Justice Capital and Unequal Access to Justice
In 1938, historians noted, two-thirds of Americans believed that Germany’s Jews were partly or entirely responsible for what they were facing. This victim blaming is jarring to read yet necessary to remember. Humans have the power to justify the unjustifiable.
Psychologists explain the victim-blaming impulse as part of a human drive to believe the world is fair, where people get what they deserve and deserve what they get. The easiest way to solve injustice is to assume there is none. When people blame the victim, they can go about their day without feeling responsible for evil or fearing senseless tragedy.
Research shows that observing others’ mistreatment increases people’s believing victims are responsible for their suffering.
Individual justice expectations can also reflect people’s experiences of justice access. When people say their life is fair, perhaps they had the good fortune of a just environment. When others report their lives are unfair, maybe they know injustice up close.
I have called this individual difference "Justice Capital" and proposed five dimensions.
1. People of higher status have greater access to resources that mitigate injustice.
Those in the ethnic majority have less reason to fear unjust violence from law enforcement.
2. People's immediate authorities serve as gatekeepers of justice.
A child is vulnerable to an unfair teacher or parent.
3. The effort-effect pipeline.
The extent to which someone’s actions affect their outcomes.
4. People with stronger voices have more access to justice.
When eloquent speakers are unjustly treated or falsely accused, they are more equipped to re-establish justice by self-advocacy.
5. Individual justice access has a societal dimension.
In a community with more violence and less social mobility, everyone has less access to justice.
People do not have to experience an injustice to stand in solidarity with those who do. Denouncing injustice does not mean that those who earn a living wage have done so unfairly. People disagree about how fair a society is or how just specific authorities are. But recognizing that justice is not the same for all can enable those with higher justice capital to speak up for those with less.
How could justice in social psychology affect our perception and people as individuals in our lives?
#Justice #SocialPsychology #Impulse
@calmDew1576
Thank you so much for sharing this piece. I'm shocked by how people perceive injustice in a variety of ways. The five points that you stated were apt and I think everyone can relate and understand this. Society does play a role in our perception of injustice and the actions we take as well as the toll the injustice takes on us.
Loved the line: The easiest way to solve injustice is to assume there is none.
@calmDew1576
How could justice in social psychology affect our perception and people as individuals in our lives?
I agree that most people can relate to at least one of the five points above. Beyond victim blaming, there's also disbelief of the victim. There are more but this is a support site, not a debate site so I'll keep silent.
