INTRODUCTION
Research rationales ( Lan Oanh)
Humans have always been the core, the goal, and the driving force for social development Their ideas and behaviors decide what kind of society Without them, society will not develop The most important factor that creates human value is human dignity
In modern society, it is more important for people to improve and cultivate their dignity because it not only makes people respect them but also makes them respect themselves In addition, living a dignified life makes everyone’s life happier as well as more meaningful If people are happy, there would be no bullies It means that the country will be more developed and more progressive.
As society grows, human dignity is the most worrying issue More and more people follow a pragmatic lifestyle as well as make money as a measure of human value They judge other people by money and social status Moreover, many people trample on the interests of others just for personal gain.
For instance, youth become involved in social evils such as school violence, a lack of respect for teachers, a lack of humanity, a large number of cadres, party members, and civil servants have degraded in terms of quality, morality, lifestyle, embezzlement, and harassment of the people The government has not fully addressed and has even ignored it Despite the fact that time has recently been heavily condemned for social life, it does not appear to be decreasing much.
- Explain the theory of human dignity that has been studied before
A debate between philosophers who claim that human dignity is a metaphysical property possessed by all human beings serving as the fundamental foundation for the whole of morality (Kass 2002, President’s Council on Bioethics 2008) and philosophers and scientists who dismiss talk about dignity as useless, stupid or even dangerous (Macklin 2003, Pinker 2008)
But debates such as this suffer from various shortcomings They address some problems such as the role of human dignity, the area of bioethics and applied only to contested topics and abstract values such as the sanctity of life or with human capacities such as autonomy, rationality, or moral agency While all of these debated topics are certainly important, they somehow seem to miss our primary interest in human dignity They did not mention the reasons why dignity is more and more degrading
In this study, therefore, we propose to look more closely at reasons for dignity violations and degrading by using qualitative research methods in data collection and analysis, to find out the reasons that directly affect the deterioration of human dignity and offer solutions to improve it.
Research questions and Hypothesis ( Nhân)
1.2.1 Research questions a) What kind of factors affect human dignity? b) Does the decline of human dignity have a harm on social value? c) What kind of solutions should people make to remedy the situation of human dignity?
1.2.2 Hypothesis a) Living in an uneducated, magical power of money, and lack of self- control affects human dignity. b) Human dignity is more and more depressed, resulting in ruining social morality. c) Family, school as well as self awareness’s impacts are extremely critical to train and improve human dignity.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Definition and importance of human dignity (Nguyen Thi Nhung)
Dignity is the totality of qualities that each human being possesses, in other words, Human dignity is the essential right to clothing and shelter, the right to free self- expression within the context of social cooperation, and the right to basic equality before the law.
Human Dignity is the Basic respect of persons It means the respect that will allow them to develop their own potential, to make some personal contribution to common goals, and to feel at home in an environment within which they are known and acknowledged.
Human Dignity means that Human being has personal worth Human dignity emphasizes that social or biological handicaps affecting an individual do not lessen his or her personal worth A person with dignity is a person with a clear conscience, a physical and mental need, always fulfills his obligations to society and others, respects the rules and ethical standards, respects the dignity of himself and those of others. People with dignity are valued and respected by society People who lack dignity or lose their own dignity will be underestimated by society, despised and despised, denounced, and condemned.
Human Dignity does not admit degrees and is universal regardless of gender, age, religion, creed, race, or color While Human Dignity is a man possessing freedom and reason, therefore, cannot be used as an object or as a means for an end.
First of all, the concept of human dignity isn’t limited to human rights In fact, for centuries, religions around the world have recognized a form of human dignity as we now understand it Most religions teach that humans are essentially equal for one reason or another When everyone is equal, they are all equally deserving of basic respect and rights, at least in theory
In addition, Human dignity justifies human rights People assigned a higher value get preferential treatment We’ve seen what happens in places where human dignity isn’t seen as inherent and human rights aren’t universal While the privileged few in these societies flourish, society as a whole suffers significantly If a new group takes power and also fails to recognize human dignity, the cycle of destruction continues, only with different participants.
Anyway, human dignity is an extremely valuable quality, as in the saying, "losing money is little, losing dignity is truly losing", so dignity is something that people always value Human dignity is the face of ourselves, so every person always tries to have the clearest and most elegant dignity.
