The Capabilities approach
Intro
The economist Amartya Sen expressed the concept of capabilities in the 1980’s as a
way to view wellbeing
Was developed over years and is now known as the Capabilities approach
The social work profession is concerned about people’s wellbeing as seen in the
international definition of social work
Three main concepts
Functionings
Regarded as the activities or conditions which determine a person’s wellbeing
Aspects such as bodily health, being safe, a good education and the ability to
move freely are bit a few conditions that determine the functioning of a person
Actual activities which a person engages in – this determine wellbeing
Certain conversion factors (enabling or restraining conditions) will have an
impact on a person’s functionings
Three conversion factors that inhibit or encourage the transformation of a
characteristic into functionings:
Personal characteristics
Social characteristics
Environmental characteristics
Capabilities
Are a person’s real freedoms or opportunities to achieve functionings
Capabilities can be described as the various groupings of functionings that a
person can achieve
Nussbaum identified 10 central human capabilities that are seen as the core
requirements for a decent life
These functionings capabilities should serve as a bare minimum for people to
live a good life in a good society
These 10 will be discussed later
Agency
A person’s role as a member of society with the ability to participate in
community, social, economic and political actions
Agency can be seen as the ability to act according to one’s values
, People who generally enjoy high levels of agency are engaged in actions that
are congruent with their values
Weak agency refers to only individual goals and capabilities, where strong
agency also includes responsibility towards other people’s capabilities,
including the capabilities of society at large
Some authors argue that strong agency aims to expand freedom of others in a
social network where there is commitment and responsibility
Aspirations
Not explicitly mentioned as an element of the capability approach – some
authors view it as an important aspect
Can be seen as signifiers of what is meaningful and valuable for individuals
Are significant as they indicate the freedom to dream of things that are
important to people
The ten capabilities
1. Quality of life
Being able to live to the end of a human life or normal length
Not dying prematurely
Or not dying before one’s life is so reduced as to not be worth living
2. Bodily health
Being able to have good health
Including reproductive health
To be adequately nourished
To have adequate shelter
, 3. Bodily integrity
Being able to move freely from place to place
To be secure against violent assault, including sexual assault and domestic
violence
Having opportunities for sexual satisfaction and choice in reproduction matters
4. Senses, imagination and thought
Being able to use the senses, to imagine, to think and to reason
Cultivated by adequate education – including being literate, being able to do
basic math and science
Being able to use one’s mind in ways protected by guarantees of freedom of
expression with respect to both political and artistic speech, and freedom of
religious exercise
5. Emotions
Being able to have attachments to things or people outside themselves
To love those who love and care for us, to grieve at their absence
Not having one’s emotional development blighted by fear and anxiety
6. Practical reason
Being able to form a conception of the good and the to engage in critical
reflection about the planning of one’s life
7. Affiliation
Being able to live with and towards others, to recognise and show concern for
other humans, to engage in various forms of social interaction, to be able to
imagine the situation of another
Having the social bases of self-respect and non-humiliation – being able to be
treated as a dignified being whose worth is equal to that of others – provisions
of non-discrimination on basis of race, sex, religion, or species
8. Other species
Being able to live with concern for and in relations to animals, plants and the
world of nature
9. Play
Being able to laugh, play and enjoy recreational activities
Intro
The economist Amartya Sen expressed the concept of capabilities in the 1980’s as a
way to view wellbeing
Was developed over years and is now known as the Capabilities approach
The social work profession is concerned about people’s wellbeing as seen in the
international definition of social work
Three main concepts
Functionings
Regarded as the activities or conditions which determine a person’s wellbeing
Aspects such as bodily health, being safe, a good education and the ability to
move freely are bit a few conditions that determine the functioning of a person
Actual activities which a person engages in – this determine wellbeing
Certain conversion factors (enabling or restraining conditions) will have an
impact on a person’s functionings
Three conversion factors that inhibit or encourage the transformation of a
characteristic into functionings:
Personal characteristics
Social characteristics
Environmental characteristics
Capabilities
Are a person’s real freedoms or opportunities to achieve functionings
Capabilities can be described as the various groupings of functionings that a
person can achieve
Nussbaum identified 10 central human capabilities that are seen as the core
requirements for a decent life
These functionings capabilities should serve as a bare minimum for people to
live a good life in a good society
These 10 will be discussed later
Agency
A person’s role as a member of society with the ability to participate in
community, social, economic and political actions
Agency can be seen as the ability to act according to one’s values
, People who generally enjoy high levels of agency are engaged in actions that
are congruent with their values
Weak agency refers to only individual goals and capabilities, where strong
agency also includes responsibility towards other people’s capabilities,
including the capabilities of society at large
Some authors argue that strong agency aims to expand freedom of others in a
social network where there is commitment and responsibility
Aspirations
Not explicitly mentioned as an element of the capability approach – some
authors view it as an important aspect
Can be seen as signifiers of what is meaningful and valuable for individuals
Are significant as they indicate the freedom to dream of things that are
important to people
The ten capabilities
1. Quality of life
Being able to live to the end of a human life or normal length
Not dying prematurely
Or not dying before one’s life is so reduced as to not be worth living
2. Bodily health
Being able to have good health
Including reproductive health
To be adequately nourished
To have adequate shelter
, 3. Bodily integrity
Being able to move freely from place to place
To be secure against violent assault, including sexual assault and domestic
violence
Having opportunities for sexual satisfaction and choice in reproduction matters
4. Senses, imagination and thought
Being able to use the senses, to imagine, to think and to reason
Cultivated by adequate education – including being literate, being able to do
basic math and science
Being able to use one’s mind in ways protected by guarantees of freedom of
expression with respect to both political and artistic speech, and freedom of
religious exercise
5. Emotions
Being able to have attachments to things or people outside themselves
To love those who love and care for us, to grieve at their absence
Not having one’s emotional development blighted by fear and anxiety
6. Practical reason
Being able to form a conception of the good and the to engage in critical
reflection about the planning of one’s life
7. Affiliation
Being able to live with and towards others, to recognise and show concern for
other humans, to engage in various forms of social interaction, to be able to
imagine the situation of another
Having the social bases of self-respect and non-humiliation – being able to be
treated as a dignified being whose worth is equal to that of others – provisions
of non-discrimination on basis of race, sex, religion, or species
8. Other species
Being able to live with concern for and in relations to animals, plants and the
world of nature
9. Play
Being able to laugh, play and enjoy recreational activities
