NCJ Number
170855
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1998) Pages: 101-119
Date Published
1998
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the extent to which procedural justice in resolving specific family disputes is associated with ongoing levels of family conflict and cohesion as well as individual psychosocial adaptation in older adolescents.
Abstract
The term "procedural justice" refers to the extent to which conflict resolution and other decision-making procedures are judged to be fair by those who are subjected to them. In this study, 240 study participants (ages 18-22) were asked to recall an important family dispute that they experienced over the past year and to rate how their parents handled the situation along dimensions of procedural justice, control, and outcome satisfaction. The results show that overall judgments of procedural fairness and specific relational criteria for evaluating procedural justice (neutrality, trust, standing) were positively associated with family cohesion and psychological well-being and negatively related to family conflict, psychological distress, and deviant behavior. As expected, low standing or disrespectful treatment was the best predictor of deviant behavior. Although individual functioning was tied primarily to relational procedural justice concerns, family functioning was associated with both relational and instrumental factors. Overall, the study lends support to the growing body of research that challenges exclusively self-interested models of human conduct. 3 tables and 43 references