Child Language Brokering

1. Child Language Brokering voice power representation Children, Young People and Adults: Extending the Conversation 5 September 2012 Siân E Lucas

2. The research project • To explore aspects of brokering in social welfare contexts from two view points: • Young people • Social Workers • To explore the nature of languages used to construct brokering by various actors.

3. What is child language brokering?

5. The three ‘circles’ of English Crystal (2009)

6. Bilingualism

7. 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’

8. Legislation London Child Protection Procedures Local Safeguarding Boards Race Relations (Amendment) Act (2000) Human Right Act (1998)

11. RYTMUS

13. Young People Who 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.

14. At the… My mum needs papers. Are the paper alright? What you need?

15. Iqra 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 HEH Iqra: ok and she buy.

16. Mirium

17. Hanna

18. Initial Findings: Social Workers • 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. The resolution cycle

19. 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.

21. 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.

22. “…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) Siân E Lucas  s.e.lucas@edu.salford.ac.uk www.salford.academia/sianlucas