WEEK 1
Kerndoel: De student benadert vraagstukken over de kwaliteit van leven van (groepen) mensen,
hun netwerken en gemeenschappen vanuit het perspectief van mensenrechten.
Hoorcollege Thema 1:
• De student legt het verband tussen kwaliteit van leven, de SDG’s en de universele
verklaring van de rechten van de mens
• De student analyseert vraagstukken van armoede en ongelijkheid vanuit een
mensenrechtenbenadering van kwaliteit van leven.
• De student herkent in de eco-sociale benadering van sociale vraagstukken hoe SW een
mensenrechtenberoep is.
Interactiecollege Thema 1:
• De student beschrijft aan de hand van een casus welke mensenrechten mogelijk in het
geding zijn.
• De student brainstormt aan de hand van de mensenrechtenbenadering mogelijke taken
en rollen voor het sociaal werk.
SOCIAL WORK IS A HUMAN RIGHTS PROFESSION 259-269 (MAPP ET AL., 2019)
As defined by the International Federation of Social Workers, social work is a human right
profession. This is explicitly stated in the professional codes of ethics in many nations.
However, the most recent version of the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social
Workers continues to exclude any mention of human rights, fitting in with the history of U.S.
exceptionalism on this subject.
The involvement of social workers working toward the fulfillment of human rights is long and
extensive, but whether it is explicitly referred to as human rights work varies across time and
nations. In 2017, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) released a major update to
its code of ethics. The preamble states that “the primary mission of the social work profession is
to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people “thus
highlighting a focus on needs as opposed to rights.
Given the threatened erosion of human rights in the United States, it is vital that U.S. social
workers join their colleagues around the world in understanding their role in the promotion of
human rights and viewing the populations with whom we work not from a needs-based
standpoint, with clients as passive recipients of charity, but rather from a rights-based
standpoint of facilitating the receipt of benefits to which individuals and groups are entitled.
,WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). establishes the rights to which all peoples
are entitled regardless of nationality, race, religion, sex, political opinion, or any other potential
category of difference. These rights are universal (they apply to all people) and indivisible (they
are inseparable from each other, and all are necessary.
The 25th article has particular relevance for social work as many services provided by social
workers, including safety net services and beyond, can be seen as right to which the
populations we work with are entitled:
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his
family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to
security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood
in circumstances beyond his control.”
SOCIAL WORKERS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
The formative period of the profession is dominated by figures such as Jane Addams in the
Unites States and Alice Solomon in Germany, both of whom intertwined struggles for the
realization of human rights with the birthing of the social work profession.
At the same time that social, economic, and cultural rights were gaining support in the eastern
bloc countries, social work as a profession was being banned in many of these countries. Social
work’s focus on reshaping individuals’ intrinsic weaknesses were often viewed as conflicting
with socialistic credence that freedom, equality, and well-being were derived from working in an
egalitarian society. In the Unites States, casework emerged as the dominant form of
professional practice by the 1920s, and although social work’s main focus remained on working
with impoverished children and families, it was rapidly expanding to other populations. As the
scope of social work grew, clinical treatment took precedence over community work, advocacy
and social policy as a social work method. Social work practice came to rely on the deficit
model of practice or a needs-based approach that extols professionals as the expert best able
to determine the needs of the populations with whom they work, contradicting the principles of
human rights.
Human rights approaches call for the redistribution of privilege and power within a society,
which social workers often resist.
The differences a rights-based approach are detailed in table 2, explaining the goals,
motivations, focus of interventions, and so forth all must change when operating from the
rights-based approach. The intervention is no longer focused on meeting the identified deficit
within a person or group, but rather on changing structural inequalities that have resulted in
some groups not being allowed access to their human rights. This needs-based focus has led
some such as Murdach (2011) to question whether social work truly is a human rights
profession, but mindfully adopting a human rights approach can bring social work back to its
core principles.
,HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
Despite the shared history, ethics, and professional commitments, human rights are an
underused tool in social work practice. Rights-based approaches offer a model for social
workers to apply human rights to their practice. There is an international consensus that human
dignity, nondiscrimination, participation, transparency and accountability represent core
principles of human rights; taken together they form a framework for a rights-based approach to
social work practice.
