Plausible Explanations

This chapter argues with bell hooks that critical, practical theorizing is an essential tool for profiling injustice. I contrast structural with individualist explanations. I define the critical imagination, identify capabilities for seeing beyond taken-for-granted explanations, and consider three forms of causal reasoning. Precarity statistics document the persistence and spread of poverty. Root cause analysis (RCA) is discussed. The metaphor, searching for tree discoloration by examining roots, can assist theorists. Tools for RCA are identified, and criteria for judging the plausibility of rival causal claims are identified. I endorse methodological pluralism and identify three strategies for generating explanations: empirical, epidemiological, and empathic causal analysis. I illustrate each by reference to populations unjustly at-risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focal subprocess is assigning blame. The pivotal system covered is the formal organization, specifically, total institutions and their impact on members&s; esteem and identity. My case reports on the search for explanations for the high rate of violent police-civilian encounters. Fundamental cause theory, intersectionality theory, and the life course perspective are used for RCA. Hull-House is described as a center pioneering possibilities for the use of collaborative, cross-membership category, injustice-identifying inquiry. Temple Grandin is our injustice profiler.