Child Language Brokering Children, Young People and Adults: Extending the Conversation 5 September...
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Transcript of Child Language Brokering Children, Young People and Adults: Extending the Conversation 5 September...
Child Language BrokeringChild Language Brokering
Children, Young People and Adults: Extending the Conversation
5 September 2012
Siân E Lucas 1
voice power
representation
The research projectThe research project• To explore aspects of brokering in social welfare
contexts from two view points:1. Young people2. Social Workers
• To explore the nature of languages used to construct brokering by various actors.
2
What is child language
brokering?
4
The three ‘circles’ of English Crystal, D (2009)
Expanding Circle
(China, Russia)
Outer circle
(India, Singapore)
Inner circle
(USA, UK, Australia)
Crystal (2009)
The three ‘circles’ of English
5
BilingualismBilingualism
6
Key social work legislation
• Children Act (1989)• Working together to
safeguard children: a guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (1999)
• Every Child Matters (2003)• The Victoria Climbié
Inquiry Laming (2003)
• Children Act (2004)• The Munro Review
(2011)
• Welfare of the child to be paramount
• Ascertaining child’s wishes and feelings
• Avoidance of delay• Parental responsibility• Due consideration to
religion, ‘race’, culture and language
• Local authorities’ duties to ‘children in need’
7
• London Child Protection
Procedures
• Local Safeguarding
Boards
• Race Relations
(Amendment) Act
(2000)
• Human Right Act (1998)
8
LegislationLegislation
9
Emails
SW1
Obviously, I would never do this as my strong view is that it is not the child's role.
SW2
I have never had a young person translating for me with parents because we are not allowed to use young people.
SW3
…don't think that I have much experience on child interpreters (avoid using kiddies if poss)
11
Young PeopleYoung PeopleWho for: parents, friends, strangers, family members, extended family, teachers, professionals.Where: home, GP, hospital, school, jobcentre, benefit office, shops, bank
education welfare officer, receptionists. How: letters, phone calls, in person.Initiation: planned, spontaneous.Experience: variety, significance, effect.Purpose: emotional, linguistic support, empathy.Benefit: long term, duty, integration, economic. •Advanced knowledge: to advocate for parents and to navigate social welfare system & wider society. •Suggest that CLB promotes familial integration.•Children have more autonomy than assumed - challenges the assumption that children are ‘passive’ brokers.
13
My mum needs
papers.
Are the paper
alright?
At the…
What you need?
IqraIqra
Researcher: … and do you ever get anything for it;
so do they say oh thank you and give you something
or-
Iqra: yeah, er one day I went to, I told you about
town, that shop and she said do you
need Researcher: [yeah
Iqra: anything, I say yeah, ice cream heh, heh, she
say Researcher: [HEH HEHIqra: ok and she buy.
Mirium
Hanna
Initial Findings: Social Initial Findings: Social WorkersWorkers
• Social workers’ reluctance to talk about CLB.
• Argue CLB shouldn’t happen BUT….exceptions.
• Knowledge: institutional & instinctive threshold.
• Frustration.• Complexities of the social
work task.
18The resolution
cycle
Social work• Service deficiency (make do, no other option).
• Challenges ideas about normalised childhood –
responsibilities, burden.
• In the ‘real world’ and in an ‘ideal world’.
• The ‘bad social worker’.
• Shifted onus - parents inability.
19
Final thoughts:Final thoughts:
• CLB does occur – hidden area of practice.
• Pressure on non-English speakers to learn
English to receive services.
• Likely to continue.
• Difficult to measure impact.
• Small tragedy in larger social work space.
Siân E Lucas
s. .lu s@ u.s l or .. . .u.e ca ed a f dac
www.salford.academia/sianlucas
“…questioning the ostensibly unquestionable premises of
our way of life is arguably the most urgent of services we owe our fellow humans and
ourselves.”Bauman (1998)
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