The Psychological Functions of Justice in Mass Media

Abstract

Is there a good end to the suffering of the maltreated child? Will the murderer get caught, and does he deserve capital punishment? Who has to pay for the loss of capital in the aftermath of a financial crisis? Who should have a voice in political decisions on nuclear energy supplements? These and many other questions point to an essential topic in human life: social justice. Results from content analyses have indicated that social justice is a frequenttopic in mass media communication (Britto & Dabney, 2010; Pollak & Kubrin, 2007; Surette, 2007). The primary aim of this chapter is to discuss how justice issues are reflected in the media and how the communication of justice issues in the mass media is related to the social behavior of media consumers. We will focus on three different (but interrelated) functions or effects of justice-related media content: First, media communication about justice issues can promote the mobilization of people in order to oppose existing injustice. Second, justice can be understood as a key to entertainment in media communication. Third, dealing with justice issues in media formats can provide important learning encounters for the development of justice-related norms, beliefs, and attitudes. Before we discuss these different functional roles of justice in the media in more detail, we outline some fundamentals of how justice is understood in social justice research.