Abstract
The first phase of this study focused on the development of comprehensive, conceptually integrated measures of procedural and distributive justice in the context of family decision making. In the second phase, these measures were used to examine older adolescents' justice appraisals of specific family disputes and the relation of these justice appraisals to family systems functioning along dimensions of conflict and cohesion. A Family Justice Inventory was constructed, which included two global indices (one for procedural justice and one for outcome fairness) and 13 subscales: 9 measuring specific facets of the procedural justice construct and 4 measuring specific dimensions of the distributive justice construct. Factor analysis revealed that the 13 Family Justice Inventory subscales could be reduced to 5 interpretable procedural justice factors (personal respect, status recognition, process control, correction, and trust) and 4 interpretable distributive justice factors (decision control, need, equality, and equity). Using procedural justice factor scores in regression analyses, personal respect, status recognition, correction, and trust each accounted for unique variance in family conflict and family cohesion. Using distributive justice factor scores in regression analyses, both decision control and need accounted for unique variance in family conflict and family cohesion. Using both procedural and distributive justice factor scores in regression analyses, personal respect, status recognition, and trust each accounted for unique variance in both family conflict and family cohesion. Additionally, equity also accounted for unique variance in family conflict but not family cohesion and the direction of the relationship was positive, that is, more equity in resolving specific family disputes was associated higher levels of general family conflict.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
American Psychological Association (1992). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Am. Psychol. 47: 1597-1611.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Daniels, D., and Moos, R. H. (1990). Assessing life stressors and social resources among adolescents: Applications to depressed youth. J. Adolesc. Res. 5(3): 268-289.
Deutsch, M. (1975). Equity, equality, and need: What determines which value will be used as the basis of distributive justice? J. Soc. Issues 31: 137-149.
Deutsch, M. (1985). Distributive Justice: A Social-Psychological Perspective, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.
Elliott, S. S., and Feldman, G. R. (1990). At the Threshold: The Developing Adolescent, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Fondacaro, M. R. (1995). Toward a synthesis of law and social science: Due process and procedural justice in the context of national heath care reform. Denver Law Rev. 72(2): 303-358.
Fondacaro, M. R. (2000). Toward an ecological jurisprudence rooted in concepts of justice and empirical research. UMKC Law Behavior. 69: 179-196.
Fondacaro, M. R., and Heller, K. (1990). Attributional style in aggressive adolescent boys. J. Abnorm. Child Psychol. 18(1): 75-89.
Fondacaro, M. R., and Jackson, S. (1999). The legal and psychosocial context of family violence: Toward a social ecological analysis. Law & Policy 21: 91-100.
Fondacaro, M. R., and Jackson, S. Procedural and distributive justice in resolving family conflict: Toward a social ecological framework. Unpublished manuscript.
Fondacaro, M. R., and Weinberg, D. (2002). Concepts of social justice in community psychology: Toward a social ecological epistemology. Am. J. Community Psychol. 30: 473-492.
Fondacaro, M. R., Dunkle, M., and Pathak, M. (1998). Procedural justice in resolving family disputes: A psychosocial analysis of individual and family functioning in late adolescence. J. Youth Adolesc. 27: 101-119.
Garbarino, J. (1995). Raising Children in a Socially Toxic Environment, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Holahan, C. J., and Moos, R. H. (1982). Social support and adjustment: Predictive benefits of social climate indices. Am. J. Community Psychol. 10: 403-415.
Holahan, C. J., and Moos, R. H. (1983). The quality of social support: Measures of family and work relationships. Br. J. Clin. Psychol. 22: 157-162.
Holahan, C. J., Valentiner, D. P., and Moos, R. H. (1994). Parental support and psychological adjustment during the transition to young adulthood in a college sample. J. Fam. Psychol. 8(2): 215-223.
Holmbeck, G. N. (1996). A model of family relational transformations during the transition to adolescence: Parent-adolescent conflict and adaptation. In: Graber, J. A., Brooks-Gunn, J., and Petersen, A. C. (eds.), Transitions Through Adolescence: Interpersonal Domains and Context, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 167-199.
Holmes, J. G., and Levinger, G. (1994). Paradoxical effects of closeness in relationships on perceptions of justice: An interdependence-theory perspective. In: Lerner, M. J., and Mikula, G. (eds.), Entitlement and the Affectional Bond: Justice in Close Relationships, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 149-173.
