Furby, Lita (1986) Psychology and justice: the study of justice in psychology: historical perspective. In R. L. Cohen, Ed. Justice : Views from the Social Sciences, p. 153-203. N.Y, N.Y.: Plenum Press.
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I am assuming that justice refers not only to fair treatment but also to respect for the needs and rights inherent in human nature -- an assumption that is shared by some... but not all... (p. 154)It would seem that the Vienna mission did not really care too much about fair treatment. That is fairness wasn't an issue that was an issue that came into play in their day to day decision making or management, for example. It just wasn't an issue they troubled their heads with or concerned themselves about. Like it was irrelevant to them or something. So fairness had nothing to do with them and nor should it have anything to do with anyone at the mission either. I guess that was a given for being part of being there or something. It wouldn't have been something I would have or probably could have known before I arrive there, however.
As to "respect for the needs and rights inherent in human nature," they would grant the very basic rights, of course, such as a place to live (preferably with a roommate, in my case), proper health care (including fabricated health conditions, such as "culture shock"). So I would never go so far as deny that they weren't concerned with these kinds of things. I might not appreciate their concern all the time, but nevertheless they did have concern for these things. But once you get past these sort of surface or mayve even pseudo concern levels, there is a question as to whether the mission and its leadership truly did have respect for my needs and rights inherent in my human nature. Because if they truly had that respect I don't think they would have treated me the way they did, now would they have? I don't see how you can say they respected me and at the same time treated me the way they did. You would have to put your blinders on and totally stick your head in the stand to everything they did to me that whole time I was there.
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A common criticism of equity theory is that people often use standards other than the contributions rule, especially equality and need. These three justice standards - equity, equality, and need - are found in much of the empiracle research on justice, although as many as 9 or even 17 different criteria for justice have been delineated (Reis, 1984).This discussion is interesting and since I did have so many problems in Vienna, it is certainly worth considering whether this might account for part of it. The thing here, though, is that the author is talking about a system-wide phenomena, rather than an individual person's experience. Certainly individuals would be affected, but I don't think that's really what she's getting at here.
A focus of this research has been to specify when these different standard are employed. For example, it appears that an equal division of resources is more likely to be considered just under conditions emphasizing interpersonal harmony and cooperation, whereas a standard of equity is more likely to be adopted when productivity or competition is salient... More generally, the choice of a justice standard seems to depend on (a) the level of intimacy among the individuals involved; (b) the degree of interdependence and cooperation required in obtaining the goods in question; and (c) individual and group difference factors such as social class and gender... (p. 155-156)
First of all, the mission didn't really dole out the usual sort of rewards in terms of monetary, like raises or bonuses and the like. So then, we're talking about group recognition, kudos and things like that. Maybe they'd be entrusted with certain extra sensitive work as a kind of promotion, if you will (in an organization where there was practically no room for advancement.)
My opinion is that the mission mostly aimed for equity, if anything, among people, so that there would be a good feeling about what they do. I don't think it ever pretended that anyone was the same, like in equality or as in getting exactly the same privileges, etc. For one thing, some of these things were really idiosynchratic and you just couldn't expect everything to be exactly the same.
However, the mission also just had complete power and there was a sense too in which you didn't even have the right to expect even any equity, equality or any of that. So anything you got along those lines might not necessarily have been a given. At least that's how I felt.
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How do people develop a concept of justice?Is this how the Vienna mission viewed me? Did they believe that I just got what I deserved at their hands?
Belief in a Just World
One answer to this question evolved from Lerner's (1980) empirical observations that (North American) adults display a need to believe that people get what they deserve in the world. He proposes that this "belief in a just world" is rooted in a universal childhood experience... If an individual fulfills certain preconditions, then certain outcomes should be obtained (i.e., are observed. These expectations also required belief in a stable and consistent environment in which everyone receives what they deserve. (p. 156)
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Well, I'm afraid this article is long enough to divide up in to miltible