Failure to Mourn “White Nativism”: Impact of Deportation on Hispanic American–Born Children and Mixed-Status Families

Contemporary American immigration policy since 1996 has sought to control the entrance of “illegal immigrants” while also facilitating their deportation, thereby dividing mixed-status families. American children born to non-native parents are rendered second-class citizens. Such policies claim to preserve the American economic and social order. The author posits that American immigration reform needs to be viewed in the context of legal statutes and social policies that are embedded in a complex, unconscious intrapsychic defense system of “White nativism,” aimed to avert the mourning of the “White native” cultural identity. Deportation and immigration reform is therefore a “White native,” legal, and policy-driven annihilatory tool, designed to extricate the American-born Hispanic child from the United States in order to avert the inevitable transformation of the “White natives” collective external group symbolic representations, or reservoirs, that are linked to individual and collective affective mother–me experiences.     

Asylum, children's rights and social work

Although it is only a minority of displaced and persecuted people globally who seek refuge in ‘Western’ countries, they meet an increasingly hostile reception. This paper focuses on the situation facing children seeking asylum with or without their families in Britain and Australia, and the implications for children's rights and for social work. The policy background and its racist foundations in both countries are outlined. Despite geopolitical differences, there are unnerving parallels. Legislative changes and policy complexity signal increasingly punitive attitudes towards asylum seekers. The situation of children and families in the community is discussed in terms of the exclusion of asylum seekers from basic rights, and specific issues for separated children. Even more damaging is the incarceration of children and families in detention centres, and the emerging research is explored. In both countries there is widespread flouting of children's rights, and children also feature as pawns in ideological contests. However, they also act autonomously and illustrate an inclusive model of citizenship. The role of social workers in the statutory and voluntary sectors is considered, and the paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges for social work of avoiding collusion with repressive policies and actively promoting human rights.     

Patchwork of promises: A critical analysis of immigration policies for unaccompanied undocumented children in the United States

In 2014, the United States saw a greater than 50% increase in the number of unaccompanied children from Mexico and Central America arriving at the U.S./Mexico border, and unaccompanied children continue to migrate to the United States in consistent numbers. The dramatic increase of 2014 exposed gaps in policies aimed at supporting unaccompanied children as they await legal adjudication. This paper begins with a historic review of immigration policies in the United States aimed at supporting unaccompanied migrant children. An analytic review is provided of existing immigration policies in the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, highlighting the competing paradigms created by missions of security‐focused policy versus child‐centred policy. A close examination of the values that influenced policy development in this area is included, along with a discussion of how social work practice can infuse elements of social justice into immigration policy reform. Areas for future research to reform immigration policy focused on supporting unaccompanied undocumented minors are highlighted.     

Understanding child neglect in Aboriginal families and communities in the context of trauma

Child neglect is a significant concern for Aboriginal families and communities both in Australia and internationally. Service responses to child neglect are largely informed by child neglect theories, which explain the nature and causes of child neglect. However, child neglect is a problem that is worsening for Aboriginal children, suggesting that these theories are not appropriate. This paper argues that to meet the needs of Aboriginal families and communities where there is child neglect, policy and practice needs to acknowledge and address the impact of trauma in shaping the lived experiences of Aboriginal people. International literature discusses the impact and consequence of historical trauma within Indigenous families and communities, and separately, child maltreatment theorists have discussed the ecological nature of child neglect. However, the literature and evidence‐base linking the two, child neglect and historical trauma in Indigenous contexts, are very scant. This paper aims to fill this gap and emphasize the importance of addressing child neglect within Aboriginal families and communities in the context of historical trauma. Although this paper focuses on the post‐colonial experiences of Aboriginal people in Australia, the arguments can extend to many Indigenous cultures universally where child welfare interventions have resulted in significant and ongoing trauma.     

Refugees and asylum seekers living in the Australian community: the importance of work rights and employment support

While Australian legislation allows for the mandatory detention of asylum seekers arriving without a valid visa, in recent years the Australian Government has released thousands from immigration detention prior to their protection claims being finalised. This article outlines the results of interviews with eleven men who had been released into such community‐based arrangements after long periods of immigration detention. The major challenge for most of the men who had been granted the right to work upon their release was securing employment, while being denied the right to work was the major challenge for those released without this right. This article explores the social and personal benefits that employment can offer asylum seekers and refugees and the implications it has for integration into their host country.     

