Cultural - Australian Institute of Criminology

CARE & PROTECTION FROM AN
ETHNIC PERSPECTIVE WORKSHOP
PRESENTED BY
PETRONILLA MAZAI (SWRB)
PGDipArts (SW) - Bsc (Applied) (SW)
ABOUT ME
BACKGROUND OF PARTICPANTS
 Why are you interested in this?
 What would you like to take away?
 Specific areas of interest ?
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
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Sharing stories
My journey as a social worker – being the difference
Activity 1 (In pairs Multiculturalism)
Activity 2 ( Self assessment)
Activity 3 ( In pairs Culturally Competence reflection)
Activity 3 (case study)
Activity 4 (Ethnocentric assessment tool)
Activity 5 ( Ethnocentric intervention)
THE FOX AND THE STORK
ICE-BREAKER
NEW ZEALAND’S ETHNIC
COMPOSITION
 New Zealand ’s population is increasingly becoming more diverse
 Influx of immigrants & Refugees
 Migrants, Refugees, born in NZ identity heritage Asian,
Continental Euro, Middle, Latin American, and African
 WHY MIGRATION
 Business migrants
 Family class migrants
 Highly skilled or skilled
 International students
 Refugees
 : New Zealand Statistics (ABS) reported in 2006:
ASPECTS OF BEING
ETHNIC
 An ethnic group is made up of people who have some or all of the
following
 Cultural values, Customs, language
 Beliefs, religion,
 Language
 Unique community of interests or action
 Characteristics that differ from the wider society.
 Different race from wider society
 A shared sense of common origins or ancestry and a common
geographic origins
Source- 2014. Ministry of Ethnic Affairs. New Zealand
MIGRANT
 Choose their country of resettlement
 Plan their move carefully in advance
 Take time to get their passport and visas ready
 Pack all their belongings up and organise for
everything to be sent to their new home
ASPECTS OF BEING
A REFUGEE
 A Refugee is a person who, owing to a well founded fear
of persecution, for reasons of race, religion, nationality,
membership of a particular social group or political
opinion, leave their country of origin and are unable or
unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that
country
 (UN Convention, 1951)
UNDERSTANDING THE DEPTH &
BREADTH OF MULTICULTURALISM
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ACTIVITY ONE IN PAIRS
Define Multicultural “Multi” “Cultural”
What does it mean to you as an individual?
Suggestion about all dimensions of culture ,
reflecting on what you identify as your culture.
THREE LEVELS OF CULTURE
Nizta Hildagos(1993)
CONCRETE
Most visible
Tangible
BEHAVIOURAL
Language, social role
Values
THE SYMBOLIC
values systems, customs, spirituality, religion, worldview, beliefs,
Problems that
have been
reported or we
have seen from
the Chinese
community are
just a tip of the
ice berg.
ACTIVITY CULTURAL ICEBERG
SELF-AWARENESS EXERCISE
 Useful model to develop your own understanding of
the impact of diversity on your life:
 Self-awareness
 Critical Reflectivity
CULTURAL COMPETENCE PRACTICE
WHAT IS THIS?
 Acknowledgement of cultural differences in child
rearing practices and beliefs.
 Recognition that deviations from the culturally
appropriate child-rearing practices of any specific
cultural group are considered by that cultural group
to be abusive.
 Knowledge of the circumstance that exists where
societal harm undermines children’s well-being
beyond the control of the parent e.g poverty,
finances, employment, discrimination, language, low
 Socio-economic
RISK FACTORS
 Cultural – physical punishment, inadequate
supervision, traditional cultural practices - DV, CHILD
ABUSE, D& A, mental health, family functioning’
exposure to trauma, poverty, homelessness
 Migration-related
 Lack of awareness of NZ CP laws, lack of extended
family support, language issue.
EXTERNAL RISK FACTORS TO
CONSIDER (excess baggage)
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Insecurity, separation from own environment
Lack of support extended family
Social isolation
Depression
No sense of belonging
Low self-esteem
Rejection from new environment
Lack of information of NZ systems
COMMON FEARS ASSOCIATED WITH
CARE & PROTECTION
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Conflict between traditional values and western
Loss of family support.
Fear that culture will be eroded.
Shame and stigma
Confidentiality
Low expectations of social workers and counsellor.
Families matters should not be discussed with nonfamily members.
 Psychological help not acceptable “mental/mad
CULTURE, THE CLIENT & THE
PRACTITIONER IN CP WORK
 Care & Protection & notification within ethnic
communities.
 The number of child protection notifications has
doubled over the past 6 years in NZ.
 There is an assumption that ethnic communities are
possibly under-represented in reported incidences of
child abuse.
