Essay

Katie Alexander
Period 1

On one side of town, Heinz had a sick wife with cancer and was at the brink of death. On the other, was a pharmacist that had just come up with a cure for cancer. Now, Heinz was not a wealthy man but he did want to get that cure for his wife. Did the pharmacist want to give it to him? No. No, the pharmacist said. He had to pay if he wanted it. Heinz couldn’t in any way get the medicine so what does
he do? He decides to steal it. Freeze. Pause. Let’s rewind and see what exactly caused all of this to happen. Let’s rewind and apply Kohlberg’s, Maslow’s, Bandura’s and Vygotsky’s theories.
Kohlberg developed a theory of moral reasoning. It consists of six different stages that clarify ones thoughts. I’m sure Heinz did not want to steal the medicine. He most likely went through level one of Kohlberg’s Developmental Stages which is “How can I avoid punishment?” and “What’s in it for me?”
He can avoid punishment by paying for it, but of course he does not have the money for it. He steals it because what’s in it for him is that his wife will not die. The pharmacist underwent level two of Kohlberg’s stages. The pharmacist had good intentions and also had his morals but what got in his way
was level one’s “What’s in it for me?”
Maslow’s theory was the Hierarchy of Needs. It is a pyramid that has five levels of things importance to us. Heinz actions are fitted into the Love/Belonging, Esteem, and Self actualization. First, Heinz, of course, loves his wife and needs her for companionship and as family. Esteem because they
both respect each other and he has confidence in her which makes him content. With these two components in check, he is fine but without them, he has no happiness or anything which left him with no choice but to go steal the medicine from the pharmacist. The pharmacist, on the other hand, fits more into the self actualization for the reason that he wants to get paid because it fits into his morals
and acceptance of the fact that he gets respect. It’s not really because of the money but more because he wants to feel sought after.
Bandura’s theory is the Social Learning Theory that implies that children imitate whatever climate they are near or grow up in. Heinz probably grew up knowing someone that had a loved one die or get badly hurt knowing it was preventable. They want to prevent the pain. Heinz’s motivation to steal
this was the fact that his wife is his everything to him. Now, the pharmacists probably grew up in some place were hard work wasn’t appreciated. Someplace where difficult tasks weren’t rewarded and the worker wasn’t at all happy with the outcome. The pharmacist wants to be compensated for his work.
Vygotsky’s theory was the Social Development Theory. This is were one learns from experiences. Heinz most likely had to have to have some time in his life when he got hurt and was completely able to prevent it. But there was some outside force that didn’t allow him to. Which resulted in him stealing or
cheating his way around it, to get what he needed to remedy whatever it was that had hurt him. Now, the pharmacist had to have gone through some similar experience where he gave someone medicine but they did not pay or give any kind of payment. This made him realize “Wow, that was a big mistake”. So now, when Heinz comes along and asks for the cure for cancer, the pharmacist refuses and demands for money.
In conclusion, Heinz ended up stealing the pharmacist medicine. These four cognitive therapists
have their own ways of describing how one’s thoughts are mapped out and how one thinks about
different situations. In Kohlberg’s case, he uses stages. Maslow uses a Hierarchy of Needs. Bandura uses
the Social Learning Theory and Vygotsky uses the Social Development Theory.