Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- one Fleeing Ireland: social exclusion and the flight of Irish ‘unmarried mothers’ to England in the 1950s and 1960s
- two Responses in Britain to the PFIs: the repatriation of ‘unmarried mothers’ to Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s
- three The ‘daring experiment’: London County Council and the discharge from care of children to Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s
- four ‘Race’, ethnicity and Irish ‘invisibility’
- five Social services departments and Irish children and families in the early 21st century
- six ‘Maximising things for your community’: the views of social workers
- Conclusion
- References
- Appendix A Information derived from the Department of Health ‘Children in Need’ (CIN) survey, September-October 2001
- Appendix B Statistical responses to the questionnaire mailed to social services departments in England and Wales
- Index
- To order further copies of this publication or any other Policy Press titles please contact:
four - ‘Race’, ethnicity and Irish ‘invisibility’
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- one Fleeing Ireland: social exclusion and the flight of Irish ‘unmarried mothers’ to England in the 1950s and 1960s
- two Responses in Britain to the PFIs: the repatriation of ‘unmarried mothers’ to Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s
- three The ‘daring experiment’: London County Council and the discharge from care of children to Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s
- four ‘Race’, ethnicity and Irish ‘invisibility’
- five Social services departments and Irish children and families in the early 21st century
- six ‘Maximising things for your community’: the views of social workers
- Conclusion
- References
- Appendix A Information derived from the Department of Health ‘Children in Need’ (CIN) survey, September-October 2001
- Appendix B Statistical responses to the questionnaire mailed to social services departments in England and Wales
- Index
- To order further copies of this publication or any other Policy Press titles please contact:
Summary
Having put in place an historical foundation for the second half of this book, the focal argument in this chapter is that social work's theoretical approach to questions of ‘race’ and ethnicity, associated with a more embracing academic discourse, fails to address the specificity of Britain's largest ethnic minority, Irish people. This is not to argue that Irish people are entirely omitted, even within Department of Health (DoH) publications that provide guidance for social workers (see, for example, DoH, 1991, p 106; DoH, 2001). Nonetheless, it is apparent that the hegemonic, or dominant, approach is apt to shrink the discourse on ‘race’ and ethnicity and does not allow for a more complex understanding. Similarly, there is a failure to examine some of the historical patterns of involvement with Irish children and families discussed in earlier chapters of this book.
Providing part of the context for an exploration of contemporary responses to Irish children and families, the chapter begins by briefly highlighting social work's more general interest in promoting what is loosely referred to as ‘antidiscriminatory social work practice’. This has been subjected to a good deal of political criticism in recent years. Next, it looks at social work's dominant orientation in relation to ‘race’ and ethnicity, then goes on to examine contemporary and official guidelines for practice, revealing how these have tended to ignore Irish children and families. It is suggested that there may be some signs of change with the evolution of newer approaches, which take account of the diversity within black and white categories. However, it will be maintained that there is still a need properly to interrogate ‘whiteness’ and to recognise Irish specificity.
Anti-discriminatory social work practice, ‘race’ and child placement
Since the 1980s, social work's professional value base has been rhetorically underpinned by a commitment to anti-discriminatory social work practice. This has been defined as:
practice which is rooted in a critical analysis of the history of economic, state and cultural processes which seek to either marginalise, stigmatise or exploit different collectivities. Anti-discriminatory social work practice seeks to understand social work's complicity in such processes and tries to evolve forms of practice which challenge these processes. (Garrett, 1998, pp 445-6)
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Social Work and Irish People in BritainHistorical and Contemporary Responses to Irish Children and Families, pp. 73 - 88Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2004