Justice Research Research Articles

The impact of message framing on perceptions of controversial CSR in hotels

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand how hospitality companies can best explain controversial corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to consumers who may not agree with the CSR activity. This research explores message framing through emotional and cognitive appeals to influence consumer perceptions of the Gideon Bible in USA hotel rooms. The study uses the theory of deontic justice to measure the impacts of messaging on consumer perceptions of the morality of the Gideon Bible as suicide prevention in hotels and its relation to controversial CSR initiatives.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses an experimental study design via a self-administered survey to analyze participants’ perceptions of the placement of the Gideon Bible in hotel rooms and participants’ attitudes toward CSR initiatives based on deontic justice and religion using different message framing conditions.FindingsResults show that religion was a major determinant of attitude towards the Gideon Bible, but the sentiment analysis also revealed that negative perceptions can be mitigated through message framing via emotional and cognitive appeals. Additionally, the cognitive appeal did impact CSR perceptions, as did identifying as Christian. Moral outrage emerged as a significant moderator for the relationships between message framing, attitudes toward the Gideon Bible and CSR.Originality/valueThis study provides an extension of deontic justice research to examine justice traits in accepting controversial CSR.

Abstract 3456: The role of particulate matter exposure in racial differences in colorectal cancer mortality in metropolitan Detroit

Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most diagnosed cancer in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Non-Hispanic Black (NHB) individuals have the highest rates of CRC incidence and mortality in the United States. These disparities are highly influenced by social determinants of health (SDOH). Neighborhood quality, a well-established SDOH, has been shown to influence cancer outcomes, oftentimes more heavily in minorities. Additionally, neighborhood quality is known to influence an individual’s risk of exposure to harmful environmental contaminants including ambient air pollution as a result of systemic racism such as segregation and historic redlining, leading to environmental injustices. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure has been shown to increase the risk of CRC mortality, however, its effects by race have not yet been examined. We sought to understand whether higher rates of exposure to PM2.5 played a role in racial differences in CRC survival in metropolitan Detroit. Patient data including census tract at diagnosis, demographics, and clinical features were obtained from the metropolitan Detroit cancer surveillance system registry. Ambient PM2.5 concentration data at the census tract were obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Remote Sensing Information Gateway (RSIG) and converted to annual averages to use in an interval-censored Cox proportional hazards regression model. We found that PM2.5 exposure partly attenuated the effect of race on overall mortality in all patients (NHB vs NHW: Hazard Ratio (HR) = 1.24, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.20 - 1.27, p < 0.0001, NHB vs NHW after accounting for PM2.5: HR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.16 - 1.23 p < 0.0001) and the effect was stronger among patients under 50 than over 50, though still significant in both models. Additionally, the effect of PM2.5 on mortality was much stronger among NHB patients than NHW patients (NHB HR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.17 - 1.45, p < 0.0001; NHW HR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.02 - 1.11 p = 0.008) and especially strong among NHB patients under 50 (HR = 2.51, 95% CI = 2.38 - 3.38, p < 0.0001) compared to any other group. We conclude that ambient air pollution, particularly PM2.5, disproportionately affects mortality risk in NHB CRC patients. These results highlight the importance of environmental justice research in biomedical research, and the need for a better understanding of environmental impact on tumor biology to prevent tumor progression and mortality among all patients. Citation Format: Natalie Gail Snider, Theresa Hastert, Gregory Dyson, Carina Gronlund, Elena M. Stoffel, Ed Peters, Laura Rozek, Ann Schwartz, Kristen Purrington. The role of particulate matter exposure in racial differences in colorectal cancer mortality in metropolitan Detroit [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 3456.

