Occupational justice

Occupational justice is a particular category of social justice related to the intrinsic need for humans to explore and act on their environments in ways that provide healthy levels of intellectual stimulation, and allow for personal care and safety, subsistence, pleasure, and social participation.\

According to The American Occupational Therapy Association, it is the role of occupational therapists (OTs) to help individuals live a life free of systematic barriers put in place by society. OTs do this by advocating for individuals and empowering them.

The originators of the concept, social scientists and occupational therapists Ann Wilcock of Australia and Elizabeth Townsend of Canada, maintain that abundant research in the social and behavioral sciences demonstrates the adverse consequences of isolation, sensory deprivation, unemployment, incarceration, alienation, and boredom, suggesting that the denial of opportunities to engage in purposeful activities necessary for health and well-being creates a type of social injustice, or occupational deprivation, which has been termed "occupational injustice." Occupational justice advocates for occupational opportunities for minority or underrepresented groups, such as the LGBTQIA+ community, refugees, and people of color. Contemplating a utopian vision of an 'occupationally just' world, the originators of the concept note that while "social justice addresses the social relations and social conditions of life, occupational justice addresses what people do in their relationships and conditions for living" (p. 84).