Annabel Goodyer

The diversity and complexity of the everyday lives of mixed racial and ethnic families: implications for adoption and fostering practice and policy

Recent research on mixed racial and ethnic couples and lone parents in Britain indicates that not only are they a diverse group, but they also have a diversity of ways of understanding their difference and creating a sense of belonging for their children (Caballero et al, 2008; Caballero, 2010, 2011). Such research strongly challenges the idea that there is - or should be - a single benchmark of how to raise children from mixed racial and ethnic backgrounds. Nevertheless, placement decisions for this broad group of children are often still rooted in longstanding and politicised assumptions about their identities and how best to instil a positive and healthy sense of self (Phoenix, 1999; Okitikpi, 2005; Goodyer and Okitikpi, 2007; Patel, 2008). Drawing on three recent studies exploring the everyday experiences of lone and couple parents of mixed racial and ethnic children, Chamion Caballero, Rosalind Edwards, Annabel Goodyer and Toyin Okitikpi discuss the ways in which mixed racial and ethnic children who are not in the care system experience difference and belonging within their families, and how they negotiate and manage these factors. In particular, this article illustrates the types of strategies and supports that parents draw on to give their children a positive sense of identity and belonging, as well as the ways in which other issues can be more significant for mixed racial and ethnic children and their parents than what they often see as ‘ordinary’ internal family difference. Arguing that the demographics and experiences of mixed racial and ethnic families are much more diverse and complex than is commonly imagined, the authors ask to what extent policies and practice around the placement of mixed racial and ethnic children reflect the lives of those families outside the care system. Moreover, in what ways can or should the experiences of these families inform policy and practice for those within it? Implications for adoption and fostering practice and policies emerging from this more multifaceted understanding of the everyday lives of racially and ethnically mixed families are also discussed.

“… But … But I am Brown.” The Ascribed Categories of Identity: Children and Young People of Mixed Parentage

This paper explores the concept of the categorisation of social groups by looking at the issue of ascribed categories of identity for children and young people of mixed parentage. Our exploration of the knowledge-base in this area reveals that children and young people have clearly expressed views about their racial identity and that these views are broadly consistent across research studies. In essence, children and young peoples expressed views are that they are not mixed-race, black or white, but are in fact brown. The emerging sociology of childhood and the governments current child participation agenda emphasise the centrality of children and young peoples’ perspectives on the provision of services that seek to support them. Through this perception, which places children and young peoples own understandings of their racial identity at the forefront of the analysis, we added fresh understandings to the existing data concerning ascribed categories of identity for children and young people of mixed parentage.

Can a Munro-Inspired Approach Transform the Lives of Looked after Children in England?

This discussion paper will examine the lessons from the Munro Review relevant for looked after children. Although the Munro Review focuses on child protection, we will argue that some of its key principles have relevance for understanding looked after childhoods. The Munro Review provides an analysis of the current state of the child protection system, challenging bureaucratised practice and arguing for a reclaiming of professional social work identity, knowledge and understanding. There are three key principles of the Munro Review that this paper will focus upon. The first two are the recognition that risk cannot be eradicated and the bureaucratisation of practice is an inadequate response to the demand for public accountability. The third principle is that ethical integrity lies at the heart of services for children in public care. The key message of this paper is that a Munro approach can transform looked after childhoods. However, the current ‘child protection’ model of social work in England may prevent this shift in social work practice.

Applying a Mobilities Paradigm to a Return to Social Work Programme

This paper is located in the theoretical debates of late modernism: it explores the tensions inherent in the delivery of standardised, validated and carefully planned social work education programmes within the context of late modern societies. Preparing social workers to address dynamic policy changes, fluctuating resources and changing service demands and the needs of service-users in areas with shifting populations, provides a challenge to social work educators. The design and delivery of a refresher programme for previously qualified social workers is used to illustrate the ways in which the tension between static teaching programmes and fluid demands for social work services were accommodated.

Teaching Qualifying Social Workers Skills for Direct Work with Children

The new qualifying degree in social work offers academics the opportunity to extend the previous diploma curriculum, in order to enable students to gain a wider range of practice skills. Embedding the teaching and learning of skills for direct working with children within a theoretical context of the understandings of effective communication with children and also that of therapeutic methodologies has proved an effective and popular method with qualifying students.

Stakeholder views about social work programme curricula: One university's experiences of consulting stakeholders in the re-validation of qualifying social work programmes

Summary: This article describes the way in which consultations with stakeholders contributed to the re-validation of two UK qualifying social work programmes at a London University. The aim was to better position the new curricula in current practice realities. Consultations with service-users, employers, present and past students facilitated substantial revisions of the taught programme, with social work skills in particular receiving a much higher priority. The data generated by this study illustrates how the tensions inherent in the incorporation of differing standpoints can be reconciled through careful consideration and reflection.

Stakeholder views about social work programme curricula

This article describes the way in which consultations with stakeholders contributed to the re-validation of two UK qualifying social work programmes at a London University. The aim was to better position the new curricula in current practice realities. Consultations with service-users, employers, present and past students facilitated substantial revisions of the taught programme, with social work skills in particular receiving a much higher priority. The data generated by this study illustrates how the tensions inherent in the incorporation of differing standpoints can be reconciled through careful consideration and reflection.

Joined-up teaching

In the UK, interprofessional working is becoming a cornerstone of social care practice. This article outlines how the authors, both academics in a university’s health and social care department, are developing the teaching of interprofessional skills as an integral component of effective child protection education. This has become particularly pertinent in light of the recent legislative and policy shifts highlighted within the Laming Report (2003) and Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003). The proposed interprofessional children’s teams will provide new challenges to all professions who hold child protection responsibilities. For students who exhibit high levels of anxiety about working in this area of practice, we have implemented an innovative and responsive educational programme to facilitate the development of knowledge and skills of interprofessional working within the field of child protection. By providing skills training in a professional setting, we aim to enable students to gain interprofessional knowledge through experience with practice.