Curriculum, democracy and pedagogies for justice: a collective futures dialogue

This collaborative paper by members of the Pedagogies for Social Justice Research Group responds to the question of how curriculum and pedagogy can be with and for democracy. Our introduction takes Alice Rigney’s and Dewey’s insights on education and democracy as our point of departure for learning together. As a collective, we have gathered together multiple ways of perceiving and enacting a curriculum for democracy in a context of de-democratisation. We approach tensions, intersections, limits and possibilities of curriculum and democracy from the frames of ‘woven’ curriculum and critical Indigenous pedagogies; racially, religiously and culturally responsive pedagogies; dialogic and relational approaches; agentic, embodied, activist and rights-based pedagogies; and everyday praxis.Kalkadoon scholar Mikayla King’s opening paper on the woven curriculum provides both a point of departure and a grounding site for weaving together our collaborative insights into curriculum, democracy and pedagogies for justice. Garrett and Windle draw attention to how affective and embodied pedagogies can challenge mind/body binaries and activate rights-based modes of being and learning. Memon observes how religion shapes the lifeworlds of learners and proposes a move towards learning from religion. Wrench, Carter, Paige and O’Keeffe advocate for the embedding of eco-justice principles, sociologically informed curriculum, and culturally responsive and story-sharing pedagogies. Lovell and Schulz claim racial literacy as an essential component of a pluralistic democracy that honours First Nations’ sovereignty. Soong suggests that ‘everyday pedagogy’ might enable educators to relate with pre-service teachers as critical and empathetic humanists beyond the role of neoliberalised technicians. Colton and McDonald highlight possibilities within the curriculum for learners to act with the pluralities of the world. McDonald and Schulz argue that gender equity is a necessary foundation for a peaceful, democratic world. We conclude with Hattam’s reiteration of how schooling as a key site for social formation re-produces the nation. He urges us to defy the monologue of authoritarian governing and ‘live together through dialogue’.

Risk and protective factors for early dropout from telephone monitoring for individuals with drug convictions in community mental health centers in Japan

IntroductionIndividuals involved with the criminal justice system face challenges in receiving and maintaining substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and support. Although telephone monitoring (TM) could reduce these barriers, data on TM for community-dwelling individuals involved with the criminal justice system and research on individuals who drop out of TM are scarce. We examined the factors associated with dropping out early from the Voice Bridges Project, which provides TM for individuals on probation for drug-related convictions through community mental health centers in Japan. MethodsParticipants (n = 546) were individuals aged ≥20 years with methamphetamine-related convictions who were on probation. Univariate analyses examine the associations between one-year follow-up status and baseline variables, and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses identify the risk and protective factors associated with dropping out. Stratified analyses report results based on sex and halfway-house residency. ResultsThe one-year dropout rate was 43.6 % (n = 238). Multivariate analysis identified two risk factors for dropping out—halfway-house residency and suicide attempts in the past year, and two protective factors—higher education and the current use of SUD services. Sex-stratified analyses showed that halfway-house residency was a risk factor for both men and women. Attempted suicide was a risk factor for women. Conversely, higher education and current use of SUD services were protective factors for men. ConclusionsOur results identify unique risk factors for women, such as a recent history of suicide attempts, and distinctive protective factors for men, including higher education and current use of SUD services, emphasizing the importance of sex-specific approaches. Furthermore, the study reveals that irrespective of sex, vulnerable individuals, such as halfway-house residents, are at a higher risk of dropping out from TM.

Moral submissiveness: social origin as a vulnerability for well-being on a warming planet.

In recent years, the emotional experience of climate change has been studied extensively from fields like psychology, theology, sociology, and philosophy. It is crucial to analyze these results for possible vulnerability with regard to well-being. While climate justice research raises awareness of the current (social) situation of the participants in relation to the experience of climate change, the research on climate emotions seems to overlook the participant's former social situation - their family of origin. Previous studies on injustice have shown however that it is precisely the way people were educated on emotion work that has a significant impact on their experiences and sense of control in the situation. Given the importance of this sense of control for mental well-being, I argue consequently that social origin is a vulnerability for well-being in the (emotional) experience of climate change, perpetuating climate injustice, based on this combination of studies from different epochs. Therefore, in the interest to protect well-being on a warming planet, it is crucial to raise awareness of the impact of social origin.

What Can Cognitive Media Studies Bring to Social Justice?

Abstract This special issue is dedicated to research on cognition, stigma, and inclusion in film and media studies. We aim to highlight existing research in cognitive media theory and social justice, and also to bring in diverse perspectives from adjacent fields to foster interdisciplinary research into the future. In bringing these voices together, we hope to demonstrate the diverse nature of current research in cognitive film and media theory, and to disentangle cognitive traditions from their place in a historic binary opposition of cognitive and cultural approaches in screen studies.

Validating spatio-temporal environmental machine learning models: Simpson’s paradox and data splits

Machine learning has revolutionized environmental sciences by estimating scarce environmental data, such as air quality, land cover type, wildlife population counts, and disease risk. However, current methods for validating these models often ignore the spatial or temporal structure commonly found in environmental data, leading to inaccurate evaluations of model quality. This paper outlines the problems that can arise from such validation methods and describes how to avoid erroneous assumptions about training data structure. In an example on air quality estimation, we show that a poor model with an r 2 of 0.09 can falsely appear to achieve an r 2 value of 0.73 by failing to account for Simpson’s paradox. This same model’s r 2 can further inflate to 0.82 when improperly splitting data. To ensure high-quality synthetic data for research in environmental science, justice, and health, researchers must use validation procedures that reflect the structure of their training data.

