Abstract
A psychologist interested in casual attributions asks, “What do people think are the causes of injustice?” not “What are the real causes of injustice?” A practical realist may reply, “What does it matter what people think, if it bears no relation to reality?” The thesis of this chapter is that what people think about the causes of injustice affects how they feel about any particular injustice and informs their actions. In this chapter we examine how social scientists can help to legitimate alternative views of injustice and social change strategies. We argue that by generating alternative views, social scientists exercise a significant social responsibility (Buss, 1979; Fine, 1983, 1983-84; Wexler, 1982). Taking our lead from the work of Philip Brickman and colleagues (1982), we see this as a two-phase process: helping people to locate the sources of social problems in economic and social structures and conceptualizing collective strategies for change.
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Kidder, L.H., Fine, M. (1986). Making Sense of Injustice. In: Seidman, E., Rappaport, J. (eds) Redefining Social Problems. Perspectives in Social Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2236-6_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2236-6_4
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