Injustice, suffering, difference: Linking "them" to "us"

Background & Issues: One of the primary directives of public health is the enactment of social justice. Putting that principle into practice has proven difficult, particularly as differences among society's members frame how, when, and to whom justice is accorded. Description: In this presentation, literature from nursing research and education are examined in terms of areas in which efforts toward justice are encouraged. Using the extant literature, the following questions are considered: 1) can the academy effectively teach the principles of justice and compassion without essentializing those who are seen as “different”? 2) what role does research have in documenting injustice and promoting justice? 3) how might advocacy be used to address suffering in education and research? Lessons Learned: Injustice is a form of suffering that arises from practices that suppress identity and difference. Modernist devices such as technology, evidence, and research fall short in the development of ethical practice leaving health disciplines struggling with how to ameliorate suffering. Recommendations: Justice is a political project that requires acknowledgement of our shared vulnerability and suffering, such that the suffering of others is recognized as being linked to our own suffering. Taking, in Betts' terms, a “democratic advocacy” approach to responding to suffering is needed. This approach may help us move from exclusionary othering to inclusionary engagement.