Cognition, Stigma, and Inclusivity Roundtable

For this Roundtable, we asked several leading scholars working on issues of social justice and cognition in film and media studies for a brief response to the prompt: “Explain one current theory, approach, or research finding that you think is particularly important in addressing stigma and inclusivity in screen media.” Participants drew from their own current work and insights, and they pointed to new strands of inquiry that they found exciting. Their responses represent a range of interests across diverse specialisms, and comprise an interdisciplinary showcase for the state of current research in social justice, cognition, and media, including ideas on how the fields could grow from here.

Can Community Music Contribute to More Equitable Societies? A Critical Interpretive Synthesis

This article presents outcomes from a critical interpretive synthesis inquiry exploring whether community music can contribute to more equitable societies. Drawing on 74 cross-disciplinary articles, we identify equity-related outcomes across three key categories: outcomes to improve the immediate wellbeing and life trajectories for individuals experiencing disadvantage; outcomes relating to the development of skills, knowledge and understandings empowering individual participants to enact positive social change within their communities; and outcomes with the potential to affect the root causes of social inequity. This review provides a solid foundation for further conceptual and theoretical development within and beyond the fields of social justice research and community music. Our findings will also be helpful for translating the creative and cultural benefits that community music practice could bring to addressing social justice issues in a wide range of complex contexts.

Quantitative criticalism for social justice and equity-oriented communication research

Abstract An increasing number of communication researchers have noted the potential of quantitative criticalism (QuantCrit) or the use of quantitative approaches to pursue social justice and equity agenda. Nonetheless, how to achieve the goals and ideals of QuantCrit in communication studies still largely remains uncharted terrain. This article offers five concrete suggestions for how researchers can bring critical consciousness to quantitative communication research: (a) broadening and diversifying the scope of communication research, (b) (re)framing research questions with a social justice orientation, (c) critiquing dominant narratives and centering the counternarratives, (d) incorporating intersectionality to address marginalization, and (e) employing statistical methods that illuminate interdependence, systems, and power dynamics. This article seeks to enrich the discussion on ways to embrace QuantCrit in communication research to revitalize perspectives and means for identifying and addressing inequalities, and eventually to advance transformative scholarship.

Criminology and Criminal Justice Researchers’ Experiences and Challenges with Institutional Review Boards

Criminology and Criminal Justice Researchers’ Experiences and Challenges with Institutional Review Boards

Justice theory as a framework for policy-making consultation

In this paper, we respond to the call by Brockner and Bobocel for leveraging justice research to address critical social issues. Pulling from research within the areas of policy studies and liberal philosophy, we make three major arguments: a) Critical social issues are “wicked problems,” which combine high decision stakes, high diversity of actors, and high uncertainty, and therefore require the simultaneous and coordinated expertise of multiple disciplines for effective intervention; b) to tackle more far-reaching issues such as these requires a broadening of what is considered “just;” and c) those working within the policy realm are aware of and actively applying many of the justice principles outlined by Brockner and Bobocel. We conclude by converting Brockner and Bobocel's evidence-based insights (along with our extensions) into a consultative framework with which policy makers can audit their progress, decisions, and actions. We argue that it is through this sort of application of justice principles that uncertainty can be managed, durable agreements can be reached, and positive social change can be achieved.

Youth recidivism: youth self-report matters.

"Recidivism" is used ubiquitously in juvenile justice research and typically describes repeat legal contact; however, researchers, policymakers, and clinicians operationalize it in various ways. Despite assuming each measure is a proxy for continued delinquent behavior leading to further legal contact, few have examined the association between youth delinquent behavior and self-reported and official records of legal contact. Furthermore, systemic bias against ethnoracial and gender minoritized youth often results in more harsh treatment by the legal system, which could influence recidivism measurement. Latent variable modeling of legal contact is understudied; thus, it is important to examine the feasibility of measuring this construct as a latent variable, including measurement invariance by gender. Among 401 youth ages 12-18 years at first ever court contact, we examined three metrics of legal contact over a 2-year follow-up period: youth-report of arrest, caregiver-report of their adolescent's arrest, and official records of the number of new court charges. We examined between-group differences on each metric based on gender and ethnoracial identity. We then measured: (1) the association between youths' self-reported delinquency and each metric, (2) gender-specific associations between self-reported delinquency and each metric, and (3) gender-based measurement invariance for a latent recidivism variable using confirmatory factor analysis. Youth were consistent reporters of their own delinquent behavior and prospective legal contact measured by arrests. There were no between-group differences based on gender or ethnoracial identity for any legal contact measures. Delinquency and all legal contact variables were positively intercorrelated for the overall sample and the male subsample. For females, delinquency was not associated with caregiver-reported youth arrest or number of new charges. The latent legal contact variable had unique factor structures for male and female subsamples, suggesting no measurement invariance. Youth-reported delinquency at first ever legal contact was most strongly associated with youth-reported arrest during a 2-year follow-up period, followed by caregiver-reported arrest, and the number of new charges. Unique latent variable factor structures for male and female subsamples suggests the inter-relation between legal contact variables is gender-specific. Stakeholders should consider prioritizing youth-reported delinquency since it is most strongly related to prospective youth-reported arrest.

