Distributive justice development and social class.

Abstract

Two studies were undertaken to assess distributive justice development in lower-and middle-class children attending social-class-integrated schools.In Study 1, 28 middle-and 28 lower-class white children from kindergarten and third grade were given the Distributive Justice Scale and a vocabulary test. Results showed that regardless of grade, the lower class lagged behind the middle class in distributive justice development even when vocabulary was controlled. In Study 2, 32 middle-and 32 lower-class black children from kindergarten and third grade were given the same measures plus sociometric peer ratings. The results replicated Study 1. The peer ratings showed that lower-class children were chosen most often for negative sociometric questions. Implications are drawn for both distributive justice development and social class integration.

How do children behave when they distribute rewards from task participation?

“…In line with previous research (Enright et al, 1980a;Nisan, 1984;Mann et al, 1985), we found a difference in the predicted direction between Indonesian and New Zealand children. New Zealand 7-year-olds were more likely to make use of the equity rule in their distributional behaviour.…”

“…For example, the order of emergence of different stages appeared to be quite similar across US, Swedish, and Zaı¨rean samples (Enright et al, 1980b(Enright et al, , 1984, although emergence is slower in children from US working rather than US middle class backgrounds (Enright et al, 1980a). Sigelman and Waitzman (1991) found older children to be more flexible and sensitive to context.…”

Distributive justice development and social class: A replication.

“…The sociometric findings from the Enright, Enright, Manheim, and Harris (1980) midwest study were replicated here with one exception. In the former sample, it was not until third grade that middle-and lowerclass children agreed that lower-class individuals possessed more negative traits than middle-class children did.…”

“…Fifty-six subjects participated (seven lower-class and seven middle-class males, and seven lower-class and seven middle-class females from both kindergarten and third grade). This sample, composed of all white children, was drawn 1 year later from the same school in southern Florida as the sample in Enright, Enright, Manheim, & Harris (1980). The new sample represented not a longitudinal but another cross-sectional design.…”

“…This should occur despite social-class integration and a control for verbal ability; this should occur despite both social classes showing a developmental increase in distributive justice. The original claim (Enright, Enright, Manheim, & Harris, 1980) was that social class differences exist even when cultural deficiencies/differences are reduced in the sense that children of different social classes are brought together in the same classroom. A lack of replication here will disconfirm that claim.…”