Social justice embodies the vision

of a society that is equitable and in which all

members are physically and psychologically
safe. Social justice also demands that all
people have a right to basic human dignity
and to have their basic economic needs met.
WHAT IS SOCIAL JUSTICE?
It is not possible to address trauma
and violence without also wrestling with poverty,
racism, sexism, classism, homophobia and all
other forms of stigma. Because of this, we cannot
ignore deep seated inequalities as we seek answers
to problems like violence and trauma. Rather, we
must struggle with these problems clearly and
honestly.

Plato wrote in The Republic that it would be an
ideal state that "every member of the community
must be assigned to the class for which he finds
himself best fitted.
Aristotle believed rights existed only between free
people, and the law should take "account in the first
instance of relations of inequality in which
individuals are treated in proportion to their worth
and only secondarily of relations of equality."
VIEWS ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE
The Letter to the Ephesians attributed to Paul states
that everyone should be bound to do his duty in the class
where they were born. Reflecting this time when slavery
and subjugation of women was typical, ancient views of
justice tended to reflect the rigid class systems that still
prevailed. On the other hand, for the privileged groups,
strong concepts of fairness and the community existed.
Distributive justice was said by Aristotle to require that
people were distributed goods and assets according to
their merit.
Socrates (through Plato's dialogue Crito) is attributed
developing the idea of a social contract, whereby people
ought to follow the rules of a society, and accept its
burdens, because they have lived to accept its benefits.

John Rawls A Theory of Justice proposed that,
"Each person possesses an inviolability founded on
justice that even the welfare of society as a whole
cannot override. For this reason justice denies that
the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater
good shared by others.
The term "social justice" was seen by the U.N. "as a
substitute for the protection of human rights [and]
first appeared in United Nations texts during the
second half of the 1960s. At the initiative of the
Soviet Union, and with the support of developing
countries, the term was used in the Declaration on
Social Progress and Development, adopted in 1969."
Prejudice refers to a positive or a negative
attitude or belief directed toward certain people based on
their membership in a particular group. The root word
of prejudice is "pre-judge." It is "a set of attitudes which
causes, supports, or justifies discrimination. Prejudice
refers to a tendency to "over categorize." Prejudiced
people respond to others in a more or less fixed way
(Farley, 2000:18).

PREJUDICE
Farley (2000:18-19) calls attention to three kinds of prejudice.
1. Cognitive Prejudice
Cognitive prejudice refers to what people believe is true
2. Affective Prejudice
Affective prejudice points to peoples likes and dislikes
FORMS OF PREJUDICE
3. Conative Prejudice
Conative prejudice refers to how people are inclined to behave. Note
that this is still an attitude because people don't actually act on their
feelings. An example of conative prejudice might be found in the
statement "If I were in charge I'd send all the Wallonians back to
where ever they came from."
While these three types of prejudice are correlated, they don't have
to all be present in a particular individual. Someone, for example,
might believe a particular group possesses low levels of intelligence,
but harbor no ill feelings toward that group. On the other hand, one
might not like a group because of intense competition for jobs, but still
recognize no inherent differences between groups.
The belief that ones own cultural or racial heritage
is innately superior to that of others, hence, the lack
of respect or appreciation for those who belong to a
different race.
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed
against someone of a different race based on the
belief that one's own race is superior.
RACISM
a system of attitudes, actions and structures that
subordinates others on the basis of their gender where
the usual victims are women.
prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially
discrimination against women
behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster
stereotypes of social roles based on sex

SEXISM
negative attitudes toward lesbians and
gay men.
HETEROSEXISM
distancing from and perceiving the poor as the
other

unfair treatment of people because of their
social or economic class
CLASSISM
negative attitudes which members of
dominant language groups hold against
non-dominant language groups
LINGUICISM
negative attitudes held against the young
or the elderly.
Is stereotyping and discriminating
against individuals or groups on the basis
of their age. This may be casual or
systematic.
AGEISM
prejudice against those who do not measure up
to set standards of beauty.The usual victims
are the over-weight, the undersized, and the
dark-skinned.
refer to the positive stereotypes, prejudice, and
preferential treatment given to physically
attractive people, or more generally to people
whose appearance matches cultural
preferences.
LOOKISM
prejudice against those who are followers
of religions other than ones own.
is when a group (e.g., a society, religious
group, non-religious group) specifically
refuses to tolerate practices, persons or
beliefs on religious grounds
RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE
Discrimination is a behavior (an action), particularly
with reference to unequal treatment of people because they are of
a particular group whether it be racial, ethnic, religious, or
gender.

A stereotype us a mental image, or an exaggerated
belief, which assumes that whatever is believed about a group is
typical for the entire group. Stereotypical thinking is
unavoidable in social life and it is not automatically bad. "The
essence of prejudicial thinking, however, is that the stereotype is
not checked against reality. It is not modified by experiences that
counter the rigid image (Farley, 2000:19).


DISCRIMINATION AND
STEREOTYPES
How does Catholic thought view social justice?
"In Catholic thought, social justice is not merely a secular or
humanitarian matter. Social justice is a reflection of God's
essential respect and concern for each person and an effort to
protect the essential human freedom necessary for each person to
achieve his or her destiny as a child of God." U.S. Bishops. To
Do the Work of Justice

Why is human freedom necessary?

SPIRITUALITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
In what does the common welfare of society consist?
"The common welfare of society consists in the entirety of those
conditions of social life under which men enjoy the possibility of
achieving their own perfection in a certain fullness of measure
and also with some relative ease. Hence this welfare consists
chiefly in the protection of the rights, and in the performance of
the duties, of the human person." Vatican II. Declaration on
Religious Freedom (1965 ) 6.

Why is a society unjust if within it rights are protected but duties
are not performed?

What is the norm of human activity?
"The norm of human activity is this: that in accord with the
divine plan and will, it should harmonize with the genuine good of
the human race, and allow men as individuals and as members of
society to pursue their total vocation and fulfill it." Vatican II,
Church in the Modern World (1965) 35.

What is the "total vocation" of individual men and women?

What are some of the most important and universally recognized human
rights?
"Permit me to enumerate some of the most important human rights that
are universally recognized: the right to life, liberty and security of person;
the right to food, clothing, housing, sufficient health care, rest and leisure;
the right to freedom of expression, education and culture; the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion; and the right to manifest
one's religion either individually or in community, in public or in private;
the right to choose a state of life, to found a family and to enjoy all
conditions necessary for family life; the right to property and work, to
adequate working conditions and a just wage; the right of assembly and
association; the right to freedom of movement, to internal and external
migration; the right to nationality and residence; the right to political
participation and the right to participate in the free choice of the political
system of the people to which one belongs." Pope John Paul II. Address
at the United Nations (1979) 13.