Ethics and Law in Business and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Ethics and Law in Business and Society - Essay Example So cities also have mechanisms for the sustenance of social order and social structures. Such mechanisms include rules, laws, regulations, ethics and values. Question one Kohlberg Moral Development Stages Kohlberg developed an interest with the subject of moral development after the works of Jean Peagent. As a result, there are significant similarities between the works of the two, Kohlberg and Jean. To device a model explaining moral development, Kohlberg chose a research sample of boys aged 10, 13 and 16 years from middle and low class families in Chicago. He later added older boys and girls to his sample from other parts of the United States of America and other countries. This move diversified his sample to represent a majority of different societies in the world. After his study, Kohlberg developed a moral development model from one stage to the other. The model has six stages categorized into three levels. Each level has two stages. Pre conventional moral level is the first lev el. The stages in this level are obedience and punishment stage and the individualism and exchange stage respectively. In the first stage, the person assumes that morals and values are external. Individuals in this stage do not feel as members of the society. Children in this stage assume that the rules and morals belong to adults. At this stage, failure to adhere to set rules result to punishments. Individuals thus do what is right so as to escape punishment. An example for this stage is when a student can be punished for getting to school in time the students to develop hatred against the teacher. Stage two is a bit different from stage one in that the individual realizes that all sources of authority have different stands on a subject. It may be right to do a thing in regard to one whereas, it may be wrong in regard to another. In this stage, failure to align with set rules can attract punishment and reprimands. Different from stage one, individuals here do good because they do n ot want to be repaid with bad. This stage thrives on the philosophy of scratch my back as I scratch yours (Sandel 17). Conventional morality is the second level. The stages in this level are good interpersonal relationships stage and maintenance of social order stage respectively. In the third stage, the individuals are majorly boys and girls entering their teens and People in this stage uphold morality as more than simple deals. They believe that they should act in line with the expectations of family members and friends. It is also in this stage that one develops good behavior, acting in good intentions and having interpersonal feelings such as care, kindness and love. A good example is buying of presents to family members and friends. Stage four entails the individual acting as per the expectation of the society and not as per family members and friends. For instance, people volunteer for social works, for example, high school students who volunteer for a city cleanup. People in this stage want to maintain the functioning of society. Post conventional morality is the third level. The stages in this level are the social contract and individual rights stage and the universal principles stage. While stage four people want to see the society function, in stage five people want to see a better functioning society. In this regard, people believe that all people work towards a better society even though different social groups have different believes. Whatever people do in this stage is for the