What qualities do people need? (Nguyen Thi Nhung)
Geniuses know what they want and go after it Get control of your life and schedule Have something specific to accomplish each day Besides, demonstrating generosity toward the people with whom you work will set you apart from peers who are overly competitive or focused on self-advantage Always share ideas and information freely with your teammates to enable them to do the best job they can do.
It’s essential that you do your best to meet your obligations to your colleagues If you promise to do something, you should try very hard to fulfill that promise. Sometimes things change so it’s no longer desirable to move forward with something or circumstances may prevent you from doing something exactly when you said you’d do it But in either of these cases, it’s your responsibility to discuss the problem with your colleagues and, together, determine the best way forward There’s nothing quite as disappointing as relying on someone to do something and having them go incommunicado or disappear on you.
It’s important to be respectful of the people with whom you work Treat your colleagues as you would like them to treat you Being kind to one another makes the workplace a happy place to be, smooths the team’s interactions, and helps everyone to be highly productive When your teammates are struggling, show them compassion and help them to get through tough times.
Being honest means telling the truth and being straightforward and open with people A very wise man once said, “Tell the truth, but never a harsh truth.” People with personal integrity always try to do the right thing, regardless of whether anyone would ever know what they’ve done They have a strong moral compass It takes courage to do the right thing whatever the consequences Integrity is a valuable quality in everyone, but it’s vital in leaders Your honesty and integrity will engender trust in others.
It’s crucial that being strong-willed can solve problems on their own and speak up for themselves They are passionate about the things they love They can follow extreme ends to reach their goals and passions because they are neither afraid of challenges or difficulties that can put them off too easily Rather they love challenges and are persistent They try to continue to their chosen path with high willpower They actually like to do things on their own and don't like much interference They like to work freely and independently Also, they trust their instincts and follow their own voice They are confident enough to not only make their own decisions but have that persistent ability to keep going In addition, they are comfortable with themselves and can take care of their own tasks, and even can come forward to help others They don’t need reassurance.
How are people treated? (Ngân)
Dignity is a measure of human worth, to express each person’s position and importance in society The more society develops, the more people’s lives go up, and the worse people’s dignity degrades
It can be seen that the morality of people, specifically younger ones, is deteriorating to an alarming level Nowadays, they tend to live a life with a materialistic lifestyle and individual freedom, disregard fundamental moral values, take no notice of culture, and lack respect for people and society.
Today, a large part of the younger generation lives a life that is selfish, indifferent, and insensitive Moreover, their lives lack love, and they do not care about their responsibilities to society and country Due to the benefits, many of them are willing to trample on humanity and defame traditional cultural values that are wonderful throughout the nation’s history
Day by day, the corruption of dignity as well as the erosion of morality is increasing, becoming more and more serious and directly threatening the security of social order, the culture, and the traditional morality of each country.
Even more, the behavior among people, even in the family or in the clan, is calculated by lives, and material values are placed on top, above the blood-related relatives In addition, the phenomenon of violence appears in many different fields of life, the violence in the family, in school, in public places, …
The degradation of human dignity is also reflected in uncultural behavior, defying the law, especially insolence, negative reactions in the reminding of teachers, adults,parents, … that are taken by a part of students, and young people.
The criteria of human dignity (Ngân)
Dignity is an important factor that determines the “quality” of human-and-human relationships It affects all aspects of life, the family relationship, the social connection, even in business or workplace relationships.
Human dignity is expressed through the behaviors among people as well as the way a person treats another in life A person with good character and dignity will be liked and respected by everyone.
Through time, qualities are also upgraded and developed continuously Each era passed, dignity, as well as related standards, will change The way people judge others will also be different Nowadays, a person is considered a “good” person if she has all qualities such as humility, honesty, courage, responsibility, patriotism, respect, patience, confidence, optimism, …
Loyalty is the ability to put others before yourself and stick with them in good times and bad Show loyalty to friends, family, and significant others by being honest, trustworthy, supportive, and generous Maintain healthy boundaries with those around you so you can be loyal to them in a productive way.
It basically can be seen that if you are faithful and devoted to someone or something, you're loyal Someone who is loyal is reliable and always true, like your trusty dog A loyal friend supports you all the time, no matter what.
