1 / 20

BME and CULTURE

BME and CULTURE. Objectives. To understand the culture of B.M.E. children and their families. To explore the necessary tools that professionals need to work with B.M.E. children and their families while being mindful of their culture. CULTURE DEFINED.

ellard
Download Presentation

BME and CULTURE

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. BME and CULTURE

  2. Objectives • To understand the culture of B.M.E. children and their families. • To explore the necessary tools that professionals need to work with B.M.E. children and their families while being mindful of their culture.

  3. CULTURE DEFINED Culture can be referred to as art, beliefs, behaviour, ideas or activities relating to literature, art, and music of a particular society or group of people. However, that is only the simply definition that appears on the dictionary. Culture involves other important subjects that describe deeply this word, issues such as, family, language, identity, stereotyping, raising, expectations, economic situation and so on.

  4. CULTURE DEFINED Therefore, family is the place in which society begins, but in many cases families are part of different cultures, and the ones that are affected by this situation are the children. These children are the ones who have to fight day by day against these

  5. CULTURE DEFINED • A good example is having something and losing it compared to never having to go through the experience of a loss of something. In other words becoming poor in a culture that you are a foreign is hardest than becoming poor in your own culture. This means that although you miss many things, you still have more common things that identify with you. Lastly, language is one of the most important facts that influence in the adjustment of cultures. As humans we acquire language for very direct, meaningful purposes.

  6. DEALING WITH UNKNOWN ‘The Social Worker’ when working across differences of race is dealing with unknown, the unknown is seen as a risk and consequently B.M.E. children are taken into care far too quickly’. This is an extremely astute observation by a Bexley Social Worker but often staff were unaware that they may be using their cultural values in making judgements and / or found it very difficult to understand their difference from B.M.E. colleagues, children and families as much as understand B.M.E’s difference from them. They also were mostly at a loss to identify their own culture of cultural norms or values.

  7. CULTURE The culture of an individual is informed by their • Nationality • Tribe • Family • Self* • Food • Media etc.

  8. SELF* According to Gus John theory, Self is the summation of • Self confidence • Self discipline • Self image • Self knowledge • Self realisation • Self development

  9. SELF* • Self wealth • Self esteem • Self definition • Self management

  10. A POSITIVE IDENTITY The culture of an individual is key to a positive identity which produces a sense of security in knowing who you are. For example, African names is very significant in their culture. It gives the reason why a child is named. It could be: • To identify a particular family • To identify a particular tribe • To identify a particular belief system • To identify the individual • In remembrance of a particular event • To create role models.

  11. A POSITIVE IDENTITY A child can be named after • Elders of the family • People that are in position of power or status • After a particular event • Benefactors of the family

  12. WORKING WITH B.M.E. CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES Professionals must • Be genuine • Be narrative (listen to them) • Communicate effectively • Inform them of systems to help them • Inform them of the power of the systems • Understand the differences in background of parents and their children (children born in England while parents were born abroad) • Help them to navigate the system

  13. WORKING WITH B.M.E. CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES – INTERVENTION As a Professional that has been asked to undertake child protection investigations and assessments, the basis of your intervention is the ‘History’ of the child / family. What the ‘History’ helps you to understand includes: • Relevant knowledge base • Limitations in Education • Intellectual capacity and • Belief system / spirituality

  14. RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE BASE Relevant knowledge base include: • General knowledge of child protection • A particular knowledge of the family in question (especially when contacting statutory and voluntary organisations) • A knowledge of informal, formal and societal systems surrounding both yourself (worker) an the child/family (client) • A certain kind of self-knowledge

  15. ENGAGING THE FAMILY When engaging with the family, you must • Acknowledge your need for specialist skills and knowledge • Demonstrate respect and gain trust • Disclose to establish commonality • Be mindful of the power of language • Know what to say to family members collectively and individually • Identify the best time to meet the family; ascertain the working hours of parents • Explore with the parents their responsibilities, expectations etc.

  16. EFFECTIVE WORKING WITH THE CHILD / FAMILY To work effectively with the child / family, you must • Know the history of the family • Have a knowledge of the family now • Have an idea of the child’s identity • Have an understanding of the child • Know the systems the child is exposed to • Know the child’s support network / extended self

  17. EFFECTIVE WORKING WITH THE CHILD / FAMILY To work effectively with the child / family, you must • Have an awareness of the totality of the child’s being • Know the Power dynamics of your organisation • Understand the Legislation, Policies and procedures • Be armed with strategies of managing anxieties • Know yourself (fears, jealousy, anxieties, envy etc)

  18. INDIVIDUAL WORK In summary, to work with B.M.E. children and their families, the professional must show ‘Cultural-Competence’. Lack of this leads to waste of time, energy, resources and terribly managed cases by the professional. This often leaves behind a dissatisfied and angry child / family

  19. INDIVIDUAL WORK Read the handout you’ve been given on ‘Cultural-Competence’ and pull out the key areas that you (as a professional) have to work on. Time allocated is 15 minutes.

  20. References • Safeguarding Black African children and families by Amma Anane Agyei (2010) • Meaning of ‘Culture’ - http://www.writework.com/essay/does-word-culture-mean • Making a Difference by C. Tegg et al. (May 2002)

More Related