Social Justice In A Diverse Society [Paperback]

Tom R. Tyler (Author), Robert J. Boeckmann (Author), Heather J. Smith (Author), Yuen J. Huo (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 081333215X | ISBN-13: 978-0813332154 | Publication Date: March 13, 1997 | Edition: 1

For this unique text focused on the social psychology of justice, the authors have assembled the most current information relating to five major questions. These questions look specifically at how justice is defined, how it influences individuals’ thoughts and actions and shapes their behavior, and when and why it matters. The underlying unifying theme is that individuals do care about issues of fairness in their interactions with others, with groups, and with institutions they support or oppose.Using this theme as their guidepost, the authors explore research on relative deprivation, distributive justice, procedural justice, and retributive justice. Extensive use of examples drawn from contemporary culture make this book an informative and engaging collection of the most current thinking about topics such as diversity, gender, equal pay, personal satisfaction, third-party dispute management, crime, cultural preservation, and scarcity theory.This text will be a valuable source for advanced courses on social justice, interpersonal relations, negotiation, intergroup conflict, and group processes in social psychology, political science, sociology, and legal studies.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom R. Tyler is professor of psychology at New York. Robert J. Boeckmann is visiting assistant professor at Mills College. Heather J. Smith is visiting assistant professor at Saint Mary’s College. Yuen J. Huo is research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. Tom R. Tyler is professor of psychology at New York. Robert J. Boeckmann is visiting assistant professor at Mills College. Heather J. Smith is visiting assistant professor at Saint Mary’s College. Yuen J. Huo is research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. Tom R. Tyler is professor of psychology at New York. Robert J. Boeckmann is visiting assistant professor at Mills College. Heather J. Smith is visiting assistant professor at Saint Mary’s College. Yuen J. Huo is research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. Tom R. Tyler is professor of psychology at New York. Robert J. Boeckmann is visiting assistant professor at Mills College. Heather J. Smith is visiting assistant professor at Saint Mary’s College. Yuen J. Huo is research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press; 1 edition (March 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081333215X
• ISBN-13: 978-0813332154
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,219,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helps to clarify the still murky meaning of "justice.", July 26, 1997

By A Customer

A highly recommended analysis of different meanings of justice: distributive, procedural, and retributive. This review focuses upon three features of the book that deserve widespread public discussion: (a) fair "procedural justice," (b) the central role of social identities, and (c) the idea of "moral exclusion."

First, a comparison of procedural and retributive justice demonstrates the relative importance of procedures. Clearly, when procedures operate impartially, respect human dignity, and allow democratic "voice" to speak, governing authorities and institutions are much more likely to be perceived as legitimate and worthy of support. By contrast as proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence, when procedural unfairness occurs, risks of social disintegration, riots, and even rebellion increase. In sum, despite America's love affair with "the sword" (retributive justice), fair procedures typically are more effective in controlling individuals and potentially volatile sub-groups.

The book's most serious limitation is the failure to adequately "frame" (cf. p. 165) or make salient the complex interdependence among the three types of justice. The comparative assessment is between procedural and retributive justice: There is no comparative assessment involving distributive justice despite its critical importance. For example, if the "playing field" where Justice stands is not level due to prior distributive injustice, her scales (procedural justice) will be tilted and--to an unknown degree--undermine any measurements of "just deserts." A badly slanted playing field can produce totally invalid judgments that "legitimate" practices like "public shaming," incarceration, and even capital punishment. See Miller and Radelet's (1993), Executing the Mentally Ill, and Radelet, Bedau, and Putnam's (1992), In Spite of Innocence.

A promising conceptual framework is unfolding in the work of Robert Regoli and John Hewitt (see Delinquency in Society: A Child-Centered Approach). They begin with the most critical failure of distributive and procedural justice, i.e., the lack of humane care and legal protection for America's abused and neglected children. They show that child abuse and neglect contribute to later delinquency and criminality that can easily lead to unjust retribution. Child development and neurological data support this view (see Daniel Goleman's, Emotional Intelligence.) Other data show that the crime-related effects of abuse and neglect are cumulative, i.e., the more abuse, the greater the likelihood that deliquent and criminal behavior will follow. This includes violent behavior as early as age 9 linked scientifically not to "free will" but to prior abuse and neglect.