HUMAN DIGNITY
Rights-based approaches respect the fundamental dignity and worth of each person, consistent
with social work ethics. Human dignity, as a rights-based principle for social work practice,
carries implications for how practitioners conceive of and engage with people. Respecting
people’s human dignity means respecting their self-determination – appreciating, trusting, and
empowering their ability to make decisions for themselves. It also means viewing people as fully
human, complete with strengths, capabilities, potential, and rights. People who are seen to be
needy or broken are objectified and therefore dehumanized. Social workers can protect
people’s human dignity by promoting the rehumanization of people who have been stigmatized
and discriminated against.
, NONDISCRIMINATION
Rights-based social work practice should also be actively nondiscriminatory and should prevent
discrimination on the basis of any category of difference. Nondiscrimination also means
acknowledging the contemporary legacies of historical trauma from human rights violations.
Practitioners should strive to include historically excluded populations. However,
nondiscrimination is not only about inclusion, it also requires social workers to practice in a
culturally appropriate manner.
PARTICIPATION
The principle of participation is central to rights-based social work practice. People have, as
part of their human rights, the right to participate in the decisions that affect their welfare.
Ensuring people’s equitable participation in institutions and structures requires social workers
to incorporate community development and capacity building in their practice. The human right
to participation does not mean giving marginalized people a token voice, but rather creating
opportunities for increased access to power.
TRANSPARENCY
Transparency means that social work practice should be trustworthy, evidence-based, and
reflective. Social work organizations, policies, and even budgets should be transparent and free
of corruption to generate trust with individuals and communities and to maximize effectiveness
of programs and services. Transparency in social work practice also refers to the use of
research and evidence for assessment, evaluation and mentoring. It also means that
practitioners should be self-reflective, reflecting on their practice, relationships, and actions.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Accountability is the rights-based principle related to macro practice models such as advocacy
and raising awareness. This requires political awareness and engagement from social work
practitioners. In addition, practitioners should work to promote justice, access to the rule of
law, and the strengthening of democratic institutions and norms as part of a larger culture that
respects and promotes human rights.
RIGHTING THE CODE OF ETHICS
The Code of Ethics can be strengthened to be more explicitly rights-based. A rights-based
approach to social work sees people as deserving of fundamental rights on the basis of their
Kerndoel: De student benadert vraagstukken over de kwaliteit van leven van (groepen) mensen,
hun netwerken en gemeenschappen vanuit het perspectief van mensenrechten.
Hoorcollege Thema 1:
• De student legt het verband tussen kwaliteit van leven, de SDG’s en de universele
verklaring van de rechten van de mens
• De student analyseert vraagstukken van armoede en ongelijkheid vanuit een
mensenrechtenbenadering van kwaliteit van leven.
• De student herkent in de eco-sociale benadering van sociale vraagstukken hoe SW een
mensenrechtenberoep is.
Interactiecollege Thema 1:
• De student beschrijft aan de hand van een casus welke mensenrechten mogelijk in het
geding zijn.
• De student brainstormt aan de hand van de mensenrechtenbenadering mogelijke taken
en rollen voor het sociaal werk.
SOCIAL WORK IS A HUMAN RIGHTS PROFESSION 259-269 (MAPP ET AL., 2019)
As defined by the International Federation of Social Workers, social work is a human right
profession. This is explicitly stated in the professional codes of ethics in many nations.
However, the most recent version of the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social
Workers continues to exclude any mention of human rights, fitting in with the history of U.S.
exceptionalism on this subject.
The involvement of social workers working toward the fulfillment of human rights is long and
extensive, but whether it is explicitly referred to as human rights work varies across time and
nations. In 2017, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) released a major update to
its code of ethics. The preamble states that “the primary mission of the social work profession is
to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people “thus
highlighting a focus on needs as opposed to rights.
Given the threatened erosion of human rights in the United States, it is vital that U.S. social
workers join their colleagues around the world in understanding their role in the promotion of
human rights and viewing the populations with whom we work not from a needs-based
standpoint, with clients as passive recipients of charity, but rather from a rights-based
standpoint of facilitating the receipt of benefits to which individuals and groups are entitled.
,WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). establishes the rights to which all peoples
are entitled regardless of nationality, race, religion, sex, political opinion, or any other potential
category of difference. These rights are universal (they apply to all people) and indivisible (they
are inseparable from each other, and all are necessary.
