MWT (6) PT1

• Human rights


  Rights that protect human life, ensure freedom, and secure personal liberty
• Human rights are inherent in our nature and without which we cannot live as human beings
• Human rights allow us to develop fully and use our human qualities, intelligence, talents and conscience
• Human rights allow us to satisfy our spiritual and other needs
• Human rights are inherent, they cannot be granted or taken away—they can only be violated
• Human rights are fundamental entitlements that are necessary for personal development and human potential
• Human rights are the bedrock of social justice
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)


  Document where the human rights and freedoms of all human beings are enshrined
• Categories of human rights

  • First generation rights
  • Second generation rights
  • Third generation rights
• First generation rights


  Also known as civil and political rights, they restrict the role of government in the political status of societal members
• Second generation rights


  Also known as social, cultural, and economic rights, they relate to quality-of-life rights
• Third generation rights


  Also known as collective rights, they relate to solidarity among nations and intergovernmental cooperation on global issues
• First generation rights


  • Rights to a fair trial, freedom of speech and religion, freedom of assembly, freedom from discrimination, slavery, and torture
• Second generation rights


  • An adequate standard of living, health and well-being, food, clothing, housing, medical care, social security, education, and social services
• Third generation rights


  • Environmental protection, social and economic development, humanitarian aid, international security, and peace
• Civil rights


  Provide citizens protection from discrimination and oppression, ensure harmony and order in society, and provide dignity and freedom for individual citizens
• Discrimination is a civil rights issue as it segregates people and limits their access to opportunities and resources
• What social workers do to promote civil rights

  • Advocate for legislation to protect people from discrimination
  • Protect and promote human well-being
  • Promote civil rights by supporting policies that are sensitive to the unique needs of diverse populations
• Right to social welfare


  An economic, social and cultural right that promotes human dignity and human development, and provides access to equal rights in education, work, health and other societal resources and opportunities for all citizens
• Examples of economic, social and cultural rights (the right to social welfare as articulated by the UDHR (1948))


  • Right to social security
  • Right to work, protection against unemployment, equal pay for equal work, just and favourable remuneration, form and join trade unions
  • Right to rest and leisure, including limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay
  • Right to food, clothing, housing, medical care, social services, and security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age
  • Right to education, free at least in the elementary and fundamental stages, with primary school education being compulsory, and technical and professional education being made available and equally accessible to all on the basis of merit
• What social workers do to promote the right to social welfare


  • Promote service users' rights to access governmental grants and subsidies
  • Implement programmes to assist the unemployed, people living with disability, poor families and advocate for the fair allocation of resources
• Theories of social justice

  There are three primary classifications: libertarianism, utilitarianism, and egalitarianism, which differ in how they view individual and collective rights, and the distribution or redistribution of societal resources
• Libertarian theory of justice


  Individual liberty or freedom is the sole concern of social justice, rejecting distributive justice, the welfare system and affirmative action initiatives that promote equality
• Utilitarian theory


  Promotes the notion of utility, that is, the greatest good for the greatest number of people, with the distribution of societal resources through government institutions and laws promoting the interests of the common good
• Egalitarian theory - or justice as fairness


  All persons should have fair equality to access resources and opportunities, favouring the redistribution of societal resources to benefit the disadvantaged
• Just society


  One in which all members share the same rights to societal resources and benefits, and in turn, contribute to the resources of society
• Social workers


  • Have an ethical obligation to ensure that all persons have an equal right to access societal resources and opportunities so that they may fully participate and contribute to the society
  • Social work is based on the egalitarian philosophy of justice as fairness
• Social work


  • Is committed to assisting people who are vulnerable and oppressed
  • Seeks to address social and economic injustices through the redistribution of societal resources
• Redistribution


  Can be achieved through equity, equality, or need-based
• Equity


  Based on the amount of one's contribution
• Equality


  Distributing evenly to all
• Need-based


  Differential distribution according to need
• Social injustice - the "isms"

  Prejudicial attitudes directed against groups that society identifies as less capable, less productive, and less normal
• Social workers


  • Seek equality for populations vulnerable to the "isms"
  • Such populations often experience exploitation
• Human rights


  Aim to contribute to social justice, yet the reality is that people experience negative effects of racism, elitism, ageism etc that differentiate people by race, age, gender and ability
• Racism


  An ideology that perpetuates the social domination of one racial group by another
• Elitism or classism


  Prejudicial attitudes that assume that people from lower socioeconomic classes are lazy, less worthy and less competent than those in upper classes
• Sexism


  The belief that one's sex is superior to the other
• Heterosexism


  Prejudice against people whose sexual orientation differs from that of heterosexuals
• Ageism


  Belief that one age group is inferior to another