Children and safety in Australian policy: Implications for organisations and practitioners

Child safety is now a national policy priority in Australia. Extensive enquiries and reviews have escalated legislative and policy responses focused on developing, maintaining and monitoring “child safe” organisations. The recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse point to the importance of cultural conditions within organisations in supporting child safety and the need for responsive change in some organisations. Drawing on a recent policy analysis, undertaken as part of a larger Australian Research Council Discovery Project, this article examines how children and safety are constructed, within and across relevant state and federal government policies in Australia, and the implications of this. Distinctions are drawn between conceptualisations of children within the broader education policy context and two specific policy contexts in which children are considered particularly vulnerable to abuse – out‐of‐home care and disability. The findings indicate that policy discourses of “child safe” potentially foster different emphases and approaches in organisations. These have implications for the way children are positioned in relation to their safety, how their rights are recognised and implemented, and what is required to foster cultural conditions within organisations to best support children’s safety and wellbeing.     

Social work with African refugee children and their families

This article explores the issues and dilemmas that arise when social workers attempt to work with African refugee and asylum seeking children and their families. There is a complex interplay between social workers’ skills and knowledge in this area and the prevailing social attitudes towards these groups of service users. By initially setting the context of mass movement of peoples from situations of danger in their countries of origin, the discussion highlights the key issues and shows the tensions of practice intervention in this area. Drawing on a small‐scale research study with social workers and discussions with immigration officers and workers in voluntary agencies working with refugees and asylum seekers, the article draws some conclusions about the lessons that can be learnt in order to improve practice.     

Child and Family Policies in the United States at the Opening of the Twenty-first Century

A repeated theme, characterizing US social policies toward children and their families, is that the US has no explicit family policy, nor does it have a coherent package of social policies that are targeted on children and their families. Nonetheless, there is general agreement that the US does have policies that have consequences for children and their families, and that many of these might constitute 'implicit' family policies. However, these policies tend to be limited in scale, coverage, and generosity and are usually categorical and narrowly focused. They lack the comprehensiveness and universality of policies in other advanced industrialized countries. Furthermore, the US has consistently invested a significantly smaller share of GDP in children and their families than almost all the other such countries. One consequence is that the situation of children in the US seems to be much worse than that of children in other advanced industrialized countries. In more recent years, however, there have been some efforts at improving child and family policies and the story now is a mixed one—but there remain major deficits in our policies and programs. Fortunately, children's issues are emerging on the national policy agenda. In this article, we describe current US child and family policies, touch on earlier history for context, and discuss the issues facing the US as we enter the twenty-first century. Ultimately, we need to confront the question of what can be done now to advance the children's cause on the national agenda.     

Black African Children and the Child Protection System

This paper explores black African children’s experiencesof the child protection system in the UK. The central focusof the paper is a review of the available literature on thesocial circumstances and environmental influences affectingmany black African families involved in the child protectionsystem; specific parenting practices and care-giving environments;and their experiences of social work and other professionalinterventions aimed at safeguarding and promoting the needsof African children. This paper examines these themes to elucidatethe factors that contribute to the provision of effective, culturallycompetent interventions with black African children at riskof significant harm. It suggests that there are a number oftensions inherent for professionals in working with culturallydiverse African families such as reconciling different beliefsand behaviours concerning child-rearing practices; affirmingthe parenting practices of these families in the engagementprocess; adopting a strengths-based orientation whilst at thesame time safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerablechildren. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implicationsfor practice.     

Including the Socially Excluded: The Impact of Government Policy on Vulnerable Families and Children in Need

This paper is based on a literature review undertaken for theOffice of the Deputy Prime Minister in 2004 (Buchanan et al., 2004)on the impact of government policy in England and Wales forchildren aged from birth to thirteen at high risk of socialexclusion as recorded up until May 2004. It describes the conceptof ‘social exclusion’; its meaning for children;the aims of government policy; the specific impact of governmentpolicy on vulnerable families and children in need (includingchildren needing child protection and all ‘looked after’children) as defined by the 1989 Children Act. The paper demonstratesthat although progress has been made, there are still majorareas of concern. The more discursive parts at the end of thepaper reflect the views of the author and later thinking, andwere not part of the original submission to the Social ExclusionUnit.     

