Developmental Perspectives on Social Inequalities and Human Rights
Social inequalities and human rights are inevitably linked to children’s and adolescents’ healthy development. Children who experience structural and interpersonal inequalities in access to resources and opportunities based on their gender, race, ethnicity, or other group categories are denied the r...
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Published in | Human development Vol. 66; no. 4-5; pp. 329 - 342 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Basel, Switzerland
01.12.2022
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Social inequalities and human rights are inevitably linked to children’s and adolescents’ healthy development. Children who experience structural and interpersonal inequalities in access to resources and opportunities based on their gender, race, ethnicity, or other group categories are denied the right to fair treatment, which contributes to stress, anxiety, and depression. We assert that investigating the psychological perspectives that children hold regarding inequalities and human rights is necessary for creating fair and just societies. We take a constructivist approach to this topic which seeks to understand how individuals interpret and evaluate observed and experienced inequalities. Even young children think about these issues and act on their beliefs and experiences about human deveolopment. Throughout development, individuals weigh multiple, potentially conflicting considerations when interpreting, evaluating, and responding to social inequalities and rights violations. In these complex contexts, children and adolescents are neither fully “moral” nor fully “prejudiced.” Rather, critical questions for research in this area concern when, why, and for whom young people reject inequalities and support rights, and, by contrast, when, why, and for whom they accept that inequalities and rights violations should be allowed to persist. This paper provides a brief overview of how different conceptions of social inequalities and rights are intrinsically linked together. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Melanie Killen, Laura Elenbaas and Martin D. Ruck each contributed to the formulation and writing of the paper. Author Contributions |
ISBN: | 9783318071054 3318071056 |
ISSN: | 0018-716X 1423-0054 |
DOI: | 10.1159/000526276 |