Justice in the Couple and the Family

Abstract

After a brief overview of the general causes and consequences of injustice, the various justice principles (allocation, procedural, retribution, restoration, outcome characteristics) that have been identified in studies of injustice in family relations are presented. The largest body of research focuses on injustice in heterosexual relationships, with a majority of studies on the distribution of housework, indicating a societal shift from a specialized toward a more egalitarian distribution of family responsibilities. We summarize reports of consequences of injustices in distributions and efforts to install justice in the couple. A short compilation of studies of injustice over the course and in the aftermath of separation and divorce follows. A review of some first studies of distributional justice in same-sex couples indicates more flexible and egalitarian distributions than in heterosexual relationships. The final section concerns justice among kin, that is, justice among siblings, and differential treatment of parents like sibling favoritism and shows one more time, that the consequences of injustice do not stop at the unfairly treated individual, but spill over on the relationships of the involved persons.