 They do not come into contact with services due to
fears of Government, particularly families that have
fled war torn/oppressive regimes;
 limited awareness of access to services in child
protection;
CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES
Eastern VS western cultures
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Family > individual Vs Individual > family
Extended Family Vs Nuclear family
Cooperation Vs Competition
Power – Male over female Vs equal
Power – Parent over child Vs child more power
as older
 Family roles prescribed by tradition Vs
negotiation on need
CULTURE ,C&P , CLIENT
 They have limited understanding of concepts of
legislation, practices of Child Protection;
 Service providers do not have the skills to pick up
ethnic children's protective needs;
 Services coming into ethic communities may be
reluctant to report child abuse concerns due to fear
of how mainstream services may treat ethnic
families/impact of reporting may have on the services'
relationship with community
LEGISLATION VS ETHNICS VIEWS
“Best interests of the child”
CHILD, YOUNG PERSON &
THEIR FAMILIES ACT 1989
 Welfare & interests of child or
young person is first and
paramount.
 For safety children must be
separated from family
 Eurocentric Philosophy
 Child centred
ETHNIC BELIEFS & PRACTICES
 Families migrate to NZ for the best
interests of children, education, good
health, exposure to technology.
 Welfare & interests of child or young
person and family is paramount.
 Children are not to be separated from
family.
 Welfare and interest of child Role of
Extended family.
 Family centred
 Ethnocentric philosophy
CASE STUDY
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Kaela’s husband was killed in Somalia, as
were her sister and mother. She has no
relatives in New Zealand and has little social
contact. Kaela has been suffering from
depression since emigrating to New Zealand
with her three children (aged three, five and
nine). Kaela has a number of appointments
during the week and leaves her nine year old
daughter in charge of the younger children
as she has no one else to care for future
children. Kaela came in contact with the
child protection systems after reports were
made concerning her three children being
left alone for extended periods of time. A
neighbour also reported that Kaela two
younger children have been reported that
Kaela’s two younger children have been
found wandering the streets on a number
of occasions and that they have asked for
food a few times.
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Issues you think you may encounter when working with
this family.
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What approaches do you think might be most useful when
working with this family?
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What resources do you think might help you work with
this family?
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What other services and resources could be engaged to
assist this family?
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Reflective questions
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If working with refugee families and newly arrived migrant
families what type of problems and issues might they be
experiencing?
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Consider previous traumatic experiences related to their
country of origin; the process of migration; settlement into
Australia; and cultural differences. What kind of support
is available for children, parents, and families from
refugee backgrounds?
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As a practitioner, what kind of attitudes/beliefs might you
bring that impact on the way you work with refuge
families? How might you address these? How can
practitioners engage and support refugee families? What
kind of services already exists that work well – and how
can we make them better.
CULTURE GRAM
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Reasons for relocation
• Legal status
• Time in community
• Language spoken at home and in the community
• Health beliefs
• Crisis events
• Holidays and special events
• Contact with cultural and religious institutions
• Values about education and work
• Values about family–structure, power, myths, and
rules
CULTURAL ASSESSMENT
HOW DO WE WORK TOGETHER?
PHASES OF INTERVENTION
 First contact with family
 Communication
 Engagement phase
CULTURAL CONSIDERATION
 Research family’s cultural,
linguistic identity.
 Check level of English
proficiency, dialect, organise
interpreter (accredited) check
with family if not related.
 Be respectful, be aware, seek
cultural advise, body contact,
separation of parents & children
CROSS CULTURAL CHECKLIST
PHASES OF INTERVENTION
CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
 Assessment of risk & harm
 Risk & contributory factors
 Identifying strengths &
Parenting capacity to parent
 Ask child rearing practices
 Educate about NZ laws & CP
 Explore factors around
settlement & migration and
concerns of isolation, past
trauma
 Link with community groups,
church, friends,
 Explore placement
kinship/family
 Community supports
 Maintaining culture when
placing child in care
ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST
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5.
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Preparation for initial meeting
Cross-cultural
Engagement
Assessment:
Risk of harm and neglect
Protective and risk factors
Family strengths, needs, Parenting practices
&capacity
Social and Community Supports
Cultural Maintenance and Placement options
 Source. Kaur (2005)
THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING
FRAMEWORK
 SOCIAL STRESS THEORY
 Suggests that social & environment stress factors have
greater influence on child maltreatment in lower
socioeconomic families that middle class ( Browne, 2002)
 ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY
 Useful in understanding how different systems impact on
children and families especially ethnic families intersecting
with different systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1979).
10 Surprising ways to offend people
 10 Ways

Celebrating Cultures Around the
World
OUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 patmazai@culturaldiversity.co.nz
 Ph: 022 6502563
REFERENCES
 Kaur, J. (2007) Working with families from culturally and
linguistically diverse communities in Queensland: An
Australian exploratory study, Children Australia, 32(4),
2007.
 Kaur, J. (2009) ‘Developing culturally sensitive practice
when working with CALD communities in child protection:
An Australian exploratory study’, Developing Practice, May
edition:
 Congress, E. (2004). Cultural and Ethical Issues in Working
with Culturally Diverse Patients and Their Families: The Use
of the Culturagram to Promote Cultural Competent
Practice in Health Care Settings. Social Work in Health
Care,39(3/4), 249-262.
 10 surprising ways to offend people in other countries
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTE0G9amZNk
 Celebrating cultures around the world:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRE6poh1O9c