De opvattingen van Homans en Blau over sociale rechtvaardigheid

Samenvatting

G. Homans is one of the few sociologists who concerns himself with the question of a theoretical approach to social justice: when the investments of a member of a group are greater than those of someone else, but his reward is relatively less, it is possible to speak of social injustice. Each group has a consensus of what the relevant norms are. There is, however, never complete consensus; there is no fully just society. Homans' use of the term 'consensus' is not well chosen in that there is seldom total agreement about the norms of justice in a society--the norms are generally imposed by the ruling or monied classes. Frequently, the true value of an investment is not known; we often deal with a belief in social justice rather than social justice itself. Homans' theory is limited in its applicability. Peter Blau has developed a similar theory, using the term 'fairness' rather than 'social justice'. The concept of fairness is anchored in social norms, in contrast to social justice as delineated by Homans, which presupposes inherent norms. Blau speaks of how fairness is related to needs, but does not specify how needs are to be defined and exactly what the relationship between the two is. Our understanding of this area of sr is still incomplete; there remains important work to be done which may lead to a clearer concept of group norms. P. Tiersma