The concept of false positives can help clarify the murky nature of "justice." In this context false positives are persons who are harassed procedurally (like Robert Jewell) or who receive formal retribution despite being either "factually innocent" (did nothing wrong) or "legally innocent" (lacking mens rea, e.g., lacking moral competence as described in Goleman's Emotional Intelligence). See Huff, Rattner, and Sagarin's (1996), Convicted But Innocent: Wrongful Conviction and Public Policy.

In a second impressive element, Tyler et al. bring perceived "social identities" to the center of the dynamics of justice. They show that where negative social identities combine with negative emotions toward "outsiders" or "aliens," the potential for behaviors characteristic of "hate crimes" or the Holocaust increases. By contrast, in situations where "superordinate identities" (e.g., American citizens, p. 254) and prosocial sympathy are dominant, considerably more support exists for policies and practices that protect basic rights and respond to human needs.

However, a serious limitation related to social identities involves criminal justice policies. Rehabilitation is far more successful and has greater public support than Tyler et al. indicate (pp. 204-205). See Choosing Correctional Options That Work, by Alan Harland (1996). Also see Todd Clear's (1994) Harm in American Penology; Michael Tonry's (1995) Malign Neglect: Race, Crime, and Punishment in America; and S. Donziger's (1996) The Real War on Crime.

A third impressive feature of Tyler et al.'s book also has a serious weakness involving the same set of social identities. The centerpiece of this feature is the discussion of Opotow's (1990) concept of "moral exclusion" that begins on page 211. As the term implies, people tend to exclude others from the perceived boundaries of their moral communities and duty. Anyone excluded is viewed as non-human and "expendable," and any harm inflicted upon them is perceived as "appropriate" and "just" (cf. Martin Buber's 1958, I and Thou). Although the book discusses the unfair internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, there is no explicit discussion of whether moral exclusion applies to any criminals or prisoners in today's America. It does: See Mark Hamm's (1995), The Abandoned Ones: The Imprisonment and Uprising of the Mariel Boat People; and, All Too Familiar: Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S. State Prisons, by Human Rights Watch, Women's Rights Project (1996). Those who are horribly mistreated in these accounts are not Japanese American, but illegal Cuban immigrants and Rainbow Colored American women (in increasing numbers).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's approach (in his book, Ethics, p. 266) can supplement Tyler et al.'s discussion of moral exclusion. Bonhoeffer argued that morality becomes relevant in two situations: when relationships are "disrupted or the organization is endangered." If applied to distributive, procedural, and retributive justice, this principle indicates that morality is relevant when the government (or the government's "men" or women) changes its relationship to a person or group (e.g., by investigation or arrest) or when a threat is perceived (e.g., during the internment of Japanese Americans). In the interests of quality (as opposed to crude) justice, morality should become even more imperative when a relationship changes drastically (e.g., by indictment for a capital crime) or when a perceived threat increases (e.g., in our uncivil war on drugs and crime).

Elsewhere in their book Tyler et al. also accurately discuss John Rawls's often misinterpreted "veil of ignorance." One can apply that concept to our whole criminal justice system. That is, conceptually redesign this beast as if we were ignorant (not stupid) of who might be perceived as a dangerous threat and snared by its brutal teeth. Although this approach contrasts sharply with the views of Justice Antonin Scalia (see A Matter of Interpretation), it is quite compatible with the interpretative principles of the late Justice Willian Brennan, who understood the profound importance and value of human dignity. In particular, the veil of ignorance--like Justice Brennan--can help us interpret such critical texts as the introductory or Identity Clause of the 14th Amendment. This clause promises that "all persons born or naturalized in the" U.S. have federal and state identities as "citizens" and are thereby entitled to the due process of law and its equal protection. As a democratically impartial mode of interpretation, the veil of ignorance can give us awesome glimpses of the true face of Moral Justice in our increasingly diverse and threatening society.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Social Justice in a Diverse Society, February 14, 2010

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Deborah Elmore "Learner In Life" (Washington) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Social Justice In A Diverse Society (Paperback)

This is a very informative book on how folks think and respond to life in our culture, from a Social Psychology point of view. It is very insightful and after all Tyler is the expert on this subject!