**This class will be taught In-Person**
At a time when the future of freedom and democracy in America is being questioned by pundits and everyday Americans alike, this class revisits what the founding fathers meant by "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and how they apply to older Americans. It explores how individual rights and justice are reflected in “aging policy,” and traces the trajectory from elders being viewed as vulnerable and in need of protection to acknowledging them as rights-holders. It highlights grassroots initiatives to defend older Americans' rights and the unfulfilled promise of the Elder Justice Act of 2010. It also describes how the denial of fundamental rights earlier in their lives continues to impact the health and security of today's elders.
The class examines threats to elder rights, which include cognitive decline, undue influence, ageism, the cumulative effects of discrimination, loss of power and influence within their families and communities, and social isolation. It explores how these threats can be mitigated through advance planning, strengthening relationships, community planning and services that support independence and reduce risks, and restorative justice. Special attention is paid to lesser-known rights that older Americans hold, including the right to receive long-term care in the least restrictive settings possible, the rights of nursing home residents to make choices in their everyday lives and engage with their communities, the rights of crime victims' to restitution and compensation, and the right of incarcerated elders to apply for “compassionate release” as they approach the end of their lives. Also discussed are initiatives to combat ageism and destructive “generations at war” narratives. The class further describes strategies and opportunities for advancing elder rights and justice.
Week by Week Outline
1 - A History of Elder Justice Portraits of America's founding fathers with their powdered hair and wigs makes us think of them as elder statesmen. But back when they were arguing about states' rights and foreign policy, most were raucous young men who were unlikely to have
had retirement benefits or long-term care on their minds. Still, the themes of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness resonated in the laws, court decisions, benefits programs, and services that became America's "aging policy." This session traces the tumultuous history of aging policy as it was championed by grassroots advocates and undermined by special interests. It offers new interpretations of life, liberty and happiness and the shift in thinking about older people as recipients of care to rights holders.
2 - Threats to Elder Justice Part 1: Cognitive Decline and Undue Influence Choice and autonomy are hallmarks of justice, and when the ability to make decisions is eroded by cognitive impairment, it threatens freedom and rights. But not all decisions are equal nor require the same mental skills. The session describes decision-making capacity for executing contracts and wills, getting married, making end-of-life decisions, and even consenting to sex. Undue influence, another threat to justice, is when people in positions of power, including caregivers, intimate partners, family members, and professionals, use their power to undermine choice. This session will explain how undue influence has been addressed in the fields of elder abuse, psychology, and law and describe California's groundbreaking laws for reducing the risk of undue influence and mitigating its harm.
3 - Threats to Elder Justice Part 2: Ageism and Elder Abuse From the time that Pulitzer Prize winning geriatrician Robert Butler first introduced the term in the 1960s, ageism has failed to gain the traction of other “isms” like sexism, racism, or ableism. This class explores how Butler and others defined ageism and examples of it, which include America’s tepid response to elder abuse. Adult offspring have taken advantage of elderly parents at least since Jacob exploited his father Issacs’s blindness to steal his brother’s birthright. But defining elder abuse in public policy and shaping public perceptions about it are another matter. Since the late 1970s, elder abuse has been framed as a medical syndrome, a form of domestic violence, a caregiving issue, a crime, and a public health emergency. The session provides an overview of elder abuse and current approaches to preventing it. It offers a warning for how current approaches both strengthen and restrict elders’ rights and freedoms.
4 - Protecting Individual Rights Few Americans know the difference between legally binding rights, like the right to due process and recourse when they’re accused of wrongdoing or denied benefits, and rights that are aspirational like the elusive right to health care. The session will cover powers or privileges recognized by law or tradition, rights that are specific to older adults or other "protected classes," and exceptions to rights like “unworthy heir” laws that prevent abusive sons and daughters from receiving inheritances. It addresses historical and current struggles to secure or deny rights and threats posed today that range from artificial intelligence to regressive court decisions.
5 - It Takes a Village to Support Older Adults
Communities are key to survival, ensuring members' physical safety and sustenance and maintaining social order. They preserve culture, tradition, and faith and satisfy the need for belonging. Communities include neighborhoods and other geographic spaces as well as faith and cultural groups, social enclaves, affinity groups, and even on-line networks. As we age, it gets harder to navigate our communities as the result of impairments, fear of crime or falls, and infrastructures that cater to younger people and families. But communities can be reimaged and designed as bastions of freedom by supporting independence and engagement and facilitating equitable access to services and opportunities. This session describes how grassroots community initiatives evolved into today's aging services network and how communities are stepping up today to become more age- and dementia-friendly by reducing barriers to aging in place, and emulating the neighbor-helping-neighbor ethos of past eras.
6 - The Path Forward. An Elder Justice Agenda Restorative Justice This session introduces a framework for
elder justice developed by the instructor that focuses on four pillars: 1) protecting individual rights, 2) combatting abuses of power, 3) creating equitable and inclusive communities, and 4) enacting public policies that promote and protect elder rights and liberties. Drawing from the model, students will brainstorm strategies for achieving social justice and human rights for older Americans on the personal and societal levels. Examples include serving as allies and mentors, witnessing court proceedings that involve elders, spearheading intergenerational programs, supporting older prison inmates, raising awareness about the needs of older Americans among other social justice seekers, and engaging in community-based restorative justice and conflict resolution programs.
