A visual statement of "What is Justice?"

1. Modern Criminal Justice
A visual statement for: “what is justice?”
Picture portfolio & appendix
By Lauren Benjamin
20307720

2. Appendix 1
The right to vote.
Rawl’s 1971 theory of justice as fairness states that ‘society should be arranged to
provide the greatest possible benefit to the least advantaged (the difference principle)
(Wenar, 2008). Offices and positions should be open to everyone under conditions of
‘fair and equality’. There is no consideration regarding prisoners, the homeless and
young people in the UK concerning voting. Even though stated within Rawls’s Theory
of Justice should be equal basic liberties as in ‘pollical liberties, freedom of speech and
assembly’
Convicted Prisoners in the UK do not have the same civil rights and liberties as the rest
of society. The right to vote is stripped from an individual under ‘the People Act 1983’.
According to The National Archives, Offenders whoever who receive a suspended
sentence can vote (Prison Phone, n.d). This suppression of voting rights within prisons
ignores the benefits and positive steps that would be provided in terms of rehabilitation
and reintegration back into society. This could help reduce reoffending yet instead
creates a barrier that further isolates certain individuals from society.
The top image used within is taken from google, under creative commons licences. The
punctum of this photograph is emptiness. Without everyone in society getting their say
on political affairs, these are empty. The studium is that this gives an empty feeling.
The forgotten people of society so to speak.
The bottom image is taken from unsplash.com and shows unity over everyone having
their say. The studium is giving a symbol of hope as it might change.

3. Appendix 2
Dispersal Orders
Under s.34 of the Anti-Social Behaviour and Policing Act 2014 (West
Yorkshire Police, n.d), dispersal orders or zones are places that are
selected; manned with extra officers, who have extra powers within the
area, and last about 48 hours. The aim is to deal with serious anti-social
behaviour by moving individuals or stop them from returning to the area
(Burnley.gov.uk, nd) This goes against the equality, fairness, and access
principles within Rawls’s theory of Justice, overlooking equality of
opportunity (Rawl’s 1971). As liberty states that every individual has as
much rights as the next, and of being free within society. With a dispersal
order locking off zones and areas and targeting young people, who
already feel they are treated different due to the stigmatization
surrounding groups of youths in public places. This can create tensions
between the community and lead to false expectations surrounding police
priorities.
These orders isolate young people from the rest of the community, aids
communities in their ill feelings towards groups of youths in public spaces
and goes against equality of opportunity. Labelling can occur if frequently
brought home from police due to dispersal orders, it could be the route
home from school or a friends house or wrong place at the wrong time.
This would then lead to disadvantages socially and may become the
solution the community take frequently without realising the impact it is
having. These wouldn’t be applied to adults or elderly people, this is a
clear breach of John Rawl’s theory of justice (Rawl’s 1971).
This image was obtained on Flickr, the punctum of this image, the huge
area in red within a very busy/ over populated place in Hackney London.
The studium is the youths living here are entering this are, are they
penalised also?

4. Appendix 3
The ‘gender pay gap’
With average working women being paid less than the working man,
the ‘gender pay gap’ breaches John Rawl’s theory of justice as
fairness on distributive justice and how it mandates a fair distribution
of primary goods, such as income, wealth, and opportunities to
positions (Rawl’s 1971).
A fair distribution of wealth cannot be seen within society today, the
law on Equal Pay Act was introduced in 1970 in the UK to ensure all
employees they’re entitlement to the same pay regardless of full or
part time position held. Declining in recent years, but in 2016 women
earned 76.5% of what men earned in total (Timewise, n,d)).
The National Statistics office’s report published October 2021 stated
this year’s pay gap was down to more part time positions being held
by women than men, further adding more women in 2021 were
furloughed than men in 2020 (Office for National Statistics, n,d).. The
‘pay gap’ can be seen as a gender injustice due to there being no
choice in whether we are born male or female. Going against all
people having ‘the same indefeasible claims’ (Rawl’s 1971) which are
incapable of being undone.
This photo is from Flickr, the studium and punctum of this photo is
the representation of the pay gap itself, how eye opening it is and
the feeling of shock had when first viewing.

5. Thank you for reading.
A visual statement for: “what is justice?”
Picture portfolio & appendix
By Lauren Benjamin
20307720