"Right" and "not right": representations of justice in young people

This article analyses the results of a study of conceptions of justice among Italian teenagers. The aim was to examine young people's representations of issues of justice, and to determine whether the experience of active participation can influence such representations. The study was designed in accordance with the most recent approaches in sociology of childhood; it involved young people attending higher secondary school, some of them members of a youth organization. Most of the teenagers were interviewed individually, others in focus groups. The interviews were conducted through the presentation of scenarios based on questions of justice, while the focus groups were presented with a variety of moral dilemmas.