NCJ Number
109917
Journal
Crime and Social Justice Issue: 29 Dated: (1987) Pages: 128-135
Date Published
1987
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The teaching and studying of justice involves interacting with others out of a sensitivity to their needs and a commitment to helping them meet those needs.
Abstract
Justice occurs when all life forms experience the meeting of their needs in a way that maximizes their distinctiveness and personal potential. Justice is violated when persons aim to dominate their environments and other people for the sole purpose of meeting only their own needs. The work of the teacher and student of justice can be compared to that of the farmer who creates an abundant crop by determining the unique conditions in which each plant will grow best and working to provide those conditions. Both the farmer's and the plant's needs are met, and this is justice. Living justly requires giving up an egocentric commitment to one's own needs while ignoring the needs of others. The teacher and student of justice must break down the barriers that create divisions in the world and broaden the concerns of justice to include all aspects of life. The beginning of justice in the classroom, for example, is the breaking down of the traditional walls of fixed academic roles that separate student and teacher.