Dignity is the quality of a person who has worth and honor in a living society.

Dignity is the quality of a person who has worth and honor in a living society. Human dignity means human worth or honor in self and other eyes. Many discussions around the world is going on about moral and political issues. The discussion is on our everyday reflections of how everyone should be treated being a basic background assumption of human dignity. For instance human being as the social animal having a unique characteristics shared by no other creatures on earth (David McCabe). Adoption was not very much popular till Second World War even though it was legalized in 1920’s in Australia. It’s an issue which was widely practiced in Australia in the 1960s, 70s and 80s When a child is forcefully removed from a mother womb without her will for adoption of born to young women who are often unwed this practice is called force adoption. This practice left women traumatized, emotional and even deprived them from the chance to raise their own child to adult. Many women had to face the challenges in society as many of them were threatened, intimidated not only by society but also from their own parents. This evidence suggests that this has severely impacted their own sense of dignity. Because of this reason forced adoption is an issue making human dignity as a critical factor. This case study analyses an issue of force adoption, the problem they faced, the way government apologized for their loss. This can be done by focusing on certain perspective related to this issue. Firstly, talking about the first perspective is when there is false distinction between two type of mother’s capacity to raise their children such as mothers who are young and unwed and mothers who are married and financially secure. Here in this perspective the practice of force adoption didn’t allow these young mothers from demonstrating their inherent dignity. In second perspective women felt shame and guilt while they found out they were pregnant and were forced to give up their child that resulted in their loss of dignity. In order to restore their lost dignity national apology was intended. In this essay we will also analyze how the forced adoption is an issue to the multidimensional part of the human dignity by being the way they are, their capacity and also about their own self-worth.
Perspective 1 occurs when a child is separated from a mother who has to hold back from demonstrating their innate dignity. This perspective basically explains about how there is untrue distinction between the capacity of raising the child between young, unwed mother and married highly stabled mother. Between 1950s-1970s there was an estimation of 225000 babies in Australia from around 150000 unwed mothers that were forcefully removed and separated from their mothers for adoption. This perspective is grounded to human dignity which appeals different understanding of human such as being the member of the human species and by possessing of one or more human capacity to do anything as explained in module 2 by ACU Brisbane lecturer David Kirchhoffer. He classifies the various approaches to human dignity into two main categories within category 1 approaches, we can identify two subsets of understandings
1. 1A Dignity that humans always already have by being a member of the human species: Humans have inherent worth simply because they are human.
2. 1B Dignity that humans always already have based on possession of one or more human capacities: Humans have inherent worth because they are distinctive and special.
Similarly, within category 2 approaches
1. 2A Dignity that humans can acquire (or lose) through a sense of self-worth: I have dignity when I believe in my own worth.
2. 2B Dignity that humans can acquire (or lose) through moral (or immoral) behaviour: Humans acquire dignity when they behave well in society, but can also lose it when they behave badly.
As perspective one mainly focuses on force adoption where there is distinction between two type of mother one being young and unwed and the other being rich and married to raise a child. This perspective makes a false distinction of capacity of mother to raise a child. Human beings are the same species in eye of god who have capacity to do different things in different ways as described in 1B approaches of human dignity. Swain (2011) argues that the force adoption that happened in between 1950s-1970s is not the fault of mothers. Instead, it was the inadvertent consequences of few mothers who challenged the adoption of their child in highly publicised court cases. For example, in one of the case of swains’ article of Murray/Mace the birth mother increasingly hysterical behaviours to regain custody of her child were taken as an evidence of her being an unfit mother which tries to challenge 1b approach of human dignity saying that human are distinctive and special and possesses one or more human capacities. Even though she had done abortion before showing her to be incapable of loving her child. Miss Murray had never seen her child after it was born later her mother instinct aroused and she wanted her baby back showing that she had capacities that every human have for loving her child even though her child was adopted. In response of her case to get her child back final decision made was “No matter what the circumstances were in the life of the child’s mother, no one can take away from her the feeling that every mother has for her own child When we begin to dictate to human beings on the possession of their own children we are heading fast for that form of government in which the State is supreme. The State is not supreme. It cannot obliterate the love a mother has for her own child.” In this case there is protection of unwed mother from exploitation, and she is enable to make a free and informed decision about her babies fate.
In early twentieth century adoption was considered as the way primary way for institutional care. After Second World War adoption was widely accepted and supported as social policy with increased number of adoptive parent. Strong societal support for adoption in the 1950s and 1960s was one factor to encourage an environment in which unmarried women were separated from their children. Deinstitutionalisation in Australia was not so straight forward around that time. Australia was slower in adopting child protection legislation, and severe economic downturns towards the end of the nineteenth century greatly increased rates of poverty and the numbers of destitute families. Since, adoption was widely accepted by every people to make up their family had made those single mothers to relinquish their child even if they don’t want to. Following the atrocities of World War II, Freudian developmental theory encouraged adoptions and argued for the early separation of mothers from their babies. This philosophy has come to be known as the ‘clean break’ or ‘blank slate theory’. This encouragement in adoption deprived the mother from giving love and affection to her child she could never prove her capacities to raise her child which violates 1B approach of human dignity as mentioned above.

Perspective 3 is the perceived immoral actions of unmarried pregnant that led them to be treated without dignity. This perspective looks those women from social perspective making them feel shame and guilt about they did and even deemed those women in some situation to be unfit mother. As this perspective is seen from various social groups of people making this a social norm to consider that unwed young mothers are unfit mothers which question various approaches of human dignity. However, this perspective mainly focuses on 1A and 2B approaches of human dignity. 1A being member of human species of giving birth to baby and 2B is acquires or losing dignity through moral or immoral behavior as explained in module 2 by ACU Brisbane lecturer David Kirchhoffer.

Perspective 3 is the common scenario where young unmarried women had fallen pregnant, but was judged unfit to care for her child by medical, religious and civil professionals, sometimes even her own parents. According to Browne(2012) in her article when she had to learn about the anguish and desperation of women being unmarried and pregnant, and the supports offered in moralistic and judgmental way in 1950s-60s. At that period a single pregnant women was untouchable, undesirable, a fallen woman, a slut, no better than she should be. These were the ways women were considered back days by society showing that being unmarried and pregnant was a sin. At that period of Australia was in middle of baby boom that supported population growth from immigration and pro natalist policies but not from the women who were outside matrimony relation. Before out-of-wedlock pregnancy was known as ‘the fate worse than death’, and sometimes pregnancy also resulted in suicide which tries to show 2B approach of human dignity that those mother lost in societies view . But then, there was always an option of adoption. Women unwilling to for adoption always had forced adoption. They had to sign the consent of adoption cause of stress and under pressure because the father of child had left her to marry another which tends to lose her own self-worth by choosing forced adoption as only the way to regain her status in society. Society people never support unmarried pregnancy they used to think that the women are immature for making those mistakes and are not fit to be a perfect mother. They were regarded as dangerous mother and dangerous child who were doubly deviant with moral panic in the society (Reeves1993). In Reeves (1993) article its suggested that “reaction to moral panic over the threat that certain behaviours were deemed to be posing to a stable social order.” This shows that women who lost their worth in society were trying to maintain it by doing a force adoption. Later the group of people looked at the number of adoption that were top that time they were fixed with the social attitudes which were promoted by powerful institutions such as media, church, governments and even the family members accepted it. “Adoption was in the best interests of both mother and child it was believed” as said by Browne(2012). This lead to regain the self-worth of both the baby and mother, baby by growing in a loving family and mother could return to her normal life pretending nothing happened Browne (2012).