The Development of Distributive Justice: Does Type of Schooling really matter?

Distributive justice is the normative principle designed to guide the allocation of resources among the members of a community. Distributive justice in the context of reward allocation mainly deals with various determinants of preference for specific justice (allocation) rules, such as equity (merit), equality, need and seniority (Deutsch, 1985; Homans, 1961; Leventhal, 1980). The present study has been undertaken to determine the role of age, gender and type of schooling on the development of distributive justice of children. Participants of the study were 200 children (100 from missionary and 100 from non-missionary schools) belonging to Kolkata district, West Bengal. The results indicated the role of type of schooling and age on the development of distributive justice of adolescents. Pre adolescents generally prefer equality as justice criteria whereas adolescents generally prefer merit as their justice criteria. Effect of type of schooling is prominent among pre-adolescents.