Abstract
The reader might pause and reflect for a moment on the foregoing sentence. It is the only surviving fragment from the first known work of our civilization, Anaximander’s cosmology. The sentence hints at the role of retribution as an organizing force in nature and therefore in human affairs. For the Greeks, retribution was the iron law of the universe; it was equally the silent assumption on which Greek morality and Greek science was based. It is curious that a notion so fundamental at the beginning of a civilization is so infrequently remarked on in its later history. Piaget (1932/1965) captured the modern attitude when he observed that young children think of justice in terms of retribution. Older, more mature, and therefore more cognitively advanced children think of justice in terms of the equal distribution of rewards. The moral is clear: young children and persons with similarly limited intellectual perspectives endorse retributive justice. But as they grow, mature, and progress, they transcend their earlier limitations and take on a more enlightened viewpoint. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that despite this modern attitude, retribution remains a critical perspective from which to understand how the concept of justice functions at the level of the individual.
From what sources things arise, into them also is their destruction, as is ordained; for they give satisfaction and reparation to one another for their injustice according to the ordering of time.
—Anaximander
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adams, J. S., & Freedman, S. Equity theory revisited: Comments and annotated bibliography. In L. Berkowitz &. E. Walster (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology, Vol. 9. New York: Academic Press, 1976.
Bailey, F. G. Gifts and poison: The politics of reputation. Oxford: Blackwell, 1971.
Berkowitz, L., & Walster, E. (Eds.) Advances in experimental social psychology, Vol. 9. New York: Academic Press, 1976.
Berne, E. Games people play. New York: Grove, 1964.
Box, S. Deviance, reality and society. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1972.
Campbell, D. T. On the conflicts between biological and social evolution and between psychology and moral tradition. American Psychologist, 1976, 30, 1103–1126.
Colson, E. Tradition and contract. Chicago: Aldine, 1974.
Damon, W. Early conceptions of positive justice as related to the development of logical operations. Child Development, 1975, 46, 301–312.
DuBois, C. The peoples of Alor. New York: Harper & Row, 1961.
Freud, S. Totem and taboo. New York: Norton, 1950.
Fürer-Haimendorf, C. von Morals and merit: A study of values and social controls in South Asian societies. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1967.
Goffman, E. Relations in public. New York: Basic Books, 1971.
Goffman, E. On cooling the mark. Psychiatry, 1952, 15, 451–463.
Hart, H. L. A. The concept of law. New York: Oxford University Press, 1961.
Heider, F. The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley, 1958.
Hogan, R., & Dickstein, E. Moral judgments and perceptions of injustice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1972, 23, 409–413.
Hogan, R., & Emier, N. P. The biases in contemporary social psychology. Social Research, 1978, 45, 478–534.
Hogan, R., Johnson, J., & Emler, N. P. A socioanalytic theory of moral development. In W. Damon (Ed.), Moral development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1978.
Hollander, E. P. Conformity, status and ideosyncrasy credit. Psychological Review, 1958, 65, 117–127.
Homans, G. C. Commentary. In L. Berkowitz & E. Walster (Eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology, Vol. 9. New York: Academic Press, 1976.
Hook, J. G., & Cook, T. D. Equity theory and the cognitive ability of children. Psychological Bulletin, 1979, 86, 429–445.
Kelsen, H. J. Society and nature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1943.
Kelsen, H. J. What is justice? Berkeley: University of California Press, 1957.
Kohlberg, L. Stage and sequence: The cognitive developmental approach to socialization. In D. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory and research. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969.
Kohlberg, L. From is to ought: How to commit the naturalistic fallacy and get away with it in the study of moral development. In T. Mischel (Ed.), Cognitive development and epistemology. New York: Academic Press, 1971.
Kohlberg, L. Moral stages and moralization: The cognitive developmental approach. In T. Lickona (Ed.), Moral development and behavior: Theory, research and social issues. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976.
Lerner, M. J. The justice motive in social behavior: Introduction. Journal of Social Issues, 1975, 31(3), 1–19.
Lerner, M. J. The justice motive: Some hypotheses as to its origins and forms. Journal of Personality, 1977, 45, 1–52.
Lerner, M. J., Miller, D. T., & Holmes, J. G. Deserving and the emergence of forms of justice. In L. Berkowitz & E. Walster (eds.), Advances in experimental social psychology, Vol. 9. New York: Academic Press, 1976.
Lévi-Strauss, C. The elementary structure of kinship. Boston: Beacon Press, 1968.
Loughran, R. A pattern of development in moral judgements made by adolescents derived from Piagefs schema of its development in childhood. In T. Lickona (Ed.), Moral development and behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1976.
Matson, W. What Rawls calls justice. The Occasional Review, 1978, 8/9(Autumn), 45–55.
Parsons, T. The social system. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1951.
Piaget, J. The moral judgment of the child. New York: Free Press, 1965. (Originally published 1932.).
Rawls, J. A theory of justice. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971.
Tajfel, H., Billig, M., Bundy, R. P., & Flament, C. Social categorization and intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 1971, 1, 149–177.
Turner, J. C. Social comparison and social identity: Some prospects for intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 1975, 5, 5–34.
Ugurel-Semin, R. Moral behavior and moral judgment of children. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1952, 47, 463–474.
Vidmar, N., & Miller, D. T. Social psychological processes underlying attitudes toward legal punishment. Law & Society Review, 1980, 14, 565–602.
Walster, E., Berscheid, E., & Walster, G. W. New directions in equity research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1973, 25, 151–176.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1981 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hogan, R., Emler, N.P. (1981). Retributive Justice. In: Lerner, M.J., Lerner, S.C. (eds) The Justice Motive in Social Behavior. Critical Issues in Social Justice. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0429-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0429-4_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0431-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0429-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive