Justice ensures:
- that people receive their "fair share" of the goods available;
- that people receive "fair treatment" from society's institutions;
- that people's actions conform to rules of "fair play";
- and that any injustices are adequately addressed.
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Justice is action in accordance with the requirements of some law. Whether these rules be grounded in human consensus or societal norms, they are supposed to ensure that all members of society receive fair treatment. Issues of justice arise in several different spheres and play a significant role in causing, perpetuating, and addressing conflict. Just institutions tend to instill a sense of stability, well-being, and satisfaction among society members, while perceived injustices can lead to dissatisfaction, rebellion, or revolution. Each of the different spheres expresses the principles of justice and fairness in its own way, resulting in different types and concepts of justice: distributive, procedural, retributive, and restorative. These types of justice have important implications for socio-economic, political, civil, and criminal justice at both the national and international level.
Distributive justice, or economic justice, is concerned with giving all members of society a "fair share" of the benefits and resources available. However, while everyone might agree that wealth should be distributed fairly, there is much disagreement about what counts as a "fair share." Some possible criteria of distribution are equity, equality, and need. (Equity means that one's rewards should be equal to one's contributions to a society, while "equality" means that everyone gets the same amount, regardless of their input. Distribution on the basis of need means that people who need more will get more, while people who need less will get less.) Fair allocation of resources, or distributive justice, is crucial to the stability of a society and the well-being of its members. When issues of distributive justice are inadequately addressed and the item to be distributed is highly valued, intractable conflicts frequently result.
Procedural justice is concerned with making and implementing decisions according to fair processes that ensure "fair treatment." Rules must be impartially followed and consistently applied in order to generate an unbiased decision. Those carrying out the procedures should be neutral, and those directly affected by the decisions should have some voice or representation in the decision-making process. (See the essay on public participation.) If people believe procedures to be fair, they will be more likely to accept outcomes, even ones that they do not like. Implementing fair procedures is central to many dispute resolution procedures, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and adjudication.
Mark Amstutz, a professor at Wheaton College, finds fault with retributive approaches to justice because they do not pay sufficient attention to how individuals are to reconstruct their lives.
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Retributive justice appeals to the notion of "just dessert" -- the idea that people deserve to be treated in the same way they treat others. It is a retroactive approach that justifies punishment as a response to past injustice or wrongdoing. The central idea is that the offender has gained unfair advantages through his or her behavior, and that punishment will set this imbalance straight. In other words, those who do not play by the rules should be brought to justice and deserve to suffer penalties for their transgressions. Retributive justice plays a central role in legal proceedings, responding to violations of international law and human rights, and war crimes adjudication.
However, because there is a tendency to slip from retributive justice to an emphasis on revenge, some suggest that restorative justice processes are more effective. While a retributive justice approach conceives of transgressions as crimes against the state or nation, restorative justice focuses on violations as crimes against individuals. It is concerned with healing victims' wounds, restoring offenders to law-abiding lives, and repairing harm done to interpersonal relationships and the community. Victims take an active role in directing the exchange that takes place, as well as defining the responsibilities and obligations of offenders. Offenders are encouraged to understand the harm they have caused their victims and take responsibility for it. Restorative justice aims to strengthen the community and prevent similar harms from happening in the future. At the national level, such processes are often carried out through victim-offender mediation programs, while at the international level restorative justice is often a matter of instituting truth and reconciliation commissions.
Use the following to cite this article:
Maiese, Michelle. "Types of Justice." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003 <http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/types_of_justice/>.
Sources of Additional, In-depth Information on this Topic
Additional Explanations of the Underlying Concepts:
Online (Web) Sources
Brahm, Eric. "Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice After Civil Conflict -- Summary." Conflict Research Consortium, 2000.
Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/booksummary/10047/.
This is a summary of Nigel Biggar's "Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice After Civil Conflict."
Brahm, Eric. "Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective -- Summary." Conflict Research Consortium, 2000.
Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/booksummary/10185/.
This is a summary of Jon Elster's "Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective."
Bunker, Barbara Benedict. "Conflict, Cooperation, and Justice--Abstract." University of Colorado: Conflict Research Consortium, 2000.
Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/booksummary/10082/.
Conflict, Cooperation, and Justice contains a collection of essays inspired by the work of Morton Deutsch, professor of psychology at Columbia University, director of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution, and preeminent authority on the dynamics of conflict, cooperation, and justice.
Claassen, Ron. "Accountability and Restorative Justice." , 1900
Available at: http://peace.fresno.edu/docs/account.html.
This short article looks at the issue of accountability in regards to restorative justice.
Glaser, Tanya. "Justice After Transitions -- Summary." University of Colorado Conflict Research Consortium, 1900.
Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/articlesummary/10041/.
This page is a summary of the Jamal Benomar's article, Justice After Transitions, in Transitional Justice. Benomar states that in many countries new democratic governments are coming to power, replacing older repressive regimes. The old regimes often have a history of human rights abuses. Transitional justice refers to the new government's attempts to address injustices perpetrated under the old regime.
Vice, James W. "Neutrality, Justice, and Fairness." , 1997
Available at: http://www.ombuds.uci.edu/JOURNALS/1997/neutrality.html.
This article discusses the ombudsperson's obligation to neutrality, justice, and fairness. The article discusses the imperfection of these concepts and their importance to alternative dispute resolution processes.
Offline (Print) Sources
Biggar, Nigel, ed. Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice after Civil Conflict. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, March 2001.
