Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Leadership and Foundations. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis discusses dignity of aging and elderly citizens and the ways in which it is supported within a village community. Dignity is seen as the most important and universal human need, and not only for elderly people. Its significance and protection is anchored in international and national legal documents which are also binding at lower levels of state administration including the community and municipality level. Municipalities are public institutions obliged to create social policies. Citizens need to be involved and to participate in constructing these policies that touch upon the needs of specific groups of them, including that of the elderly. Using several methods, the analytical part describes the situation in a particular village community. The method of social-demographic analysis is based on statistical data and literature. Participant observation and close study of documents provide additional information to the analysis of secondary data. The results show up-to-date age structure and the present state of coexistence of different people in the community. Judging from ways of participation in political life of the community we can infer that close relationships among citizens are the driving force of the development of the area as far as meeting the needs of the elderly are...