Cumulative harm in the child protection system: The Australian context

Cumulative harm is a major child protection concern, with significant consequences for child well‐being and development often into adult life. This systematic literature review examines how the construct of cumulative harm is understood and operationalized within current Australian child protection legislation, policy, and practice and situates this within an international context. Scholarly articles and grey literature were qualitatively analysed to explore two main research questions: How is cumulative harm to children identified, assessed, and ultimately incorporated into child protection and legal structures? And what are the most effective responses to cumulative harm identified for child protection practice? What was found was that although the construct of cumulative harm is increasingly incorporated into child protection practice and legislation, in practice, this remains crisis‐driven. Although the literature emphasized prevention and early intervention as responses to reducing the cumulative impact of adverse childhood experiences, there is negligible research on what constitutes an effective response to cases involving cumulative harm. They are cases which are less visible within the child protection paradigm; attention to the impact of risk of maltreatment and its influence on long‐term developmental outcomes is less well addressed creating uncertainty and ambiguity about effective responses for child protection.     

A Sledgehammer to Crack a Nut: Deportation, Detention and Dispersal in Europe

Since the increase in the numbers of asylum‐seekers arriving in Europe in the early 1990s, European countries of asylum have been implementing new and increased controls over entry and making conditions more difficult for asylum‐seekers while they are waiting for a decision on their case. This paper explores the ways in which four European asylum regimes use the deportation, detention and dispersal of asylum‐seekers in an attempt to control and exclude them from national societies and territories. Germany, France, Italy and the UK have different migration histories and have introduced different asylum policies at different times; but all have in common the increasingly draconian response to asylum‐seekers since the 1990s. The paper looks at the stated rationale for introducing and extending dispersal, deportation and detention. EU governments have introduced these measures, arguing that they will deter “fraudulent” asylum claims. While the number of claims has fallen in the last five years to the lowest level since 1988, there is no evidence that this is due to such policies. It is clear, however, that these policies penalize all asylum‐seekers, breach their human rights, damage the receiving societies as a whole, and as such should be abandoned.     

The concept of a child within sub‐Saharan African migrant homes: Reconciling culture and child rights

As international migration increases, the Australian socio‐cultural and political context in which sub‐Saharan African migrant families are settling is causing tension between traditional sub‐Saharan African migrant definitions of child and childhood experiences and host nation definitions particularly when compared with the child protection system. This paper seeks to explore and highlight the fundamental values and differences that determine perceptions and treatment of children within traditional sub‐Saharan African communities. Using a qualitative design, this study was influenced by acculturation theory. Four major themes emerged from the analysis: (a) culture and the sub‐Saharan African child, (b) moulding good children, (c) family functioning and relationships, and (d) host context: perceptions of Australian mainstream parenting. The study found that in order to successfully make decisions that are in the best interest of sub‐Saharan African migrant children that come to the attention of the child protection system, discussions about children rights can only yield good outcomes when the child's socio‐cultural environment is considered.     

Child safety in policy: Who is being kept safe and from what?

Keeping children safe from harm is a national policy priority in Australia. Extensive inquiries and reviews have highlighted institutions' persistent failures to respond ethically and appropriately to child abuse and its life-long impacts on survivors. Policy efforts now reflect considerable emphasis on safeguarding children, including through the development of ‘child safe’ organisations. The realisation of these policy aspirations requires close attention to how ‘child safe’ is conceptualised and operationalised in different organisational contexts. Drawing on an analysis of policy in Australia and other international jurisdictions, namely New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland, this article engages critically with the notion of ‘child safe’ in policy, to explore who is to be safe, from what and how, in organisational settings. The findings suggest emergent discourses of ‘child safe’ are bound up with particular constructions of both children and safety, reflect current social and political understandings and agendas, and have implications for organisations' approaches to safety. Ensuring the safety of children in Australia and other jurisdictions requires continuing scrutiny of policy implementation to make sure current policy efforts are not reduced to compliance-based imperatives that protect organisations, but fail to create the cultural conditions that enhance children's wellbeing and safety.     

Negotiating cultural values and expectations within the public child welfare system: A look at familismo and personalismo

This paper examines, from the perspective of parents and child welfare workers, how cultural values and expectations are integrated and negotiated in public child welfare cases. The study focuses on the experiences and interactions of Mexican families with the public child welfare system in Southern California. Grounded theory is used to complete the content analysis. Findings indicate that workers' efforts to provide culturally congruent services are limited by organizational structural factors. Consistent with the value of personalismo, parents stress the importance of a good relationship with their worker and the implications to their case. Specific recommendations to enhance service delivery include (1) developing services models that are informed by families served; (2) developing/providing ongoing training and evaluation to ascertain if services are in fact culturally competent; and (3) promoting a change in child welfare policy that reflects the diverse needs of families.     