Trust is a fundamental cornerstone of successful relationships It creates stability, transparency, and respect It is a character trait that people value and look for in others It is synonymous with integrity, being honorable, and being fair Moreover, this is a criterion that is considered as a standard to judge human dignity whether they are good or not
Being a trustworthy person doesn’t just happen easily At least, it takes commitment, dedication, and a choice to live an honest life To trust yourself and to be trusted by others, you have to be accountable in all areas of your life
Sympathy involves an attempt to understand someone's problems from a different perspective than your own Sympathy is simply when you feel bad or upset for someone else when they’re going through something Even if this is something you struggle with, you can support your friends and loved ones by learning to express sympathy.
For example, when someone suffers the loss of a loved one, a sympathetic person will find it easy to comfort that individual and make them feel better even though the world seems like it’s crashing down around them.
Compassion literally means “to suffer together” or also is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.
Practice showing compassion by first ignoring differences and finding commonalities, which will help you relate to what someone else is going through. Therefore, you can easily give better advice, which may turn out to be useful things to help them find solutions.
To show compassion for others, people should use their words, respect privacy, show kindness, express themselves, and especially encourage others Sometimes, just a touch is welcome, for example, a hug when they are crying, or touching their shoulder, which makes others feel better for sure.
Reasons why human dignity is degrading (Tao Thi Hong Nhung)
We can see that a lot of criteria of human dignity are set They are appreciated,respected, and considered as the noblest values of human beings Nowadays, life is more improved and developed It is thought that people will be better as well as human dignity will be more perfect However, the reality is not as expected Human quality is increasingly degraded, people are becoming more cruela and evila Hence,what causes the degradation of human dignity? Now I will give you 3 basic causes leading to the degradation of human dignity.
- Living in an uneducated environment
The very first reason is they are living in an uneducated environment And family is the first environment that affects human dignity Children spend nearly all of their time with their families, especially in their early years They develop their confidence, socialization skills, morals, values, and views on life through their interaction with them Proof of the importance of this can be seen in the differences between some children As children who have been abused by their parents or treated aggressively, they seem to be mentally unstable compared with their peers On the other hand, those who are brought up in a warm family and a convenient environment end up more confident and secure in life
Nowadays, parents are so busy with their jobs to earn money and support their families As a result, they fail to inculcate discipline in their children, endow their children with less emotional attention, make few demands on their children for better behavior, and allow them to regulate their own activities Consequently, the youth are being diverted by external forces and engage themselves in nightclubs, rocking, unwanted discussions and so many undesirable affairs This sort of isolation, lack of love, and affection from family have been endangering and spoiling their lives, resulting in unrest and agitation Parental behavior affects the child’s personality, character and is also responsible for developing moral values
Today parents are more concerned with their children’s academic achievement than cultural, traditional, and moral values They usually scold their children when academic achievement is not good This causes children to become shy and tend to think negatively.
The present system of education teaches children to be more materialistic and worldly rather than socialistic and spiritualism Education is becoming professional which never teaches moral perspectives of education For example, in Viet Nam, Civic education is still a subordinate subject, and students are led dominantly toward math,physics, or chemistry Consequently, the understanding of the law of young people inViet Nam is very limited and many faults happen because of this ignorance.Nevertheless, schools place more emphasis on marks rather than students’ development values As a result, in order to get high scores and achieve good results, students are willing to do illegal things such as copying, cheating, and buying points and hurting others to achieve what they want.
- The magical power of money
Previous studies have shown that when the material living conditions are inadequate when the basic material needs to ensure human existence are not met, the possibility of degrading human dignity is very high and easy to happen In that situation, it is easy to lose their self-worth However, today we are living in a materialistic world where the standard of living has risen but at the same time the standard of life is waning unabatedly Man’s incessant greed and lust for money has been the prime cause for the loss of moral values Nowadays people are primarily interested in acquisition of money and status The presents day world is highly materialistic and the evers increasing greed for money Never content with what they have, they forever strive to amass money and material goods by any means They want to acquire more and more even if they have to do bad things.
Also, because people place material values as central in their life, many social fields are commercialized such as education, healthcare They forget the purpose of education which is to educate and help people become a person with good qualities. They also forget that the role of health care is to save lives Instead, they consider profit as the most important target Therefore, only rich people can afford to get a good education and attend top-quality schools, only rich people have the opportunities to be cured and saved The alarming problem is that schools are turned into businesses There are many teachers doing unethical things just for material gain like buying and selling points, overcharging or tutoring, and then forcing students to participate in order to make a profit without ensuring the quality of teaching This part of teachers has taken advantage of their positions to turn education into a money- making tool Therefore, we can see that material gains have greatly affected human dignity.
