Neuroplasticity and Justice

Justice is often thought of in nebulous terms. As such, it is often viewed through a philosophical lens. Indeed, justice has been examined by prominent philosophers such as John Rawls and Friedrich Hayek. Often regarded as a “soft science,” the idea of justice finds itself the subject of a theoretical framework rather than of scientific study. Despite this theoretical view, much of the theory surrounding justice seeks to determine the causes for a given type of behavior. These theories discuss which penological methods work to correct these behaviors. However, the theory that one can modify his or her brain in order to create new behaviors exists within the scientific biological/psychological realm. By contrast, there are those who believe that the brain is stagnant for most of the human lifespan. This paper will argue two points. First, emotional connotations associated with justice are synonymous with neurology and cognitive functioning, thus solidifying the need for an examination of justice within a biological context. Second, although justice has practical applications as a philosophical construct, it should be examined through the biological lens of neuroplasticity and the human propensity for change.

Although justice is often examined philosophically, the theories behind the collective understanding of justice are largely psychological. For example, when examining introductory criminal justice literature, one may discover that behaviorism is discussed. Behaviorism hinges on operant conditioning. Operant conditioning suggests behavior is more likely to occur when it is reinforced with reward and less likely to occur when it is punished (Fuller, 2010, p. 90). This reasoning is consistent with common ret...

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