Human Rights and Dignity: in Between Morality and Culture by Zinaida
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Human Rights and Dignity: In between Morality and Culture By Zinaida Besirevic A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Elliot Turiel, Chair Professor Sarah W. Freedman Professor Samera Esmeir Fall 2018 Copyrighted 1 Abstract Human Rights and Dignity: In-between Morality and Culture Zinaida Besirevic Doctor of Philosophy in Education University of California, Berkeley Professor Elliot Turiel, Chair This study explored how adolescents (aged 13 to 17) and young adults (aged 18 to 25) reason about the concepts of human rights and human dignity in the abstract, how they judge and justify different types of human rights violations in real-life contexts, and what systems of satisfaction of justice they endorse. Two countries were compared: Turkey and Bosnia, both secular, liberal democracies, but also the only European countries with a Muslim majority population, and both divided by conflict. Based on the data from 98 in-depth clinical interviews with randomly selected participants, 44 in each country, four dimensions of comparison were analyzed: 1) differences between reasoning in the abstract versus reasoning about specific contexts; 2) differences in reasoning related to age; 3) differences in reasoning related to country; 4) differences in reasoning about different types of rights violations. Participants were first asked straightforward questions about their conceptualization of human rights, and the principles thereof, as well as the relationship of rights to human dignity. Next, they were asked to provide judgment and the underlying reasoning about four real-life situations of human rights violations, including: torture prisoners suspected of terrorism; discrimination of women who wear a headscarf; an unprotected labor of undocumented workers; and the segregation of the Roma ethnic minorities. Qualitative coding categorized the participant’s justification responses into three cognitive domains of reasoning: the moral, the social-conventional and the personal. Quantitative analysis in R included fitting multivariate logistic regression models adjusted for within subject design, in combination with linear regression analysis and Chi-squared analyses where necessary. The analysis measured the likelihood of positive, negative or indecisive judgment, as well as the likelihood of domain-based justifications. Fixed effects were age, country, and the type of human rights violation. The findings showed that reasoning about human rights was predominantly within the moral domain, and that reasoning within specific contexts involved a different and more multifaceted process to reasoning in the abstract. Age related differences were situation-specific, indicating that the development of moral reasoning can be impacted by one’s experiences of the social environment. Country related differences in judgments and justification were due to different prioritization of concerns in different countries. The participants defined dignity mostly as a moral concept and were more likely to connect it to human rights when they reasoned within different contexts rather than in the abstract. Judgments about restorative or retributive punishment were different and related to age, country and types of violations. These findings show how reasoning about rights, dignity and satisfaction of justice can be impacted by age, by cultural background, and by the specific context and type of rights violations. i To Nusret and Besima, may they rest in peace. Bismillah. To Zarina and Lennox, who illuminate my life. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank, first of all, my family. My son Lennox, my daughter Zarina and my partner Graeme who were with me at every step of this challenging journey, providing love, support, fun and the much-needed laughter. To them I owe more time and more attention. One day, I hope my children will understand why I was often absent even when I was present in the room, and why I could never do only one thing at a time. They are the ones I want to impress the most. I want to thank my brother Nihad, for always being just one call away, at any small hour of the night. I would like to thank my committee for their guidance and wisdom. I am grateful to Elliot Turiel for bringing me into the fascinating scholarly world he had built, teaching me how to be at home in it, and doing it with so much kindness and patience and most importantly, with his awesome sense of humor. It is an incredible privilege to call Elliot my mentor and my friend. I am grateful to Sarah Freedman for being, truly, an immense inspiration, and a source of emotional and intellectual support beyond compare. Sarah was, and remains a guiding star for what sort of a scholar I want to be, one that has an open and a quick mind, an eagle’s eye, and huge, enormous heart. I am grateful to Samera Esmeir, for her sharp and insightful feedback, her support to the very end, and one of the best classes I ever took. I am also very grateful to the UC Berkeley International Office for the continuous support they provided in many different ways. I would also like to acknowledge the support and encouragement I received my friends and colleagues: Christyna Serrano Crenshaw, who has become my closest friend, has made such a crucial difference to this entire experience. We took care of each other’s kids, work, moods, possessions, and ideas, and we did so naturally. To gain a sister en route to gaining a doctorate is a gift beyond words. Zuhra Teja, a kindred spirit and a fellow fighter in same battle lines, our friendship is a special treasure and one that will only continue to grow. Logan Manning, and Jane of course, who have been my safe harbor for years, and are like a family. Zorina Manoni, my childhood friend and a jewel in my life. Amy, my travelling buddy and a co-adventurer, Zehlia, my feminist voice of reason and a rare kind of an ally in the tricky world of academia. Last, but not least, I would like to thank those who are no longer with me, though I feel them smiling at me, beckoning from a different time; a more innocent and beautiful time of my childhood. Now, as a developmental psychologist I know, that childhood is a repository of strength, and one that might last a whole life time. My parents left me too abruptly, but they had given me the love, the vision and the stamina needed to wrestle though an extraordinary journey. I never for one moment forgot whose daughter I am, and had kept me looking forever up, towards the stars and brighter horizons. Hvala, mama i tata. iii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Overview ................................................................................................................... 1 Background of the problem ..................................................................................................... 1 Chapter organization ............................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 2: Literature review ....................................................................................................... 4 Human rights and dignity outside of psychology ..................................................................... 4 Human Dignity ....................................................................................................................... 6 Research related to Human Rights within psychology ............................................................. 8 Research about dignity within psychology……………………………………………………..9 Social Domain Theory .......................................................................................................... 10 Statement of research study................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 3: Method .................................................................................................................... 17 Study sites, rationale and background ................................................................................... 17 Chapter 4: Results about adolescents’ and adults’ reasoning about human rights in general ...... 28 Chapter 5: Results on human rights violation situations ............................................................ 32 Chapter 6: Results on conceptions of human dignity ................................................................. 40 Chapter 7: Discussion ............................................................................................................... 44 Reasoning underpinning human rights is predominantly in the moral domain ....................... 45 Considering human rights in context ..................................................................................... 48 Dignity and its connection to human rights ........................................................................... 54 Conceptions of punishment for human rights abuses ............................................................. 56 Developmental differences in reasoning about human rights ................................................. 58 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 59 References ................................................................................................................................ 62 Tables ......................................................................................................................................