Children have an innate sense of restorative justice

Virgin goddess Astraea with scales of Justice

Children as young as three show a natural inclination towards restorative justice fed by a strong concern over the welfare of victims, say researchers. A new study, published today in Current Biology, reveals three and five-year-olds are sensitive to harm to others and given a choice would rather restore things to help the victim than punish the perpetrator.  The researchers say the findings, based on experiments with 112 three-year-olds and 79 five-year-olds in Germany, provide insights into the roots of justice in human society. Previous studies have shown children are more likely to share with a puppet that helps another individual than with one who behaves badly. They also prefer to see punishment delivered to a doll that deserves it than one that doesn't. By the age of six, children will pay a price to punish fictional and real peers. Preschoolers can also be encouraged with threats of punishment to behave more generously.

The research team at Max Planck Institute in Leipzig who ran the experiments found children were as likely to intervene on behalf of a puppet "victim" as they were for themselves. Further, three-year-olds preferred to return an item than to remove it - and when that was not possible would make the item inaccessible so it could not be taken by anyone other than the owner. "It appears that in humans, intervening on the behalf of others begins with a concern for the victim before becoming focused on consequences for the perpetrator," the researchers, from the UK and Germany, conclude. June 19

http://www.sott.net/article/298010-Children-have-an-innate-sense-of-restorative-justice

This news is most elegantly explained if we start with the chart for the current New Moon at Leipzig.  The New Moon is in the 9^th house – a house that is linked with law and by association the principles of justice [1].  It is trine the Ascendant [26li] in the sign of the Scales, once again linked to seeking  harmony, equilibrium and justice.  More specifically, it is conjunct the star Spica, alpha Virgo [24li].

The constellation Virgo  was sometimes identified with  the virgin goddess Iustitia or Astraea, holding the scales of justice in her hand as the constellation Libra.

The Ascendant is in hard aspect to Neptune [9pi] in the 5^th house associated with children [2]. Now here comes most interesting part. Neptune is conjunct the asteroid Tisiphone [5pi]. Keywords for the two as provided by Martha Wescott are as below:

NEPTUNE: Compassion, sympathy & empathy; victim-savior polarities

TISIPHONE: Seek justice for "crimes against kinship, family;" fairness; just desserts; how and where and if one gets what they deserve.[3]

Do the elements add up to explain the essence of the news story?

[1] http://www.skyscript.co.uk/temples/h9.html

[2] http://www.skyscript.co.uk/temples/h5.html

[3] http://www.treehousemountain.com/html/keywords2.htm