Poor, abused, and neglected children's prospects in a fair society

In this article, the principles of Justice as Fairness (Rawls, 1971) are ap plied to some of the institutions affecting children-the legal system and t he family. Within this perspective, these institutions are just if there ar e no alternative arrangements under which the prospects of the least advant aged children could be maximized. improving the prospects of the abused neg lected, and oftentimes anemic children becomes the barometer of social chan ge. A welfare and protection rights agenda, and ways of strengthening the n uclear family within the community, are envisioned in order to provide leas t advantaged children with the most basic primary goods enabling them to de velop their capabilities. Such changes are prerequisite for reducing violen ce and anomie in our society. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.