By: Myah Sundby
Dignity is a concept perceived in multiple ways, such as academically, personally, professionally, regionally, and worldwide. But what does it really mean? Dignity is our respect for ourselves, which we extend to others. It’s the respect every human deserves, regardless of their circumstances. This respect is consistent and cannot be earned. While we all desire to be treated with dignity, do we treat others the same way? Treating others with dignity means we maintain the same level of respect in every interaction, without exceptions, judgments, or assumptions. It means that we acknowledge and value their uniqueness, worthiness, beauty, and the extraordinary nature of their existence, not as we think they should be, but as they are. Even our constitution recognizes dignity as a fundamental right, which ensures that the government sees us as human beings, not just as entities or means to an end. When we violate an individual’s rights, we violate their dignity. Without dignity, a person is reduced to nothing. As Frank Barron once said, “Never take a person’s dignity; it means everything to them.” As a social worker, every interaction and encounter in our profession offers opportunities to treat all people with dignity.
“Never take a person’s dignity; it means everything to them.”
— Frank Barronr
When I first heard the word “dignity,” I associated it with shame. I spent the first three years of my life in Dillingham, Alaska, before my family moved to Eagle River, where we lived for 14 years. While I am grateful for the resources and life my parents provided me, leaving Dillingham meant I lost the chance to reconnect with my roots and discover where I came from. My family has lost touch with our culture and heritage, which was almost extinct before my father and mother met. I am a fourth-generation commercial fisherman from Bristol Bay, Alaska. For the last decade, I have flown to Naknek, driven a skiff through the same waters as my ancestors, and lived off the land for two months each year. I know the sandbars, weather, and waves like the back of my hand and can push the exact pounds of fish in a wooden skiff. Despite all this, I feel an incredible sense of shame because I know nothing about my culture. I am what people call a “city native” in a tone of disgrace. Despite being genetically a quarter Alaska native, I am the whitest person in every room and often receive judgmental looks and words. I never felt like I belonged in either world and experienced discrimination from both my peers and the native community.
Processing this feeling is challenging as I feel like I am split into two worlds, leaving me feeling lost and incomplete. However, I realized something valuable – the importance of dignity. When I called my mother, she shared her fear and shame from the first time she took us to the Alaska Native Medical Center. We had nowhere else to go because my parents were in poverty. Listening to her experience filled me with compassion and pain, and at that moment, the readings and videos finally clicked for me. Her experience made me realize that every person deserves dignity, including my mother, myself, the people at the hospital, fishermen, and every other individual. I should not feel ashamed of who I am, and I mistakenly only considered times when people treated me without dignity. We all deserve respect and should see ourselves and others as worthy, regardless of skin color, origin, or knowledge. This message is the essence of dignity – we accept, love, advocate, share, dialogue, care, and teach without any barriers. No one should be left behind, and we become stronger as a whole.
As a social worker, it’s my responsibility to set the precedent by embodying and providing dignity to those I work with. My response to the differences of those around me is critical to my career and who I am. Responding to others who may have different perceptions of dignity requires us to activate respect in our daily decisions. I strive to respond equally to individuals with contrasting or similar views. If I cannot provide a culture of mutual respect despite all differences, I am doing an injustice to all and the profession. This idea is vital because it is a core piece of social work. Integrating these values into my actions, thoughts, and behaviors in communication and dialogue sets solid groundwork for my career. I found Candi Castleberry Singleton’s statement particularly powerful, “Activate respect in your daily decisions,” because it reinforces the idea that respect is an active choice that we must consciously make every day. I firmly believe in treating everyone with the dignity and respect they deserve. In Candi’s TED Talk, doing so can help build trust, make a positive difference, build cultural awareness, find common ground, and work with others through their differences. Dignity is an ethic of social work, and when embodied and shown to others, the profession becomes an unstoppable force of good and social change.
Social work fights against the violation of rights and advocates for the autonomy and dignity of all. We do it for individuals, communities, countries, and the world. Social workers challenge traditional power dynamics and stand out by doing the right thing, even when it’s hard. By eliminating the comparison of power, we foster healthy and equal relationships and communication, instigating positive change.
As we read Borowski’s work, he further develops our understanding of dignity to emphasize revolutionary and theoretical practices. Borowski suggests that we utilize our power of advocacy and become purposeful agents. He also discusses dignity in an external context, where it is not just about how you perceive yourself but how you conform to the standards of your community. By personifying and promoting dignity, we create an environment that caters to basic needs and sets the foundation for mutual respect. This approach includes all individuals regardless of race, age, gender, or class. Borowski’s message is a form of radical social work as we see it leads to social change.