Leveraging Implementation Science to Advance Environmental Justice Research and Achieve Health Equity through Neighborhood and Policy Interventions.

Environmental justice research is increasingly focused on community-engaged, participatory investigations that test interventions to improve health. Such research is primed for the use of implementation science-informed approaches to optimize the uptake and use of interventions proven to be effective. This review identifies synergies between implementation science and environmental justice with the goal of advancing both disciplines. Specifically, the article synthesizes the literature on neighborhood-, community-, and policy-level interventions in environmental health that address underlying structural determinants (e.g., structural racism) and social determinants of health. Opportunities to facilitate and scale the equitable implementation of evidence-based environmental health interventions are highlighted, using urban greening as an illustrative example. An environmental justice-focused version of the implementation science subway is provided, which highlights these principles: Remember and Reflect, Restore and Reclaim, and Reinvest. The review concludes with existing gaps and future directions to advance the science of implementation to promote environmental justice.

Decolonising Research for Justice: Ethical Imperatives and Practical Applications

This article examines coloniality of research and discusses the theoretical foundations, ethical imperatives, and practical ways for conducting decolonial research for justice. It emphasises the need to shift away from research paradigms and approaches that perpetuate coloniality to a commitment to embracing the complexities and challenges of conducting decolonial research. The article contributes to the broader discourse on decolonising knowledge production. Drawing on the works of scholars addressing disobedient and defiant research, the article advocates for transformative decolonial praxis, suggesting the need to reimagine research and displace the hegemony and dominance of Western knowledge systems, which marginalise and delegitimise other epistemological traditions. Beyond critiquing coloniality embedded within research, the article proposes practical ways to inform anti-colonial, anti-racist and anti-oppressive research practice. It argues that decolonial research requires defiance and resistance against non-relational, hierarchical, and extractive practices, involving critical examination of assumptions and values, centring non-Western voices and perspectives, dismantling coloniality and working towards social and epistemic justice in solidarity with Indigenous and other historically marginalised and oppressed groups. It calls researchers to integrate decolonial principles and frameworks into their research practices.

Criminal justice, representation and the lived experience scholar

This article examines the integration of lived experience narratives into criminal justice, highlighting a significant shift towards a more inclusive and experiential approach within the field. We explore the contributions of scholars with lived experiences of the criminal legal system (CLS) to the academic and advocacy landscape, emphasising the emergence of convict criminology and lived experience criminology. These subdisciplines centre on the insights of those directly impacted by the CLS, offering a critical view from within and a broader perspective on personal interactions with the system. We argue that incorporating lived experiences can enrich criminal justice research and practice, leading to more effective, empathetic policies and interventions. However, we also identify a gap in the literature concerning the representational dynamics within this emergent paradigm, specifically the sociodemographic constitution of lived experience contributors. Utilising Hanna Pitkin's seminal theories on political representation, we critically evaluate the extent to which lived experience narratives embody both symbolic and substantive representation. We suggest that while individuals with lived experiences may not fully encapsulate the demographic diversity of those impacted by the CLS, their narratives provide crucial insights that transcend mere demographic congruence. We conclude that more needs to be done to encourage and value diverse voices within this space, highlighting the need for criminal justice to address power dynamics, bridge the gap between academic and experiential knowledge, and promote public engagement and discourse. This engagement with lived experiences is posited as essential for driving meaningful policy and systemic reform, ultimately contributing to a more equitable and just CLS.