We want to mention the subjective factor, that is themselves Adolescence is a time period when youth begin to analyze issues, develop view points, rationalize, rebel and struggle to develop a personality of their own Therefore, whatever they see in the society they try to imitate the same But the age of youth is such an age where youngsters don't really possess the ability to distinguish between what is beneficial for them and what is harmful It is an age where we are attracted towards doing many new things, without knowing the results of those actions in our future As a result, it is eassy to take a youth towards crime and immoral behavior like smoking, drinking, delivering abusing words, quarreling, sex abuse etc Moreover, they don’t know how to live well and can’t make a plan for their future They only focus on their hobby, they want to show their personalities As a result, it’s very easy for them to get the wrong way.
In addition, mobile phones, Media, internet blogs and websites, cinemas, play an important role in honing and shaping the personality of the youth However, many media images, movies and games that not only neutralize violence but often glorify it.There is so much violence, vulgarity in all these entertainment avenues that have a negative impact on them We generally see small kids using mobiles and the internet from the start of the day till late night Due to this emerging addiction, they have lost moral and ethical values.
METHODOLOGY
Data Collection Methods (Lan Oanh)
Data Collection Tools: This research has used mainly written document sources such as previous researches, scientific magazines, newspapers, studys related to human dignity, etc The data collection process has been conducted through some reliable websites on the Internet including Wikipedia, google scholar or re seek, etc.
The first step is to find relevant documents by searching keywords in this topic,for example degrading of human, reasons lead to degrading human dignity, human dignity, violated human dignity, etc with the tools mentioned above Then, choose appropriate documents or information of available scientific discoveries These data have to ensure specificity, accuracy, and ability to serve research Besides, there is some data collected based on actual observations and knowledge of the group.
Data Analysis Methods
3.2.1 Data Analysis Method: Quality Analysis
Before analyzing specifically, we implemented data organization which means classifying and organizing data sets to make them more useful in the research process.And then, using a content analysis method combined observations to go into detailed research issues and give results, meet the aim of research and some solutions for the topic.
RESULTS OF RESEARCH
Specific evidence human dignity is degrading in Viet Nam
4.1.1 Living in an uneducated environment (Ngân)
Along with the development of the country, with great achievements in improving the quality of life in Vietnamese families, there are still many issues that need to pay attention to and give solutions such as divorce, child marriage, marriage through illegal brokers, human trafficking, … are strongly complicated Even more, social evils are still continuously infiltrated to families, especially young people: family violence, child abuse causing anxiety and frustration recession in lifestyle and morality, … And one of the key reasons leading to this decrease in human dignity is the educational environment
That environment, cooperated by family, school, and society, still has a variety of shortcomings Therefore, education on lifestyle and ethics has not been maximally effective, moreover, it has a series of serious consequences People call that a moral degradation problem.
The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism cooperated with the General Statistics Office, The Institute of Family and Gender, UNICEF in 2006 with 9,300 samples gave the following results: There are about 21.2% of couples Husband/Wife occurs violent phenomena such as: hitting, scolding, slapping, The percentage of couples with one of the above-mentioned violent phenomena (both with husband and wife) accounts for about 10.8% The rate of couples experiencing 2 incidents of violence is about 7.3%. There are 41.8% of parents using “screaming” and 14% using the form of “spanning” when their children commit mistakes.
From that, several other survey data have shown that, particularly in Vietnam.Family violence affects personality development of children accounted for 91.0%;causes harm to health and physical: 87.5%; causes psychological and spiritual damage: 89.4%; causing family breakdown: 89.7%; disturbing social order and safety:89% And in their childhood, the consequences are very dangerous because it makes them lose faith in family members, thereby becoming bored of studying, falling into social evils, or committing illegal acts.
The fact that people’s behaviors in real life are formed by imitation Violence between husband and wife, parents with children makes them think that it is right to commit violence And, this can lead to even higher rates of using violence in the future.
Even in school, violence has become more and more common and it is due to the family's situation of a child The reason comes from the influence of trendings in living environments; parents do not pay attention to children’s moral education, their actions, and their lifestyle, as well as teachers, do not teach children about how to live, what is right, and curriculum in schools does not really teach about things related to reality but only includes theories.