Jackson, S. L., and Fondacaro, M.R. (1999). Procedural justice in resolving family conflict: Implications for youth violence prevention. Law & Policy 21: 101-127.
Leventhal, G. S. (1980). What should be done with equity theory: New approaches to the study of fairness in social relationships. In: Gergen, K., Greenberg, M., and Willis, R. (eds.), Social Exchange, Plenum Press, New York.
Lewin, K. (1935). Principles of Topological Psychology, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Lind, E. A., and Tyler, T. R. (1988). The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice, Plenum Press, New York.
Mikula, G. (1993). On the experience of injustice. Eur. Rev. Soc. Psychol. 4: 223-244.
Mikula, G. (1998). Division of household labor and perceived justice: A growing field of research. Soc. Just. Res. 11: 215-241.
Mikula, G., and Lerner, M. J. (1994). Justice in close relationships: An introduction. In: Lerner, M. J., and Mikula, G. (eds.), Entitlement and the Affectional Bond: Justice in Close Relationships, Plenum Press, New York, 1-9.
Montada, L. (1992). Attribution of responsibility for losses and perceived injustice. In: Montada, L., Filipp, S. H., and Lerner, M. J. (eds.), Life Crises and Experiences of Loss in Adulthood, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 133-161.
Moos, R. H. (1973). Conceptualizations of human environments. Am. Psychol. 28(8): 652-665.
Moos, R. H., and Moos, B. S. (1986). Family Environment Scale Manual (2nd Ed.), Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA.
Petersen, C. (1975). Distributive justice within and outside the family. J. Psychol. 90: 123-127.
Reichle, B. (1996). From is to ought and the kitchen sink: On the justice of distributions in close relationships. In: Montada, L., and Lerner, M. J. (eds.), Current Societal Concerns About Justice, Plenum Press, New York, 103-135.
Reis, H. T. (1984). The multidimensionality of justice. In: Folger, R. (ed.), The Sense of Injustice: Social Psychological Perspectives, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 25-61.
Sabbagh, C., Dar, Y., and Resh, N. (1994). The structure of social justice judgments: A facet approach. Soc. Psychol. Q. 57: 244-261.
Schwinger, T. (1980). Just allocations of goods: Decisions among three principles. In: Mikula, G. (ed.), Justice and Social Interaction, Huber, Bern, Switzerland, pp. 95-125.
Steil, J. M., and Makowski, D. G. (1989). Equity, equality, and need: A study of the patterns and outcomes associated with their use in intimate relationships. Soc. Just. Res. 3: 121-137.
Tedeschi, J. T., and Felson, R. B. (1994). Violence, Aggression, and Coercive Actions, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
Thibaut, J., and Walker, L. (1975). Procedural Justice, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.
Tornblom, K. Y. (1992). The social psychology of distributive justice. In: Scherer, K. (ed.), Justice: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 177-236.
Tyler, T. R. (1989). The psychology of procedural justice: A test of the group-value model. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 57(5): 830-838.
Tyler, T. R., Boeckmann, R., Smith, H., and Huo, Y. (1997). Social Justice in a Diverse Society, Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
Tyler, T. R., and Degoey, P. (1995). Community, family, and the social good: The psychological dynamics of procedural justice and social identification. In: Melton, G. B. (ed.), The Individual, the Family, and Social Good: Personal Fulfillment in Times of Change (Vol. 42), University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 115-191.
Tyler, T. R., and Lind, E. A. (1992). A relational model of authority in groups. In: Zanna, M. P. (ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 25), Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
Tyler, T. R., and Smith, H. (1999). Justice, social identity, and group processes. In: Tyler, T. R., Kramer, R. M., and John, O. P. (eds.), The Psychology of the Social Self, Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, 223-264.
Van den Bos, K., Vermunt, R., and Wilke, H. A. M. (1997). Procedural and distributive justice: What is fair depends more on what comes first than on what comes next. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 72: 95-104.
Van den Bos, K., Lind, E. A., and Wilke, H. A. M. (2001). The psychology of procedural and distributive justice viewed from the perspective of fairness heuristic theory. In: Cropanzano, R. (ed.), Justice in the Workplace: From Theory to Practice (Vol. 2), Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, 49-66.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fondacaro, M.R., Jackson, S.L. & Luescher, J. Toward the Assessment of Procedural and Distributive Justice in Resolving Family Disputes. Social Justice Research 15, 341–371 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021219124369
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021219124369