.!So,!

because!he!had!not!been!punished!before!the!incident!with!his!supervisor,!he!felt!

that!he!could!keep!on!disregarding!the!rules.!!

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! Victor,!Tommy’s!supervisor!in!the!case,!conversely,!is!acting!at!a!higher!level.!

Although!it!may!appear!that!Victor’s!morality!would!be!classified!as!pre^

conventional!(because!it!is!normally!seen!as!‘wrong’!to!hit!another!person),!it!can!be!

said!that!Victor!was!actually!acting!at!a!stage!four.!At!stage!four,!or!the!Law!and!

Order!stage,!“the!respondent!becomes!more!broadly!concerned!with!society(as(a(

whole,”!(Crain).!Thus,!as!a!supervisor,!it!is!understandable!that!Victor!was!acting!as!

a!leader,!and!was!concerned!with!the!public!order!that!comes!with!his!authority.!It!

was!his!duty!to!be!a!positive!authority!figure!by!reprimanding!Tommy!for!not!

complying!with!Motorola’s!policy.!!

! The!company!now!must!decide!how!to,!if!at!all,!reprimand!both!parties!

involved!in!this!case.!As!was!taught!in!class,!a!business!cannot!usually!perform!

above!a!stage!two!or!three,!simply!because!it!has!a!responsibility!to!consider!

multiple!parties!in!making!a!decision.!For!example,!if!Motorola!were!to!make!a!

decision!in!line!with!stage!five,!the!Social!Contract!stage,!they!would!have!to!decide!

to!keep!both!men!on!as!employees.!This!stage!may!even!require!the!company!to!give!

the!men!raises,!as!this!would!be!in!their!best!interest.!Obviously,!this!is!not!a!

potential!decision!for!Motorola,!simply!because!it!has!a!responsibility!to!show!the!

other!employees!that!neither!Victor’s!nor!Tommy’s!actions!will!be!acceptable.!!

! Thus,!Motorola!has!to!be!restrained!in!it’s!moral!judgment!and!is!forced!to!

perform!at!a!stage!three,!or!the!Good!Boy/Good!Girl!level.!Here,!the!company!can!

sow!good!will!by!suspending!Victor!and!possibly!moving!him!to!another!

department.!Likewise,!the!company!must!also!sow!good!will!in!the!company!

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through!also!suspending!Tommy!for!his!actions!and!failure!to!comply!with!company!

policy.!In!making!these!decisions,!Motorola!is!allowing!the!men!to!keep!their!jobs,!

which!shows!genuine!interest!for!their!wellbeing,!but!it!is!also!acting!in!an!egoistic!

mindset!in!that!it!must!consider!it’s!own!security!and!the!welfare!of!other!

employees.!Stage!three!actions!are!often!said!to!be!“evaluated!in!terms!of!

intentions”!(www.haverford.edu).!Since!Motorola!would!have!good!intentions!in!

attempting!to!resolve!the!issue!in!this!proposed!way,!the!company’s!actions!would!

be!in!line!with!stage!three!morality,!which!is!the!best!it!can!do.!

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Works!Cited!

“Case!Study,!What!Price!Safety?”!433^435.!

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Crain,!W.C.!“Kohlberg’s!Stages!of!Moral!Development”.!Theories!of!Development.!

Prentice^Hall,!1985.!pp.!118^136.!<http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence

/html/kohlberg.htm>!

!Huitt,!W.,!&!Hummel,!J.!Piaget's!theory!of!cognitive!development.!Educational(

Psychology(Interactive.!Valdosta,!GA:!Valdosta!State!University!2003.!

<http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/piaget.html>!

“Kohlberg’s!Moral!Stages”!http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/!

kohlberg.stages.html!

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