On the Injustice of Dysfunctional Upbringing
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21497626 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Areti Theofilopoulou (0000-0001-9838-8119, Society of Fellows in the Humanities The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 915-931 |
| Publication date | 2022-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Applied Philosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0264-3758 • E-ISSN: 1468-5930 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/japp.12605 |
| OpenAlex | W4283826650 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
Empirical evidence shows that certain parental behaviours cause pervasive harms for children. These behaviours are not limited to abuse and neglect but include other non‐abusive, non‐neglectful behaviour such as invalidation. In this article, I argue that such cases of dysfunctional upbringing are unjust on three broad grounds. First, they seriously interfere with the ideal of equality of opportunity. Second, they entail violations of children's basic rights and interests, including their interest in developing the capacity for autonomy and their interest in enjoying the intrinsic goods of childhood. And third, they are criminogenic and raise a host of problems for criminal justice. For these reasons, justice requires preventing unjust parental behaviours, rather than attempting to redress them once they have already occurred. To identify the appropriate forward‐looking interventions, I distinguish the epistemic from the psychological causes of dysfunctional parental behaviours and argue that different interventions are required to tackle each cause. The former should include mandatory education on the potential harms of certain parental behaviours, while the latter should focus on therapeutic measures that address the unconscious and emotional mechanisms of our behaviour
Autonomy · Criminology · Dysfunctional family · Economic Justice · Harm · Injustice · Neglect · Political science · Psychological intervention · Psychotherapist · Redress · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare · Ethics in medical practice · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Psychology · Social Psychology
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Should You Stick Around? Children’s Associational Rights and the Duties of Nonparental Caregivers
The possibilities and limits of learning from immoral role models
Why Fun Aunties Matter
The guilt–innocence paradox
| Citations per year | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |