Overview, Framing, and Definitions
Bernadet DeJonge and Cailyn F. Green
- The reader will identify the framing used in this text.
- The reader will define key terms used throughout this text.
Writing about social justice is a daunting task. Social justice cannot, by definition, be neutral. As writers on this project, we did not aim for neutrality. Our goal in writing this text is to advocate to change the systems of oppression that divide us. We believe social justice is important and salient in today’s world and acknowledge the systems of power that permeate the content of this book. We also acknowledge that not every experience of injustice is the same and recognize that intersectionality is important in discussing social justice issues. And yet, we also had to organize this text to make it useful in the classroom setting and beyond. Thus, we have woven intersectionality in where we can while acknowledging the inherent difficulties in choosing to address populations individually. In addition, the authors acknowledge that this text is written by mostly White-identifying women who, while impassioned by the topic, also have not experienced all the marginalization discussed.
This text is written from the perspective that many marginalized identities are social constructs. As people, we sort ourselves into categories of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and ability. However, these categories are constructed and maintained by the status quo and thus change and shift over time. Race is not a biological construct but a social one. Our chapters address race, gender, and ability from this perspective.
This text is also framed through a lens of social constructivism, which means that we learn from each other. In this vein, we have intentionally branched out from peer-reviewed sources to add real-world stories to supplement our research and work. This includes personal stories, voices found online, interviews, and the generation of real-world examples for the reader to learn from.
Overview of Chapters
This text is intentionally organized to be used in full in a human services context, or in pieces for any other subject. It is meant to be a broad overview with cues to encourage student exploration and depth. Our intent is to provide students and instructors the opportunity to use content that is useful for teaching social justice in any context.
This overview reviews the general themes and topics of the text, the framing of the text, and the definitions used throughout. Chapter 1 provides historical foundations for social justice concepts and explores how people have historically viewed and regulated morality and justice. Chapter 2 examines theories of social justice from ancient to modern times. Chapter 3 starts to frame social justice issues in the language of human rights and equitable distribution of resources. Chapter 4 examines and defines power, privilege, bias, and oppression. Chapter 5 examines the impact of law and policy on social justice issues.
Chapters 6 and 7 starts the discussion of racism, and examines the history and experience of specific populations. Chapter 8 examines women in the United States. Chapter 9 reviews sexuality and gender issues in the United States. Chapter 10 discusses the experience of poverty in the United States. Chapter 11 examines religion. Chapter 12 discusses disability. Chapter 13 outlines political action and activism and gives readers some actionable steps they can take to impact social justice in various ways.
Chapter 14 starts the section of the text that is human services-specific. Chapter 14 revisits power, privilege, and bias in the human services context. Chapter 15 discusses equitable distribution and human rights in human services, as well as human services systems and entry points.
Definitions
Below, we provide the definitions of some of the overarching constructs used in this text.
Bias
A cognitive shortcut that leads a person to have a tendency, inclination, or prejudice toward another. Some biases are positive, and some are negative (Psychology Today, n.d.). Biases can be conscious or unconscious.
Cultural appreciation
Often used in contrast to cultural appropriation, cultural appreciation is the respectful sharing of cultural elements. Cultural appreciation includes asking for permission, giving credit, learning from, and elevating marginalized voices and experiences (Cuncic, 2022).
Cultural appropriation
Using objects or elements of a culture of which a person is not a part without permission. Cultural appropriation can be complex and multilayered. However, it often does not respect or give credit to the original culture. Cultural appropriation almost always occurs when a dominant culture takes from a nondominant culture. Examples include clothing, fashion, dance, music, wellness practices, and hairstyles (Cuncic, 2022).
Discrimination
The behavioral manifestation of prejudice. Treating individuals differently because of race, ethnicity, or other group affiliation. Discrimination is often hostile, negative, and injurious (American Psychological Association, n.d.).
Equity
Being just or fair to people. Giving people what they need to be successful. Often used in contrast to equality. Things can be equal but not equitable (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2021).
Equality
Providing everyone the same thing. Equality does not guarantee equity, as people’s needs often differ (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2021).
Human rights
The United Nations (n.d.) defines “human rights” as follows:
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination. (para 1)
Implicit bias
The unconscious negative evaluation of someone else based on race, gender, or other socially constructed group (FitzGerald & Hurst, 2017).
Individual racism
When someone acts negatively towards another based on their race or ethnic background (Meadows-Fernandez, 2019).
Internalized racism
Racist beliefs or stereotypes an individual holds about their own racial group (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2021).
Marginalization
Treating a person or a group as if they are less than others, unimportant, or powerless by isolating them or taking away their power (Hall & Carlson, 2016). Putting someone on the “margins” of society due to their race, gender, ethnicity, or other social construct (Pratt & Fowler, 2022).
Oppression
The combination of prejudice and institutional power that results in systemic discrimination against some groups (Dover-Taylor et al., 2017). When one group of people pushes down and limits another group of people from accessing resources or development (Marti & Fernández, 2013). Unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power.
Personal bias
A learned inclination for or against an object, group, individual, or person (Dover-Taylor et al., 2017).
Power
Possession or control, authority, or influence over others (Dover-Taylor et al., 2017).
