Social Justice
Question
‘Social justice ... is neither the exclusive terrain of social welfare nor of crime control. Indeed, the boundaries between these two domains tend to be mobile and porous’ (Book 1, Social Justice: Welfare, Crime and Society, p. 168).
Explain and illustrate this with reference to examples drawn from at least two chapters from Book 1.
According to Newman & Yeates (2008) Social Justice is a device that can be called upon to challenge particular forms of inequality or unfairness and can mobilise people in order to bring about change. It is a social construction and, because therefore it is something that is learned, it is open to contestation and change. Social Justice is concerned with the powers that define what is “normal” in terms of population, people and/or groups and which are “deviant” in some way. Because ideas of social justice are contestable, populations can join together to change social injustices, although some of the methods employed are viewed by the state as “civil disobedience”. The state is not only concerned with social justice, but with governing populations. By making problems that may have been sites for social justice movements less accessible, governments may make it harder for those movements’ claims to be heard. Further, when considering claims of social injustice it is important to remember that some problems that sit alongside the major issue may be hidden, as invariably calls for justice focus on one particular injustice. This essay will consider how social welfare and crime control work towards social justice, but how the boundaries between them are blurred. To do this we will consider two examples from Book 1 of the course text, these being council estates in the Uk and also the issue of common resources within the world.
Social welfare and crime control are two of the responses that societies form to overcome social injustice. Social welfare includes the creation and maintenance of social wellbeing by way
‘Social justice ... is neither the exclusive terrain of social welfare nor of crime control. Indeed, the boundaries between these two domains tend to be mobile and porous’ (Book 1, Social Justice: Welfare, Crime and Society, p. 168).
Explain and illustrate this with reference to examples drawn from at least two chapters from Book 1.
According to Newman & Yeates (2008) Social Justice is a device that can be called upon to challenge particular forms of inequality or unfairness and can mobilise people in order to bring about change. It is a social construction and, because therefore it is something that is learned, it is open to contestation and change. Social Justice is concerned with the powers that define what is “normal” in terms of population, people and/or groups and which are “deviant” in some way. Because ideas of social justice are contestable, populations can join together to change social injustices, although some of the methods employed are viewed by the state as “civil disobedience”. The state is not only concerned with social justice, but with governing populations. By making problems that may have been sites for social justice movements less accessible, governments may make it harder for those movements’ claims to be heard. Further, when considering claims of social injustice it is important to remember that some problems that sit alongside the major issue may be hidden, as invariably calls for justice focus on one particular injustice. This essay will consider how social welfare and crime control work towards social justice, but how the boundaries between them are blurred. To do this we will consider two examples from Book 1 of the course text, these being council estates in the Uk and also the issue of common resources within the world.
Social welfare and crime control are two of the responses that societies form to overcome social injustice. Social welfare includes the creation and maintenance of social wellbeing by way
References: Cochrane, A. and Walters, R. (2008) “The Globalisation of Social Justice”, p.136 in Newman, J. and Yeates, N. (eds) Social Justice: Welfare, Crime and Society, Maidenhead, Open University Press. Word Count: 1640