SCWK90055 Chap.5 Human Rights and the Three Generations
Human Rights and the Three Generations
Human rights are often treated as the domain of lawyers, but the module argues that they have a social construction as well as a legal one, and that social workers have a central role in the social side. This chapter explains what makes a right a human right, using Amnesty International's three properties, universal, inalienable and indivisible, and Ife's definition.
It traces the idea from natural law and the Magna Carta to the founding of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it sets out the main critiques of the human rights project. It then teaches the three generations typology: civil and political rights led by law, economic, social and cultural rights led by social work, and collective rights led by community development.
The chapter ends by matching rights in a real referral to the social work role each calls for. The chapter also prepares you for the following one, which shows how these rights travel from international instruments into Australian and Victorian law and into decisions made by public bodies.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Universal, inalienable and indivisible rights
- 02
Natural law to the 1948 Declaration
- 03
Critiques of human rights frameworks
- 04
Negative and positive rights
- 05
The three generations and their lead professions
- 06
Social work roles by generation
Worked example · free
Sort five rights into generations
- 1First generation, led by law: the right to vote and the right to a fair trial.
- 1Second generation, led by social work: adequate housing and education.
- 1Third generation, led by community development: a clean local environment.
Key terms
- Inalienable rights
- Inalienable rights are rights that cannot be taken away from a person.
- Natural law
- Natural law is the idea that a justice inherent in all people stands above the laws made by rulers.
- First generation rights
- First generation rights are civil and political rights, such as free speech and a fair trial, that protect individuals against the State.
- Collective rights
- Collective rights are third generation rights held by a community or nation, such as a right to a clean environment.
Human Rights and the Three Generations FAQ
Why does the AASW Code mention the Universal Declaration?
Section 1.1 commits the profession to the ideals and goals of the Declaration, of the conventions built on it and of treaties Australia has joined. Social workers are therefore expected to work towards human rights within those instruments.
What are the main critiques of the UDHR?
It has not prevented war or abuses, it is seen by some as a Western construct, early documents centred on men, some religious critics object to its secular foundation, and rights claims can be selfish or conflict with one another.
Why are first generation rights called negative rights?
Because they protect the individual against the power and encroachment of the State. The State meets them mainly by not interfering, for example by not suppressing speech, and law is the profession most associated with defending them.
What is wrong with the three generations typology?
Critics say it lets popular discussion favour first generation rights, it separates individual and collective rights too sharply when many social rights are also collective, and basic survival needs such as food, water and shelter may deserve their own category.
Can social workers act on human rights abuses by governments?
Enforcing a state's international obligations is mostly work for lawyers and international bodies, but social workers can advocate, raise awareness, expose abuses and work for reform in areas such as asylum seeker policy, while realising social and economic rights in everyday practice.
Assessment move
Learn the three properties of human rights as a trio and be ready to explain each in one sentence. Put the historical milestones on a short timeline from the Magna Carta to the Declaration. Make a three-row table of the generations with examples, whether the right is negative or positive, and the lead profession.
Then practise on real cases: for each right a client raises, name its generation and the social work role it calls for, whether advocacy, direct practice or community development. Keep the critiques in mind, since a balanced answer on human rights usually mentions at least one.
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