Just Relationships: Living Out Social Justice as Mentor, Family, Friend, and Lover

Bringing a social justice lens to daily interpersonal relationships, Just Relationships offers a perspective on existing social science theory that demonstrates how our personal relationships should be grounded in fairness and justice. Douglas Kelley utilizes concepts from a variety of academic disciplines and helping professions to examine the barriers encountered in achieving balanced partnerships. This student-friendly book brings the important new perspective of social justice to courses focusing on interpersonal relationships and family relationships, supplementing traditional textbooks. This book presents key relationship theories in each chapter and then applies them from a social justice perspective; uses thought-provoking case studies and guiding questions to enhance student learning; examines a number of different types of interpersonal relationships including family, friends, lovers, and mentor-mentee relationships within a variety of socioeconomic and sociocultural contexts.

About the Author

Douglas Kelley’s work focuses on interpersonal communication processes, especially as they relate to forgiveness, intimacy, and love. A Professor of Communication Studies at Arizona State University (where he received the Centennial Professor Award), Kelley teaches relationship-based courses such as Family Communication, Relational Communication, Conflict and Negotiation, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, and Inner-City Families. He is a frequent speaker regarding marriage and family communication, conflict, and forgiveness at various community groups, including local schools and organizations working to break the cycle of generational poverty, and has presented his ideas in the Middle East. He has served on the editorial board for the Journal of Family Communication and has published in such outlets as the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and Human Communication Research. Find out more about Kelley and his work at RelationshipArt.com.