According to statistics of the other survey results, compiled by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism from 64 provinces and cities in Vietnam: Among 5200 students, there will have a fight; among 11000 students, 1 student will be forced to absent from school because of violence; more than 75% of violence case is among students and young people.
Children are easily "damaged" in morality by not receiving regular supervision and education from adults It is not common for children to drop out of school, participate in gangs and steal property,
In Ho Chi Minh City, from 2018 to the end of the first quarter of 2021, 516 criminal cases recorded were committed by 884 people under the age of 18 Of which, murdering cases was 11, stealing property was 47, 70 intentional injury cases, 165 robbery cases, 17 drug trafficking, and possession drug cases, and many other crimes.
Another study on socio-economic factors affecting the crime rate of Nguyen Duy Minh, Master of University of Finance and Marketing, gave a number of reasons such as inflation, population growth rate number, unemployment rate, labor force,urbanization rate, school attendance rate, security, and defense spending, internet usage rate, subsidies, fertility rate, GDP growth rate /person, GDP/person, income tax, population density About the factor, education level, this research has shown that: GPD/person, increasing education level tends to reduce the murder rate Generally, people with a high level of education usually have higher incomes, and these people are likely to be guilty less often than those with less education or lower incomes. Specifically, education level is the cause, accounting for about 0.032/1 compared with all other factors; Education level also take negative effects on those who commit sex crimes In other words, those who have a lower level of education than those who do not If the percentage of secondary school student increase about 1%, the crime rate about prostitution will decrease by 1.7% Thus, it can be seen that if the proportion of people who are fully educated increases, the proportion of people who commit sex crimes will decrease, relatively; Education level is also one of the reasons affecting the rate of people using stimulants and banned substances Almost all people using it are because of not receiving a full understanding of the harmful impact of banned materials, which makes them easily allured According to this research, education level accounted for 0.005/1 compared to the total percentage of other factors
Nowadays, Vietnam has no national statistics on illegal drug users However, the results of the social survey in 2017 by the General Statistics Office in 6 provinces and cities show that: The rate of illegal drug users is about: 0.66% of the population of the surveyed age (from 15 years old to 64 years old); 8% drug users are under 18 years old using for the first time; 60% drug users are under 25 years old using in the first time
In summary, one of those leading to moral degradation is the lack of educational coordination in three environments: family-school – society There still exist inadequacies such as school violence; negative direction in the relationship between teachers and students, parents and children, … Therefore, the effectiveness of moral and lifestyle education for the young generation has not been in practice as we expected
4.1.2 The magical power of money (Nhân)
Money is critical to human life Nothing is more powerful than money Nguyen
Du, our well-known poet, in his Kim Van Kieu’s story, wrote:
“Trong tay có sẵn đồng tiền Thì lòng đổi trắng thay đen khó gì”
(Whenever you met money at your own disposal You can change your state of mind easily)
In fact, if we have no money, we can't buy goods, clothes, and other necessities we need Without money, humans sink into indigency How can we spend our free time pleasantly on a rainy evening without a smartphone in front of us? But how can we satisfy our needs, our desires, and our pleasure when we can’t afford to buy them? Thanks to money, we can improve our spiritual activities easily We can attend any school, university we like to further our knowledge If our parents are wealthy and powerful, we may be sent abroad to study “Money makes the mare go” is a common Vietnamese saying Moreover, we can enjoy pure happiness by contributing our money to Charity funds to help the poor, the wretched, and the victims of other disasters.
In a market economy, everyone is looking for a way to make a lot of money, which is justifiable, but some people have blindly worshiped money, considered
“money first” and looked for all sorts of tricks To have a lot of money, create all conditions for the opposite side of the coin to promote When money is on the throne, it is also when morality degrades As a result, we live in a materialistic society and are trained from our earliest years to be acquisitive Our possession, “mine” and “yours” are clearly labeled from early childhood When we grow old enough to earn a living, it does not surprise us to discover that success is measured in terms of the money we earn This materialistic outlook has seriously influenced human dignity.
- Living in an uneducated environment
The very first reason is they are living in an uneducated environment And family is the first environment that affects human dignity Children spend nearly all of their time with their families, especially in their early years They develop their confidence, socialization skills, morals, values, and views on life through their interaction with them Proof of the importance of this can be seen in the differences between some children As children who have been abused by their parents or treated aggressively, they seem to be mentally unstable compared with their peers On the other hand, those who are brought up in a warm family and a convenient environment end up more confident and secure in life