Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Offprint 1
Social Work Through the Life
Course
By Lena Robinson
From: Adams, Dominelli and Payne (2003) Social Work: Themes, Issues and Critical
Debates (2nd edn), Basingstoke, Palgrave.
Introduction
During the late 1980s, social work education ‘became increasingly
aware of the impact of oppression and discrimination on clients
and communities’ (Thompson, 1993: 1). For example, CCETSW
requirements for the DipSW award attached a high priority to an
anti-discriminatory approach in college and placement teaching and
assessment (see CCETSW Paper 30, 1991). The CCETSW document
which outlined the guidance notes for the teaching of childcare in the
DipSW course stressed that:
The Children Act 1989 states that the race, culture, language and
religion of children and young people must be addressed in the
provision of services. In order to meet the needs of and help the
development of any child, black or white, it is essential that social
workers operate with adequate knowledge, understanding and
sensitivity.
Life course study may draw on different theoretical perspectives –
sociological, economic, political, biological, anthropological and
psychological. Social work has turned to the social sciences, particularly
psychology, for accounts of human behaviour which can be applied in
practice. This chapter will focus mainly on the psychological
perspective. It argues that traditional psychological theories have not
had sufficient explanatory power to account for the behaviour of
black people. The term ‘black’ in this chapter has been used to describe
people from Asian and African-Caribbean backgrounds.
As British society has become more heterogeneous, cross-cultural
effectiveness has emerged as an essential skill for all social workers
who work with children and young people. Over the last two decades,
social scientists (mainly in the USA) have become increasingly aware of
the contributions that cross-cultural research findings, can make to our
understanding of human development (for example Segall et al., 1998).
Little of the current social work literature in the UK has addressed the
issue of cross-cultural development.
The issues discussed in this chapter are offered as the initial steps
towards an understanding of some concepts covered in the literature on
the life course from a cross-cultural and black perspective: attachment
theory, black identity development, the family and older people. These
perspectives have been widely researched and developed in the USA
(Cross, 1971, 1980; Greenfield and Cocking, 1994).
4 Offprints for Modules 1 to 4
super-ego’; it was natural for him that the ‘leadership of the human
species’ should be taken up by ‘white nations’ (Freud, 1915, 1930) and
that ‘primitives’ have a lower form of culture’ (Fernando, 1991: 41). In
his book Totem and Taboo, Freud ([1913]1950) refers to the practices and
behaviours of African peoples as ‘savage’ or ‘primitive’. However,
‘although Freud adhered to racist thinking, it was Jung who integrated
racist ideas more fully into psychological theories’ (Fernando, 1991: 42).
Carl Jung (at one time Freud’s star pupil) has been referred to as the
father of ‘transpersonal psychology’. He believed that certain
psychological disorders found among Americans were due to the
presence of black people in America. He noted that:
The causes for the American energetic sexual repression can be found in
the specific American complex, namely to living together with ‘lower
races, especially with Negroes’. (Jung, 1950: 29)
A lack of familiarity with the problem of Negro youth and with the actions
by which Negro youth hopes to solve these [identity] problems is a
marked deficiency in my life and work which cannot be accounted for by
theoretical speculation. (Erikson, 1964: 41)
Cross-cultural considerations
How can a cross-cultural perspective contribute to our understanding
of human development? Gardiner (1994) has pointed to a number of
important benefits. First, looking at behaviour from this perspective
compels researchers to reflect seriously on the variety of ways in which
their cultural beliefs and values affect the development of their theories
and research designs. Second, increased awareness of cross-cultural
findings provides an opportunity to extend or restrict the implications
of research conducted in a single cultural group, most notably the USA
and similar Western societies. Third, this perspective reduces
ethnocentrism – by looking at behaviours as they occur in another
culture. Although it is essential for social workers to have a basic
understanding of black people’s cultural values, there is the ever-
present danger of overgeneralising and stereotyping. Information
about Asian and African-Caribbean cultural values should act as
guidelines rather than absolutes. Members of every group are shaped
by culture, but also by acculturation, gender, roles, age, income,
education and so on. Recognising intra-group differences is critical and
helps avoid stereotyping. Race, gender and class-inequalities all play a
part in shaping dominant and minority groups’ cultures, defining
opportunities and moulding traditions (Mirza, 1992).
Attachment
An example of a developmental theory criticised for its assumptions of
universality is attachment theory, as described by Bowlby (1969). In this
section, I will briefly examine the concept of attachment. This concept
refers to the special bond that develops between the infant and the
care-giver. Attachment provides the child with emotional security.