Revealing Gender Disparities in Urban Green Space Utilization Using Mobile Phone Data

Urban green spaces (UGSs), such as parks and gardens, are vital for the health and well-being of city residents. However, unequal access to and utilization of UGS can impede social cohesion and sustainable development of cities. While many studies have investigated inequalities in accessibility to UGSs across various demographic groups, gender inequality in actual utilization of UGSs has received little attention largely due to the lack of data to reliably track UGS utilization by urban residents. Here, we leveraged the capacity of mobile phone data to track the movement of a large population and assessed the gender disparities in the utilization of UGSs among more than 77,000 residents residing in 2 populous communities in Beijing. We found that men spent 11% more time in UGSs and visited them 6% more frequently than women. This gender disparity varied across different socioeconomic groups. The middle-aged group exhibited an up to 46.4% greater disparity than other age groups, while the higher-income group showed a 12.4% larger disparity than the lower-income group. Additionally, the resident group with normal commuting distances had a 52.8% higher gender disparity, and the resident group with regular working hours had a 110% greater disparity compared to their respective counterpart groups. These findings contributed to environmental justice research by revealing the complex gender disparity in UGS utilization. The approach developed in the study provides an efficient way for identifying disparities in the utilization of UGS and designing effective strategies accordingly to alleviate inequalities in our study area and beyond.

“They Need to Go in There”: Criminalized Subjectivity among Formerly Incarcerated Black Men

Black people are overrepresented in the American criminal justice system, yet policy-based criminal justice research has historically ignored the perspectives of criminalized Black people. Using interviews with 27 formerly incarcerated Black men, the author helps address this issue by exploring how carceral experiences produce “criminalized subjectivities.” In particular, when explicitly asked about what they would say to powerful state officials about their contact with the criminal justice system, the Black men in this study described a range of practices and policies they viewed as unfair and contradictory. Interviewees discussed: unequal judicial processes, inhumane prison conditions, postimprisonment barriers to reintegration, and the rigged nature of racialized mass criminalization. The author argues that, taken together, their responses constitute a critical perspective urging structural (rather than individual-level) change, rooted in experiences with invisibilization and criminalization.

Evaluating the Equity of Urban Streetscapes in Promoting Human Health—Taking Shanghai Inner City as an Example

Environmental justice research largely focuses on the allocation of public resources in terms of quantified distribution and accessibility. This study suggests that the quality of landscape equity, an important urban resource, should be evaluated as it typically appears as a combination of elements. This brings another perspective to the attention of landscape equity in addition to the provision equity: the equity in the quality and level of provision. From this perspective, this study explores the equitable role of streetscape qualities in promoting human physical, mental, and social health. Using street view images, questionnaires, artificial intelligence-based image analysis, geographic information system-based cluster analysis, and correlational analysis, the spatial distribution of health promotion streetscapes and health-influential streetscape elements were presented and compared within the scope of the Shanghai Outer Ring Road. The results disclosed an uneven distribution of streetscapes that can promote human health within research sites. Streets with poor health ratings are concentrated in the Huangpu, Hongkou, and Yangpu districts, primarily in the western part of Shanghai around Shanghai Railway Station, People’s Square, and Yuyuan Garden, where the old city centre is located. Compared with the distribution of health-influential elements, less healthy streets are more likely to be accompanied by low visibility of ‘vegetation’ and a high proportion of ‘buildings’. Streetscape design implications were then discussed in terms of providing people with equal health opportunities. Research outcomes inspired an essential quality perspective in health equity research, and it can be especially helpful when the provision and accessibility can hardly be moderated in high-density cities.

A person VS the state: studying access to justice

The purpose of this article is to expand the access to justice research agenda by focusing on a person’s identity in dispute with state authority. Keeping in mind that everyone should be able to challenge governmental actions and decisions adverse to their rights or interests, in- depth research on access to justice in “a person vs the state” disputes which takes place in courts of administrative jurisdiction, is needed. The methodology of the research acknowledges the unavailability of statistical data about the litigants, and the finding of the study which shows that different groups defended their rights with varying degrees of success. Thus, an innovative approach to the analysis of the Supreme Court judgements was used. It envisions leaving aside legal issues such as statutory interpretation, and instead examines the judgements through the lens of litigant’s characteristics. The findings show that the judgements of the Administrative Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court reflect the diversity of characteristics of persons who apply to administrative courts, including categories directly named in the Constitution of Ukraine as well as not specifically mentioned in it, such as war veterans, IDPs, etc. The financial status of the litigants varies from low-income to quite wealthy, and a certain category of plaintiff is not limited to one type of specific legal problem. For example, “property owners” challenge the decisions of state agencies in a wide range of areas: taxation, urban planning, social benefits, freedom of movements, etc. However, the vast majority of “a person vs the state” disputes concern the refusal to provide some benefits rather than action against a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. This can be seen as a Soviet legacy to perceive the state as a welfare provider. Following the people-centered approach to access to justice is essential to reorient the court statistics from “cases and files” to litigants and their characteristics which allow to relay on data to find out whether there is any connection between some features (characteristics) of litigants and types of lawsuits.