Prejudice
An assumption about another individual based on their membership in a particular group. Groups may include race, gender, ethnicity, and LGBTGEQIAP+ status. Racism, sexism, disability, ageism, classism, and homophobia are all examples of prejudice (Gould, 2022).
Privilege
A benefit, advantage, or favor members of the dominant group have over those in non-dominant groups. Privilege can happen at individual, cultural, and institutional levels and usually occurs at the expense of the nondominant group (Dover-Taylor et al., 2017).
Race
A socially constructed way of identifying other people based on physical characteristics, generally skin color. There is no biological distinction between racial categories, and it is not scientifically based (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2021).
Racism
A form of prejudice based on race. Racism assumes that people have certain characteristics based on their race. Racism often assumes that there are dominant and inferior races (American Psychological Association, n.d.).
Social justice
The fair and equitable distribution of resources amongst people. Sometimes referred to as distributive justice. Principles of social justice include access, equity, diversity, participation, inclusion, and human rights (Mollenkamp, 2022).
Stereotyping
A generalized, fixed belief about someone based on their appearance. Stereotypes can be positive or negative (McLeod, 2023).
Systemic racism
When racism exists in systems that hold power. Examples include unequal treatment in health care, education, employment, media, housing, and legislation. Systemic racism limits oppressed groups from accessing resources that other groups are freely accessing (Meadows-Fernandez, 2019).
Unconscious bias
Bias that people have which they are unaware of. An example of an unconscious bias would be when someone decides based on their “gut” feeling (Suveren, 2022).
Author Disclosure Statements
Cailyn Green, Ph.D., CASAC-M, is female-identifying and of Irish and Italian descent. She has been teaching in higher education for 10 years. She has worked in the field of substance use with the recently incarcerated and those with mental health issues for 13 years. Through this community-involved work, she has gained insight into the social justice imbalances that exist between populations. She understands that her perspectives are unique to her and her personal and professional experiences and that her work impacts her view of many social justice topics.
Bernadet (Bernie) DeJonge, Ph.D., CRC is an assistant professor at SUNY Empire State University. She identifies with she/her pronouns and is mixed race. She has many years of experience working in the Medicaid field and specializes in working with individuals with disabilities. Issues of social justice have permeated that fieldwork and continue to impact the experience of teaching.
References
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Racism, bias, and discrimination. https://www.apa.org/topics/racism-bias-discrimination
The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2021, April 14). Equity, inclusion and other racial justice definitions. https://www.aecf.org/blog/racial-justice-definitions
Cuncic, A. (2024, May 24). The differences between appreciating and appropriating culture. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-cultural-appropriation-5070458
Dover-Taylor, K., Gray, J., & Lonial, A. (2017, December 5). Understanding power, identity, and oppression. https://www.ala.org/sites/default/files/pla/content/onlinelearning/webinars/Understanding-Power-Identity-and-Oppression-Webinar-Handout.pdf
FitzGerald, C., & Hurst, S. (2017). Implicit bias in healthcare professionals: A systematic review. BMC Medical Ethics, 18(19). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-017-0179-8
Gould, W. R. (2022, November 8). What is the psychology behind prejudice? Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-prejudice-5092657
Hall, J. M., & Carlson, K. (2016). Marginalization: A revisitation with integration of scholarship on globalization, intersectionality, privilege, microaggressions, and implicit biases. Advanced Nursing Science, 39(3), 200-215. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANS.0000000000000123
Marti, I., & Fernández, P. (2013). The institutional work of oppression and resistance: Learning from the Holocaust. Organization Studies, 34(8), 1195-1223. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840613492078
McLeod, S. (2023, November 10). Stereotypes in psychology: Definitions and examples. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/katz-braly.html
Meadows-Fernandez, A. R. (2019). Investigating institutional racism. Enslow.
Mollencamp, D. T. (2024, April 2). Social justice meaning and main principles explained. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-justice.asp
Psychology Today. (n.d.). Bias. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/bias
Pratt, A., & Fowler, T. (2022, June 10). Deconstructing bias: Marginalization. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Suveren, Y. (2022). Unconscious bias: Definition and significance. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar, 14(3), 414–426. https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.1026607
United Nations. (n.d.). Human rights. https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/human-rights
Media Attributions
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About the authors
name: Bernadet DeJonge
Bernadet (Bernie) DeJonge, PhD, CRC, LMHC, has her BA in psychology (1999) and MA in Rehabilitation Counseling (2007) from Western Washington University. Her PhD is from Oregon State University in Counseling (2022). She is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Human Services at Empire State University. Bernie’s areas of interest include DEIB, the integration of counseling into medical services, online pedagogy, and disability.
name: Cailyn F. Green
Cailyn F. Green is a Certified Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor- Masters Level (CASAC-M) through New York State. She is the Addiction Studies Professor at the State University of New York: Empire State University. She earned her BA from Western New England University in Springfield, MA and her MS in Forensic Mental Health from Sage Graduate School in Albany, NY. Her Ph.D is in Criminal Justice, specializing in Substance Use from Walden University in Minneapolis, MN. Dr. Green has over 10 years of experience teaching both in online and in-person college-level settings in substance use, human service, criminal justice and clinical counseling topics. She won the Scholars Across the University award in 2024 for her research in substance use topics and this social justice-focused textbook. She has 9 journal article publications to date and her other published textbooks include Evidence-Based Substance Use Treatment and the Group Counseling Workbook.