Once attachment is established, babies are distressed by separation
from their mothers (called separation distress or anxiety). Ainsworth
et al. (1978) have delineated three different styles of attachment: secure,
avoidant (children who shun their mothers) and ambivalent (children
who are uncertain in their response to their mothers). One of the
assumptions about the nature of attachment in the USA and Britain is
that secure attachment is the ideal. Cultures differ, however, on their
notion of ‘ideal’ attachment. For example, German mothers value
and promote early independence and regard avoidant attachment as
the ideal, seeing the ‘securely’ attached child as ‘spoiled’ (Grossman
et al., 1985).
Some cross-cultural studies (for example, Tronick et al., 1992) also
challenge the notion that closeness to the mother is necessary for secure
and healthy attachment. Indeed, this notion is prevalent in traditional
theories of attachment based on research in the USA. Tronick et al.
(1992) found the children in their study to be emotionally healthy
despite having multiple care-givers.
Theories of attachment appear to be central to social work practice with
children and families. However, most of the social work literature on
attachment is Eurocentric and does not address issues of working with
black children and families. A recent text for social workers, Howe’s
(1995) Attachment Theory for Social Work Practice, refers briefly to
Offprint 1 Social Work Through the Life Course 7
Attachment theory fails to take into account such issues and fails to
appreciate the strengths of black families. Thus, the Eurocentric bias
of attachment theory ‘can contribute to inappropriate and racist
assessments, [and] inappropriate interventions’ (Gambe et al., 1992: 30).
There is still much to be done to understand the attachment patterns
in other cultures. The studies that do exist, however, are clear in
suggesting that we cannot assume that what is seen most in Euro-
American culture is best or most descriptive for all. Notions concerning
the quality of attachment and the processes by which it occurs are
qualitative judgements made from the perspective of each culture. Each
culture has values different from but not necessarily better than those
of others.
and practice that devalues the strength of black families (Ahmad, 1990).
For example, Stubbs observed:
Asian parents face from sons and daughters is ... to be expected and
deserved particularly if they [Asian parents] insist on practising such
‘uncivilised’ and ‘backward’ customs as arranged marriages. (Parmar,
1981: 21)
Dominelli notes that myths about the support of the extended family in
caring for its older members have been used by white social workers and
their institutions to deny the need for making appropriate provisions
available. (Dominelli, 1988: 117)
This approach ignores the fact that ‘immigration controls since 1962
have made it virtually impossible for black family units to exist in their
totality in Britain’ (Dominelli, 1988: 96). Therefore, not all older Asians
live with family members and, even when they do, they may still have
problems of isolation and lack of daytime support. The strains on the
extended Asian families, partly as a consequence of cramped
accommodation, have been mentioned in many of the reports
presenting the need for Asian day centres (for example, Rochdale
County Council, 1986). Older black people, especially older Asians, are
ill-informed about their welfare rights and the social services. Positive
action is, therefore, required by social services departments and other
organisations to increase awareness (Askham et al., 1993). However,
social work practice in this area is largely ethnocentric, if not
colour blind.
12 Offprints for Modules 1 to 4
Conclusion
The issues discussed in this chapter indicate that black and white
people have different experiences at different stages of the life course.
Social work training and practice must question whether theories
which have originated in Euro-American settings have relevance in
working with black clients in Britain. A Eurocentric perspective in
psychology has meant certain theoretical deficits when social workers
attempt to apply it in practice. Traditional psychology perpetuates a
notion of deviance with respect to black people. Social workers need an
understanding of the black perspective in psychology and social work
theory in order to be able to deliver effective services to black clients
and communities.
Research which focuses on attachment theory, identity development,
the black family and black elders from a black perspective will
enable social workers to gain a better understanding of the difficulties
experienced by black children, teenagers and adults in Britain.
Further reading
Blakemore, K. and Boneham, M. (1994) Age, Race and Ethnicity (Buckingham,
Open University Press).This is an important reference book for social workers
who want to gain an understanding of ageing among black people in Britain.
Cross.W.E. (1992) Black Identity: Theory and Research (Philadelphia, Temple
University Press). This book provides a detailed discussion of racial identity
development models.
Cross, W., Parham, T. and Helms, J. (1998) ‘Nigrescence revisited: theory and
research’, in Jones, R.L. (ed.) African American Identity Development (Hampton,
VA, Cobb & Henry). This chapter provides a detailed discussion of
nigrescence models and directions of future theorising and research.
Dwivedi. K.N. and Varma, V.P. (eds) (1996) Meeting the Needs of Ethnic Minority
Children: A Handbook for Professionals (London, Jessica Kingsley). This book
provides social workers with theoretical and practical information on the
health, education and social care of black children.
Phinney, J.S. and Rotheram, M.J. (eds) (1987) Children’s Ethnic Socialization:
Pluralism and Development (London, Sage). This comprehensive book discusses
black children’s development.
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