TA 2/2018 (123. vuosikerta)

Reciprocity as a Social Ideal — Hierarchical societies mainly rely on prohibitive norms to further the interests of their own members. In the welfare state, society also serves a positive function in supporting citizens’ standard of living by supplying and securing a number of economic, social and educational rights. This article discusses how reciprocity as an ideal can help broaden the view on welfare and citizens’ role in the quest to securing a more just and equal society.

Reciprocal Relationships: Creating Well-being — This article discusses welfare and reciprocity in relation to well-being from a social work and social policy point of view. The theoretical framework for this article understands social relationships as crucial components for reciprocity; however, from a social scientific perspective, it is not enough for the service system to support only social relationships. There is also a need for society to aim at ensuring an equal income distribution and maintaining a well-functioning service system, both of which are necessary to support individuals’ real abilities to make choices. These aims are framed by practical, symbolic and moral dimensions of reciprocity, dimensions that illuminate the importance of individuals’ social commitments and the need to transition from servicing individuals to empowering the community.

Reciprocity for All? Remarks Concerning the Notion of Justice for Marginalised People from a Philosophical and Theological Perspective — This article argues that liberal concepts of justice like Rawls’s theory set too many preconditions for people with disabilities, as they are not fully self-determined and capable of performing cooperative work in societal life. To include the perspective of marginalised people into a theory of justice, the author offers a complementary biblical approach that guarantees equal status for every person emphasizing that religious values cannot be accepted as such by the liberal state. Nevertheless, the article points out that Rawls’s theory also relies on virtues, which can be considered as a weak theory of the good. If some religious values can be construed as part of such a weak theory of the good, they should also be able to be reconciled with the system of a liberal state.

Reciprocity in the Research of Social Ethics: Experience-Based Conceptual Analysis as a Research Method — This article considers experience-based conceptual analysis as a research method in mental health research, focusing on the themes of reciprocity and power. Experience-based conceptual analysis is a reciprocal method because it recognizes the agency of those who participate in the research. Trust between the agents becomes reciprocal, and agents benefit from and need one another. The success of experience-based conceptual analysis requires that experts, through experience, have power in the research process and that those participating in the process are capable of working with their own emotions and those of the other participants and are also willing to resolve conflicts that might arise during the research process.