TY - JOUR
T1 - 'My son has lost his dignity': dignity of persons with profound Intellectual and multiple disabilities
AU - Olsman, E.
AU - Nieuwenhuijse, Appolonia M.
AU - Willems, Dick L.
PY - 2022/2/26
Y1 - 2022/2/26
N2 - The objective of this study is to describe and evaluate understandings of dignity of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Intrinsic dignity cannot be lost and is inherent to being a human. Also, dignity is the extent to which these persons have enough positive experiences (individual dignity), have dignity in their relationships with familiar others (relational dignity), or with unknown others (societal dignity). While intrinsic dignity sometimes fails to include experiences of these persons and their family members, the other understandings are gradual, which means that these persons can lose their dignity. The understandings express a concern: the life of the person with severe disabilities is, respectively, worth respecting, living, sharing and caring about. We conclude that they can have dignity and that, in case of disagreement, it is important to clarify which dignity is meant and to make explicit the concerns at stake.
AB - The objective of this study is to describe and evaluate understandings of dignity of persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Intrinsic dignity cannot be lost and is inherent to being a human. Also, dignity is the extent to which these persons have enough positive experiences (individual dignity), have dignity in their relationships with familiar others (relational dignity), or with unknown others (societal dignity). While intrinsic dignity sometimes fails to include experiences of these persons and their family members, the other understandings are gradual, which means that these persons can lose their dignity. The understandings express a concern: the life of the person with severe disabilities is, respectively, worth respecting, living, sharing and caring about. We conclude that they can have dignity and that, in case of disagreement, it is important to clarify which dignity is meant and to make explicit the concerns at stake.
U2 - 10.1080/09687599.2022.2045190
DO - 10.1080/09687599.2022.2045190
M3 - Article
SN - 0968-7599
VL - Online
SP - 1
EP - 18
JO - Disability and Society
JF - Disability and Society
ER -