This is a collection of essays drawn together by Nigel Biggar (Professor of Theology at the University of Leeds) that explores the challenges of establishing democracy after a period of violent and prolonged civil conflict. Relationships within the populace must be restored so that reprisals and revenge do not undermine or subvert emerging democratic processes. Click here for more info.
Elster, Jon. Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, September 6, 2004.
This books examines historical examples of the process of transitional justice. It discusses how different countries have dealt with the fall of regimes, war criminals, and moving past the memories of conflict. Click here for more info.
Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition. Harvard University Press, September 1999.
Rawls famous theory of the social contract provides an account of the basic rights and liberties of citizens as free and equal persons. He believes that we derive the two central principles of justice, principles on which all rational people could agree, from behind a veil of ignorance. Rawls aims to express a central part of the democratic tradition, justice as fairness, and to provide an alternative to the utilitarian tradition of political thought.
Buttram, Robert T., Robert Folger and Blair H. Sheppard. "Equity, Equality, and Need: The Three Faces of Social Justice." In Conflict, Cooperation, and Justice: Essays Inspired by the Work of Morton Deutsch. Edited by Deutsch, Morton, Jeffrey Z. Rubin and Barbara Benedict Bunker, eds. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc. Publishers, May 1995.
The authors suggest that the distributive justice principles of equity, equality, and need each advance distinct social goals. They examine these principles from the perspective of societies, individuals, and interpersonal relations, and argue that personal identity and interpersonal relations serve as the underpinnings of justice notions operating at the level of organizations or societies. Parallel foundations for procedural justice are discussed.
Deutsch, Morton. "Justice and Conflict." In The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice. Edited by Coleman, Peter T. and Morton Deutsch, eds. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000.
This chapter looks at distributive justice, procedural justice, the sense of justice, retributive and reparative justice, the scope of justice, and the implications injustice has on the course of conflict.
Burgess, Guy and Heidi Burgess. "Justice Without Violence: Theoretical Foundations." In Justice Without Violence. Edited by Paul Wehr, Guy Burgess, ed. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994.
This chapter reviews the literature on justice and related topics while simultaneously providing definitions of frequently used terms. It provides a theoretical basis for seeking nonviolent solutions to conflict.
Rachels, James. "Punishment and Desert." In Ethics in Practice. Edited by LaFollette, Hugh, ed. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers, 1997.
This article discusses the principle of "just deserts," and suggests that a retributive understanding of punishment is justified in light of our wide acceptance of this principle.
Tyler, Tom R. and R. J. Boeckmann. Social Justice in a Diverse Society. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, May 1998.
This text focuses on the social psychology of justice. The authors look at how justice is defined, how to influence 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.
Tyler, Tom R. and Maura A Belliveau. "Tradeoffs in Justice Principles: Definitions of Fairness." Conflict, Cooperation and Justice: Essays Inspired by the Work of Morton Deutsch , May 1995.
The authors discuss Morton Deutsch's suggestion that parties' goals shape the importance accorded to different principles of justice. Rather than a social justice model based on a single principle of justice, we need one that focuses on the relationship among different interaction goals and different principles of justice. The authors look at the relationship between equity and equality principles, and between distributive and procedural justice principles.
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Examples Illustrating this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
Lamont, Julian. Distributive Justice.
Available at: Click here for more info.
Principles of distributive justice are normative principles designed to allocate goods in limited supply relative to demand. Such principles can be strictly egalitarian or libertarian, as well as desert-based or welfare-based. This web page outlines the central components of various models of distributive justice.
"Economic Justice." , 1900
Available at: http://www.aaldef.org/economic.php.
This site addresses issues of economic injustice, such as the low-paying and exploitative garment industry, restaurant sector, domestic work field, and day labor trades.
Retributive Model.
Available at: http://www.hec.ohio-state.edu/abs/handbook/retributive_justice.htm.
This piece provides an overview of the retributive model and explores the core values and definitions that ground this model. This includes definitions of offenders, offenses, and types of sanctions. It goes on to outline various forms of accountability in the context of juvenile crime.
Hutchison, Peggy and Harmon Wray. "What Is Restorative Justice?." ,
Available at: http://gbgm-umc.org/nwo/99ja/what.html.
This article addresses the aims of restorative justice, provides examples of domestic and international restorative justice, and discusses the role that religion might play in supporting restorative justice programs.
Offline (Print) Sources
Rescher, Nicholas. Distributive Justice: A Constructive Critique of the Utilitarian Theory of Distribution. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, October 1982.
This book explores the canons of distributive justice, utilitarian approaches to distribution, and special problems associated with scarcity, abundance, and inequality.
Cragg, Wesley. The Practice of Punishment: Towards a Theory of Restorative Justice. New York: Routledge, May 1992.
The author argues that the state should determine policies for criminal sentencing and corrections with the principle of restorative justice in mind.
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Audiovisual Materials on this Topic:
Offline (Print) Sources
No Silence In This Court . Directed and/or Produced by: Dubreuil, Elisabeth. First Run Icarus Films. 2001.
This film examines the way some tribal villages in the Indian state of Gujarat dealt with justice after India's independence. Click here for more info.
The Court. First Run Icarus Films. 1982.
This film maps out the modern development of international law based on the concept of justice, including the just laws of war (jus in bello), that have given rise to the formation of the International Court of Justice. Click here for more info.
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