1. Choose someone to read
the case study aloud to your group. As you listen, look for evidence
in the case that an elderly personís human right to affordable housing,
adequate nutrition, and/or health case is at risk or has been denied.
Refer to the lists of human rights/needs generated earlier.
2. Discuss the following
questions and take notes on your answers, if possible, with a different
note taker for each question.
Is human dignity compromised
in your case study?
Are any of the human
rights listed earlier being denied? Refer to the articles of the
Where would you find
the roots of these specific human rights abuses? The individual
person and his/her family? Government? Former employers? Societal
values? Nature of the economic system?
Is there evidence
that any human rights listed earlier are being protected in these
cases? If so, name the rights which are protected. Who or what protects
Are the problems identified
ones that can be addressed by the efforts of a social service agency
or charitable organization? Why or why not?
Where does responsibility
lie for the care and protection of the human rights of vulnerable,
How might these cases
be different if US government policy considered the social and economic
rights to adequate housing, nutrition, and health care, found in
Article 25 of UDHR, to be human rights to which everyone is entitled?
What issues does this
case study raise for you about human dignity? About the relationship
between human rights and human needs? Between rights and responsibilities?