Anti-racist social work: A case example of work with an African Caribbean family
✍ Scribed by Suki Desai; Melanie Gooden
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1995
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 308 KB
- Volume
- 4
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0952-9136
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
he 1989 Children Act emphasizes the need for an anti-T racist and multi-cultural approach to child care.
Under the 1989 Act local authorities have a duty to give due consideration to a child's racial, ethnic and linguistic background (Section 22(5)).
In this article we aim to show, using a case study example, how one might explore these issues in direct work with an African Caribbean family. We also focus on how anti-racist and multi-cultural approaches highlight challenges to practice which social workers have to confront. We will argue that anti-racist practice must not only challenge views which expose black people and their cultures, norms and lifestyles as 'deviant' or 'inferior', but also the way in which black people as individuals, their families and their communities can be abused by systems, structures and people all of whom are engaged in helping them (Dutt, 1990).
It is important, however, to note that the issue of 'race' and racism is compIicated and cannot be explored without an analysis of gender and social class.
Case Study
Marcia is a black African Caribbean young person who is 14 years of age. Janet Redmond, Marcia's mother, has never been married. She is a single parent with two other children, Marcus, aged 8, and Leon, aged 7. Marcia had run away from home foF the fifth time within a period of some months. She had on occasions been found sleeping rough and had also been involved in prostitution for survival.