Incorporating Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development into the Justice System

Justice is the relationship that exists between an individual and the state. It involves the justice system treating every person equally, with a sole purpose of resolving disputes basing on objective facts as opposed to subjective criteria. Law enforcers apply the concept of justice in certain situations, but sometimes they are not fair and are prone to mistakes. Law enforcement encompassed a wide range of agencies and personnel including police officers, corrections, victim services, the courts, probation and parole, and prevention agencies. For law enforcement to promote justice, officers must have the ability to enforce law objectively and also adhere to the honor mandated by the department and its goals. Justice requires officers to respect and uphold the rights of the people and giving offenders effective punishment within the rules of law to serve and protect their communities.

Kohlberg developed three levels of moral reasoning: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. Kohlberg’s stages of moral development can be used to evaluate criminals. Morality can start from Kohlberg’s concept of moral development, but it has to focus on moral judgments as applied to specific contexts in life. The pre-conventional stage of Kohlberg’s moral development states that an individual does not willfully commit a crime, but they do so to attain some level of power (McDevitt and Ormrod, 2014). An individual may look at the level of power and authority of others, and this may create fear of harm to them. An offender will look at laws, norms, or social conventions as the basis for understanding principles and or values by which they should live. At this stage, a criminal will consider the law, and would therefore not commit a crime. However, if they do, a criminal will think that if the law enforcers catch them, the law would then be fair to them.

In the conventional stage, Kohlberg asserts that a child’s morality sense linked to personal and social relationships. At this stage, children will accept the laws given by people in authority, but this is because of the belief that it is essential to have positive relationships and societal order. When this is related to criminal offenses, a person at this stage will admit to committing crimes to advance their desires or because of self-interest ((Williams and Arrigo, 2012). The offender may believe that they are not receiving the same equal rights as others in society, and will try to defend the crime they committed. At this stage, a criminal is trying to get acceptance from others by trying to please them. At this point, the criminal has an amount of respect for the law but chooses not to abide by it.

In the third stage-the post-conventional stage, Kohlberg’s theory contends that personal principles and values define a person’s moral sense. At this stage, individuals believe that some laws are not just and that the legal system should eliminate or change them. At this stage, individuals realize that they are separate entities from the society, and they may tend to disobey rules that are not consistent with their values or beliefs (McDevitt and Ormrod, 2014). The legal system, therefore, considers criminal in this stage differently.

In our department, one method that we use to deal with criminals is the concept of general deterrence. This concept aims to prevent potential crimes before they happen. It primarily targets the offense as opposed to the offender. Therefore, one may ask what the nature of the crime was instead of asking who the offender was. General deterrence does this by considering that if a person commits a crime, then they are liable for punishment. One method of deterrence that law enforcers can usee used on a criminal who is on stage three of Kohlberg’s moral theory of development is the use of threat that can be converted in to action. A method of deterrence that can  used on a criminal that is on stage two of Kohlberg’s theory is being issued with a ticket, having their driver’s license suspended, or being sued with a DUI for being a repeat offender. If the offender has had similar previous offenses, a judge may take strict action to show the offender the severity of the crime.

Prima Facie Duties

Prevention of harm

I believe that law enforcement officers should uphold their duty to prevent injury to themselves and o the people in their communities (Chan, 2016). They have a responsibility not to harm others either physically or psychologically. They should also not harm their health, character, intelligence, or happiness.

Self-Improvement

Law enforcement officers have a duty to self-improve (Chan, 2016). They have a responsibility to improve their intelligence, happiness, health, virtue, wisdom, morality and fidelity.

Fidelity

I believe that law enforcement officers must keep their contracts and promises and to ensure that they do not engage in corrupt or deceptive activities (Chan, 2016). Officers should earn the trust of the people they serve by upholding fidelity.

References

Chan, G. K. Y. (2016). Finding common law duty of care from statutory duties: All within the Ann’s framework. Tort Law Review, 24(1), 14.

McDevitt, T. M., & Ormrod, J. E. (2010). Kohlberg’s three levels and six stages of moral reasoning. Child Development and Education, 518.

Williams, C. R. & Arrigo, B. A. (2012). Ethics crime and criminal justice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall / Pearson. pp. 122-124.

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