Interrupting the Cycle of Moral Exclusion: A Communication Contribution to Social Justice Research1

This research broadly maps the territory of moral exclusion to include communication within its boundaries. Communicative strategies may provide the means for the interruption or even the reversal of the moral-exclusion cycle. While the current studies do not provide empirical verification of the reversal mechanism, they do prepare the theoretical groundwork through the use of a contemporary example: Romanian orphans. The first study is a survey of 225 Romanian students designed to reveal how they analyze the social issue of orphans and whether it is possible to differentiate between those who have and those who have not excluded orphans from their scope of justice. The second study consists of 2 focus-group discussions conducted in Bucharest: one with project managers from nongovernment organizations working with children in crisis, and the other with ordinary citizens. The results and discussion concentrate on the implications and practical applications for potentially countering moral exclusion.