We strive to become a higher standard, and it applies not only to us but globally. On page two, Borowski discusses how the Australian and British codes follow the same ethics. This is quite revolutionary! One aspect that is often overlooked in society today is the type of respect we give to others. There is much debate about how to define dignity, which has become a source of contention. This level of analysis has become too critical, and dignity and respect have become nothing more than placeholders. This shift in focus to indignity renders the efforts towards promoting dignity relatively futile. We can observe this in direct practice, policy practice, and human rights advocacy (Borowski, 3). By shifting our focus towards promoting dignity, we can change the game and revolutionize social work and social change efforts. Striving for equality and respect can lead to better individuals, society, and a better world.
Photo from Vecteezy
Borowski emphasizes that dignity cannot “serve different masters for different purposes.” He highlights the importance of dignity in professions such as nursing, law, medicine, theology, and philosophy. He also notes that the literature must better represent a social work perspective. He aims to raise the consciousness of social workers about the various understandings of dignity and that all professions and individuals can come together for one purpose. Borowski urges us to minimize the gap and become revolutionaries in social work. His stance on human dignity is that, while it may be idealistic in nature, its implementation in our work and with those we work with is essential. We should strive to foster free autonomy, provide care and support, and enhance the lives of those in our care with unwavering dignity and respect. Doing so will help determine the future of social work, society, and the trajectory of our profession and the world. If you think about it, is a dollar worth more than a dime? But, as I didn’t speak of monetary means, this was a trick question. We are all equal in value. Thank you for reading.
Sources:
TED Talk: The Answer is Dignity and Respect, Article: On Human Dignity and Social Work by Allan Borowski.
Tesha Hudson
Myah,
Thank you for sharing such a personal experience with us. I remember being taught as a young child to “treat others the way that you would want to be treated.” I believe that can relate to the topic of dignity because you are right, we are all equal in value. As social workers we must remain vigilant of supporting everyone’s self- respect and never undermining them.
Myah Sundby
I love how you tied in the Golden Rule with dignity – very insightful! And your use of the word “support” for social workers really resonated with me. Thank you so much for sharing!
Abbigale Wheeler
Hey Myah, I really liked what you wrote about treating all people with dignity regardless of their circumstances. I think often it is very easy to forget that all people are going through different struggles and have different life circumstances and lived experiences. It is interesting that something so simple can make a world of difference, especially in the social work profession. It is incredibly important to remember that as humans we are all equally even with all of our differences, whether it is in our professional lives or in our personal lives.
Myah Sundby
Hey Abbigale! Your thoughts on this post are fantastic. I sometimes forget to take a step back and realize there might be more to the situation. I’m hoping to work on that. I couldn’t agree more with you that simplicity is key. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me!
Madison Sawyer
Social workers should definitely respect their clients dignity. Everyone is unique and different in their own way, and I think its fair to say that we may not always understand others people uniqueness, but that doesn’t mean we should bring them down because of it. One should not feel shunned just because they like certain things that others may not be able to appreciate. For example, I am a fan of lego movies/video games, some people may not feel as strongly about them as I do, but that is a personal taste which makes me unique.
We have an obligation to respond with respect to those around us, especially those who we are helping. Just because we may differ from some people, does not mean we should treat them differently than how we treat the people we connect with more. Sometimes this is a concept that falls through the cracks, but it deffinetly is a vital point for a social worker to understand and accept.
Myah Sundby
Hey Madison, I just wanted to say that your take on this topic is fantastic. Your contribution is valuable and much appreciated. Your personal insight resonated with me, and I can slightly relate (since you said movies, not the actual thing!) – I used to love playing with Legos as a kid. It’s funny that now, as an adult, I still get a kick out of building Lego sets just for fun. It’s so important to respect people’s differences, even when we don’t always understand them, and I think you expressed that sentiment perfectly. Your contribution has helped foster a respectful and inclusive dialogue, and I am grateful for that. Thanks so much for enhancing the post!
Brendon Mowery
Hey Myah,
Great job on your blog post. First off, I just wanted to say that I think you picked a great title, I love all of the pictures, the videos, colored text boxes, and quotes all make your blog look excellent. I really liked your definition of what dignity was, especially that part about it being regardless of the circumstances. Way too often we judge and form preconceived notions or ideas about someone, or a group of people based solely from our initial impression of them. Imagine if everyone just treated every other person with the same amount of respect and dignity. The world would be a vastly different place. I really like how you tied it in with you personal life and experience. As social workers it is important to continue showing dignity to those around us but also to ourselves.
Great job and keep up the excellent work,
Brendon M.
Kaylana Nations
Hello Myah,
I just wanted to say first off your blog is written beautifully. One part that stuck out to me was the debate on how to define dignity and how hyper-critical people have gotten. To me and to I’m sure many of us interested in social work dignity is simple. No matter what someone’s background is or how someone presents themselves we must treat people with the same and equal respect. I think the reason why people get so critical is because they may feel deep down that everyone doesn’t deserve that respect so they must hyper-analyze dignity so it will fit their lifestyle. If that makes sense. I feel there is a great power when treating people with dignity though. It allows everyone no matter their circumstance to keep growing. Even more powerful is the fact that during their entire growing process if a mistake is made you will still be treated with the same respect. In society, people fear failure and mistakes so much because people won’t take them seriously. With dignity, everyone’s journey, accomplishments, and mistakes are seen as worthy and met with respect. I think the story you shared was beautiful and It almost was like in the end, you gave yourself that dignity that you may have not gotten.