The 25th article has particular relevance for social work as many services provided by social
workers, including safety net services and beyond, can be seen as right to which the
populations we work with are entitled:
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his
family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to
security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood
in circumstances beyond his control.”
SOCIAL WORKERS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
The formative period of the profession is dominated by figures such as Jane Addams in the
Unites States and Alice Solomon in Germany, both of whom intertwined struggles for the
realization of human rights with the birthing of the social work profession.
At the same time that social, economic, and cultural rights were gaining support in the eastern
bloc countries, social work as a profession was being banned in many of these countries. Social
work’s focus on reshaping individuals’ intrinsic weaknesses were often viewed as conflicting
with socialistic credence that freedom, equality, and well-being were derived from working in an
egalitarian society. In the Unites States, casework emerged as the dominant form of
professional practice by the 1920s, and although social work’s main focus remained on working
with impoverished children and families, it was rapidly expanding to other populations. As the
scope of social work grew, clinical treatment took precedence over community work, advocacy
and social policy as a social work method. Social work practice came to rely on the deficit
model of practice or a needs-based approach that extols professionals as the expert best able
to determine the needs of the populations with whom they work, contradicting the principles of
human rights.
Human rights approaches call for the redistribution of privilege and power within a society,
which social workers often resist.
The differences a rights-based approach are detailed in table 2, explaining the goals,
motivations, focus of interventions, and so forth all must change when operating from the
rights-based approach. The intervention is no longer focused on meeting the identified deficit
within a person or group, but rather on changing structural inequalities that have resulted in
some groups not being allowed access to their human rights. This needs-based focus has led
some such as Murdach (2011) to question whether social work truly is a human rights
profession, but mindfully adopting a human rights approach can bring social work back to its
core principles.
,HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
Despite the shared history, ethics, and professional commitments, human rights are an
underused tool in social work practice. Rights-based approaches offer a model for social
workers to apply human rights to their practice. There is an international consensus that human
dignity, nondiscrimination, participation, transparency and accountability represent core
principles of human rights; taken together they form a framework for a rights-based approach to
social work practice.
HUMAN DIGNITY
Rights-based approaches respect the fundamental dignity and worth of each person, consistent
with social work ethics. Human dignity, as a rights-based principle for social work practice,
carries implications for how practitioners conceive of and engage with people. Respecting
people’s human dignity means respecting their self-determination – appreciating, trusting, and
empowering their ability to make decisions for themselves. It also means viewing people as fully
human, complete with strengths, capabilities, potential, and rights. People who are seen to be
needy or broken are objectified and therefore dehumanized. Social workers can protect
people’s human dignity by promoting the rehumanization of people who have been stigmatized
and discriminated against.
, NONDISCRIMINATION
Rights-based social work practice should also be actively nondiscriminatory and should prevent
discrimination on the basis of any category of difference. Nondiscrimination also means
acknowledging the contemporary legacies of historical trauma from human rights violations.
Practitioners should strive to include historically excluded populations. However,
nondiscrimination is not only about inclusion, it also requires social workers to practice in a
culturally appropriate manner.
PARTICIPATION
The principle of participation is central to rights-based social work practice. People have, as
part of their human rights, the right to participate in the decisions that affect their welfare.
Ensuring people’s equitable participation in institutions and structures requires social workers
to incorporate community development and capacity building in their practice. The human right
to participation does not mean giving marginalized people a token voice, but rather creating
opportunities for increased access to power.
TRANSPARENCY
Transparency means that social work practice should be trustworthy, evidence-based, and
reflective. Social work organizations, policies, and even budgets should be transparent and free
of corruption to generate trust with individuals and communities and to maximize effectiveness
of programs and services. Transparency in social work practice also refers to the use of
research and evidence for assessment, evaluation and mentoring. It also means that
practitioners should be self-reflective, reflecting on their practice, relationships, and actions.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Accountability is the rights-based principle related to macro practice models such as advocacy
and raising awareness. This requires political awareness and engagement from social work
practitioners. In addition, practitioners should work to promote justice, access to the rule of
law, and the strengthening of democratic institutions and norms as part of a larger culture that
respects and promotes human rights.
RIGHTING THE CODE OF ETHICS
The Code of Ethics can be strengthened to be more explicitly rights-based. A rights-based
approach to social work sees people as deserving of fundamental rights on the basis of their
