Utilitarian Perspective Of Justice

Mott (2011) explains that “justice provides the standard by which the benefits and burdens of living together in society are distributed” (p. 65). It would be clear to say that although a lot of child abuse and/or neglect occurs, the abuse and neglect are not spread evenly across all children. Therefore, child abuse and/or neglect can be seen as a social justice issue. If all children experienced the same amount of abuse or neglect, the issue would not be considered unjust, though this would still not justify the negative behaviors that include abuse by an adult.
Despite all of the negative impacts of child abuse or neglect, some may say that there could be benefits of abuse and neglect. According to McMillen (2018), childhood sexual abuse
The utilitarian perspective articulates that justice is achieved when the most good is accomplished for all people. Those who advocate against child abuse may hold to a utilitarian perspective as the goal is to ideally have no child abuse. Realistically, however, the goal is to have as little child abuse and/or neglect as possible. For the sake of children, justice is accomplished when the least number of children is abused or neglected. In the conclusion of Mill’s definition of the utilitarianism worldview, he stated, “justice is a name for certain classes of moral rules which concern the essentials of human well-being more nearly…” (p. 21). Examining child abuse and neglect in terms of justice is essentially seeking out human well-being by providing justice for all children to have a healthy well-being.
Another theory of justice is the Liberation Challenge proposed by Jose Miranda (Lebacqz, 1986). Miranda holds to the belief that justice cannot be achieved until the injustice is noticed. Until people are impacted first-hand by the effects of child abuse and/or neglect, it is an issue that oftentimes goes unnoticed because society holds to the belief the county workers will make sure that all children experiencing abuse and/or neglect will be taken care of. However, this is not the case. Too many children are being abused and/or neglected
According to Elisabeth Reichert (2003), in order for social workers to fully acknowledge human rights, it must be acknowledged that human rights must apply to all individuals. Human rights include giving people the freedom to a “fair trial, freedom of speech and religion, freedom of movement an assembly and guarantees against discrimination, slavery and torture…” (p. 78). However, Reichert also noted that the environment in which one grows up in plays a fundamental role in the fulfillment of an individual’s needs. One may utilize his or her human rights as a reason to say that child abuse and neglect is okay. Yet, the child is growing up in a negative environment and not receiving the fulfillment of his or her