Central ethical dilemmas in research involving children

We are obligated to protect individual child subjects of research, yet it is also necessary to investigate the safety and efficacy of medical treatments that benefit children as a class. The federal regulations on research with children have provided ethical guidance since 1983, but divergent interpretations persist. Since varying interpretations can lead to confusion and abuses, efforts are underway to clarify the criteria. Clarity is needed to protect individual child subjects from harm while enabling ethical research to proceed. The "pediatric rule" and the "pediatric exclusivity" incentive are important policy initiatives for promoting sound research on the medical treatment of children.     

Foster Care: How We Can,and Should,Do More for Maltreated Children

Foster care provides round-the-clock substitute care for nearly 700,000 U.S. children who are temporarily or permanently separated from their family of origin each year. Each state manages its own foster care system according to federal regulations. Despite numerous large-scale federal policy reforms over the past several decades, substantial concerns remain about the experiences and outcomes of children in the foster care system. The most recent effort to reform foster care, the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018, attempts to both reduce the use of foster care and increase the quality of care. In this report, we review how policy has shaped the experiences and outcomes of children in foster care, where policy has succeeded, and where it falls short of achieving its goals. We then identify opportunities for federal and state policy to better support the safety, health, and well-being of children in foster care.     

The experience of sole mothers balancing paid work with care for a child with a disability

There are increasing numbers of families in Australia headed by sole parents, but little is known about the experiences of those who also care for a child with a disability. Additional caring responsibilities have previously been shown to impact on the work participation of parents. This study involved qualitative analyses of interview data conducted with sole mothers with school‐aged children with disability (N = 11). Thematic analysis revealed four themes that enabled and supported participation in the workforce: social support; managing appointments; characteristics of the workplace; and the role of the school. Results suggest the importance of practical help from family and friends in facilitating participation in paid employment. Additionally, the importance of flexible appointment scheduling on the part of service providers was highlighted, as well as the importance of workplace flexibility and supportive workplace cultures. Such factors were important in supporting sole mothers to balance work with care, with important implications for personal and family wellbeing.     

Protecting the Right to Life of Children with Disabilities in China

ABSTRACT

Chinese social policy to support parents in caring for their children is vital to address the urgent social problem of abandoning the life of children with disabilities by not seeking medical treatment. The child rights approach was used to analyze the effectiveness of Chinese social policy to protect the right to life of these children. Primary and secondary empirical data from 3 case studies where parents decided whether to abandon their child were analyzed. Did the child protection mechanisms protect the right to life of these children, and when did parents decide to abandon their children? The findings were: a) When the children were born, their right to life was not unconditional; b) the decision was made privately by parents—no formal decision procedure was available, the role of professionals was minimal, and the state did not intervene; and c) parents considered the disadvantages to their children if they lived. The implication is that China has not yet established a system to support parents and protect the lives of young children with disabilities. Future research to inform child protection reform and disability support to children and families to prevent children becoming abandoned is urgently needed.     

Parenting and child experiences in shelter: A qualitative study exploring the effect of homelessness on the parent–child relationship

Depending on the data source, between half a million and 2.48 million children in families experience homelessness each year in the United States. Recent data suggest that approximately half of all homeless children are under the age of 6. A considerable body of quantitative research has documented the occurrence of poor outcomes associated with childhood homelessness in the domains of social–emotional development, physical and behavioral health, academic achievement, and family stability. This qualitative study presents results from 19 interviewers with formerly homeless parents reflecting upon how the experience of being homeless affected their young children and their ability to parent. Findings are contextualized within an attachment perspective. Parental reported effects included confusion, sadness, anxiety or depression, withdrawal, lack of appetite, aggression, and disregard for authority. Parents also talked about the disempowering experience of parenting while in shelter. Unexpectedly, parents of infants said their children were not affected by homelessness, and few parents identified the need for mental health services for their children. The experiences of parents with whom we spoke provide invaluable insight into what shelter staff, social service agencies, philanthropy, policymakers, and researchers can do to support and respect the parent–child relationship in families who are experiencing homelessness.