Myah Sundby
Hi Kaylana, thank you for your kind compliment! Your comment on this topic is insightful, especially considering the hyper-critical attitude mentioned. I personally agree that dignity seems to be a simple and expected concept for those in our profession. This is why the hyper-criticism caught me off guard, as I didn’t even think of it. Your emphasis on treating others with dignity is particularly compelling, especially when you mentioned the power behind it. Dignity has the potential to motivate and inspire change. The ability to teach and share this value with others is a true gift. Thank you for your contribution; it really made me think, and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!
Hailey Luder
Hello Myah,
Firstly, your blog was done incredibly well. All of the different multi-media elements really helped pull it together and make it more eye catching. I think your own personal story about how you came to realize that everyone deserves dignity was inspiring, and something that a lot of different people can relate to on some level. I do agree that as a social worker it would be your job to set the precedent, and I’m glad you understand this. I really enjoyed and connected with the line, “Dignity is an ethic of social work, and when embodied and shown to others, the profession becomes an unstoppable force of good and social change.” so well done on that. I also like that you put what social work stands for in its own box, and that you gave it such bright colors so that it stands out that much more. I even enjoyed your little clip of the color blobs passing down love, I thought it was very cute and encompassed the meaning behind this blog post well. I also appreciated you going into detail about the Borowski readings. All in all I’d say this was a great blog post.
Myah Sundby
Hello Hailey! Thank you, you are so kind. I especially had fun inserting the little color blobs. Aside from their main use in this post, I thought they were too cute and a lighthearted addition to the topic. I am glad that I was able to execute a message that could resonate with you! I also liked the sentence you pointed out. Our reading broadened my understanding and created that thought. Thank you for the attention to detail; it makes my heart happy to see someone else see it. I look forward to learning with you!
Hailey Luder
I agree with you about the little color blobs, they were a nice lighthearted addition. I’m glad that my comment gave you some joy, you did a great job.
Rayanne Alick
Hi Myah! I really enjoyed reading your blog. I just wanted to mention that I also feel deeply with you about not being connected with my culture or relating to any of the people in the community where I come from. I am half Yupik and half white, and growing up in the village I was always bullied for it. I moved away and living in the city just doesn’t feel like home, it actually feels much more lonely. I appreciate that you put your own personal story in this blog and find that it was very motivating that everyone deserves that same respect and dignity that you should have for yourself. I do appreciate the media as well I enjoyed the ted talk that you threw in with your blog
Myah Sundby
Hello Rayanne, thank you for your message expressing your gratitude! Your personal experience as a fellow Yu’pik is genuinely heartening to me. I am sorry to hear that you have endured bullying in the past, an experience that no one should ever have to go through. It is heartwarming to know that you are now surrounded by peers who admire and support you, and I am honored to be one of them. Your willingness to share your thoughts with me has made me feel considerably less alone, and I am deeply grateful for that. I am looking forward to the rest of the semester with you, and I am sure we will have many more opportunities to learn from and support each other.
Regan Gray
Hi Myah. I thought you did a good job defining what dignity is, and its importance not only in the area of social work but as a whole. Thank you for sharing your personal experiences with discovering the importance of dignity in your own life. I love your statement that everyone regardless of their knowledge, skin color, and origin, deserves to be treated with value and respect. I grew up in a Christian household, and there is a rule in the bible that my mother reminded us of daily. That rule is “Do unto others as you would have done unto you” which is also referred to as the golden rule throughout the bible. I think that valuing someone’s dignity is a big aspect of any career that requires interactions with others. I am personally not pursuing a degree in social work, but I have come to believe that learning these foundations that social workers build on will benefit me in any career path.
I also liked the Ted Talk video with Candi Singleton that you shared with us. I like how she explained how giving respect to others is a choice that everyone has to make, and how those choices will affect our personal reputations and the reputations of the places we work. I also like how she talks about giving others respect and treating them with respect as a personal value.
Myah Sundby
Hi Regan, thank you for sharing your thoughts! I appreciate the insights and spin you have added to the message. Your personal connection to the topic resonates with me, as my Mormon upbringing taught me the same bible verse. It sparked ideas for me while writing this blog. I also appreciate how you applied the lesson to other careers. It’s wonderful to see people actively applying these teachings, even if they are not pursuing a degree in social work. I think it’s great that all fields of education and professions can find commonalities and learn from each other. Thank you for your comment, and I’m happy to learn and share alongside you!