Moral Development Theory Essay

Moral Development Theory

One of the biggest scandals involving print journalism in recent history has recently been uncovered in England -- and it involves one of the most popular tabloids in the UK, The News of the World. Reporters employed by the popular print tabloid have been found to have hacked into the cellphone voice messages of celebrities, the Royal Family, sports notables and politicians. Those whose actions or lack of action are deeply implicated include the reporters and editors at The News of the World, reporters, and shockingly, law enforcement in London has also been swept up in the disgraceful, sordid affair. This paper points out the way in which Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development help explain the unethical aspects of the case.

Law Enforcement Lapses

The media have covered this story very completely, partly due to the shocking evidence that journalists would invade the private world of any citizen -- let along notable, famous, and important individuals in the world of politics and entertainment -- and also due to the fact that the paper involved is owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose empire is larger and has more influence globally than any other company.A story in CBS News (February 7) asserts that police officials in England had dismissed suggestions for years that investigative articles in the highly respected publication the Guardian -- which reported hacking at Murdoch's News of the World -- linked New of the World with illegal hacking strategies. London's Metropolitan Police Service apparently either never bothered to "examine the evidence gathered by its own officers" that there were hacking victims and they could be identified -- or deliberately covered up the findings (CBS, 2012).

Attorneys for police have acknowledged that officers violated "the human rights of thousands of potential victims" by failing to them that their personal, private conversations had been "targeted by unscrupulous journalists" (CBS). The excuse given for the police was that they had been stretched by "…unprecedented increase in anti-terrorist investigations" and didn't have the time to follow up on verified reports of hacking.

According to professor Doug Davis at Haverford College, in Kohlberg's Level I, Stage 1, the child (in this case the police) should begin to understand superior power and know how to avoid trouble, but they did….....