Cultural Differences and Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cultural Differences and Justice - Essay Example From a social science perspective, the term refers to an individual's subjective perceptions of whether or not he/she is treated fairly (Markovsky, 1985 in Mueller and Mulinge, 2002). It is likewise important to consider that justice pertains to the application of a normative rule to the allocation of resources to recipients (ibid). It is important to examine these subjective perceptions of justice and injustice since individuals' understanding affects their attitudes and perceptions of the subject. Since cultural differences may alter a group's perception on what is just and what is not, it then implies that people's actions and approaches to these actions on the given subject also vary. The perception and understanding of justice is different in various nations and cultures, thus there is a need to focus on cultural differences when attempting to understand how a particular group views this concept. It must be noted that the concept of justice has not only emerged from levels of individual issues but also from levels of group or collective issues (Hayashi and Sekiguchi, 2006, p. 207). This is where the importance of how a group perceives the concept of justice and injustice takes place. It is from this multi-level perception that this paper considers describing how cultural differences alter understanding of injustice and approaches to justice. Collective justice perception is tended to be viewed to have associations with group-oriented cultures such as India. It connotes whether a group as a whole is treated fairly within the organisation and how such understanding of justice alters their view of said treatment (Hayashi and Sekiguchi, 2006, p. 207). In India, it may be inferred that religion is a factor that alters people's understanding of injustice and approaches to justice, accounting for a cultural difference between its people and the rest of the world. As a starting off, it is important to mention that the Indian culture and its general economic structure are heavily founded on religion and there is a need to understand the system of worship as well as the central concept of reincarnation governing people's lives. The cultural differences of the Indian people in terms of understanding justice and injustice lie on the understanding of various connections between Hinduism and general Indian culture, which includes history with an underlying caste system that has thrived for several centuries. The Indian caste system governs the social system in India, directly linking religious beliefs and social segregation into status groups, thereby creating divisions. Weber notes the prevention of the development of urban status groups by this caste system (Dumont and Gulati, 1980). He analysed how the aspect of traditionalism of the caste system is supported by religion and posits that the economic development of India is slowed as the "spirit" of