Involving Young People in Parenting Programmes
SECTION 4
Session 1: Working with Diversity
The five project delivery sites explored together how they worked with families in relation to their diverse needs. All of the delivery sites had a diversity statement and these formed the basis for a discussion session, the content of which follows.
A concern for the effective practitioner is: ‘does the rhetoric match practice?’ The site staff considered how they, as professionals, could ensure that diversity statements are made live, forming an essential part of their work and underpinning all practice. The discussion focussed upon the worker’s approach or attitude and the actions that we take as professionals.
Approach/Attitude – participants felt thatthe most fundamental aspect of this issue is that workers must acknowledge and examine their own beliefs and values. One of the issues discussed was the use of lists in diversity statements, such as ‘equal opportunities for all regardless of gender, race, culture, religion... etc’. Workers often carry this list around in their heads, but how do you make these types of equal opportunities statements real? Participants discussed how crucial it is to consult with and involve parents (mothers and fathers) and young people at all stages of the services that are offered to families so that we base our services and how we deliver them on what they can tell us about what works for them. Family members input and feedback should be acknowledged and used to inform present and future work with families. In discussions with families, workers need to be careful of the language used, avoiding jargon. Finally, it was felt to be important that the mix of staff should mirror that of the client group wherever possible.
Actions/Activities – This referred to the actions or activities that workers take part in as professionals. Workers should address the issue of diversity in supervision and/or consultation and when planning and debriefing sessions. Organisations need a menu of services/programmes to address individual needs of families as a whole, parents and young people. It is important to ensure that the materials used take into account the issue of diversity, such as being jargon free, in different languages including sign language and Braille and the use of positive images of people of different ethnicities and cultures as well as men and women. Procedures need to be in place for the use of interpreters and signers where necessary. When working with families, there are practical issues to consider, such as the types of venues used, what food is provided and how transport and childcare are arranged to take into account different families’ needs.
Programme material should be relevant to each individual’s background, culture, ethnicity, literacy levels, family structure and gender.
The Key Indicator of Quality in the YJB’s Key Elements of Practice (KEEP) for Parenting pertaining to individual needs (opposite) highlights the importance of working with diversity.
Details of the Parenting and other KEEPs can be found on the Youth Justice Board’s Website www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk
Developing Cultural Competence
Cultural competence was a key area of diversity identified by site staff. Clearly, staff need to develop cultural competence when working with parents and when working with young people. The difference here for the IYPP site staff is that they were working with more than one family member and therefore needed to take a whole family approach. Site staff realised that being culturally competent is essential to engage with, and provide effective services to families. This means that, as professionals, we need to find out the unique culture of each family worked with, including those traditionally termed as ‘difficult to reach’ or ‘difficult to engage’.
The following quote was used as a starting point to discussions about being a culturally competent practitioner:
As helping professionals, we are frequently asked to assist families. Often because we do not learn the unique culture of a family, our interventions effectively ignore how this family operates. We then are sometimes puzzled why the family does not respond to services or why their “buy-in” or co-operation is low. Culture is about differences... legitimate, important differences... If we are to be family culture competent, we need to find out how a family operates.
(VanDenBerg and Grealish 1999)
Often professionals focus on the fact that families are ‘resistant’ to services/interventions, but should there be a shift of emphasis? Professionals need to ask themselves, ‘What else can we do to engage these families?’. This can be a difficult thing to do because it shifts the emphasis from the service user to the service deliverer and asks ‘How can we get it right for families?’.
The site staff discussed what helps them to get to know the unique culture of a family and focussed upon those aspects that are within the control of the worker. They then discussed the qualities of professionals, who are culturally competent. To assist staff to assess their cultural competence, the workshop members adapted a framework originally devised by the Institute of Educational Leadership in one of its ‘Toolkits for Systems Improvements’ (1999). The box below contains the adapted checklist for the qualities of culturally competent practitioners:
Culturally competent practitioners:
- Seek to learn as much as possible about the family’s culture and be open and honest with families. Ask families about any cultural issues that may impact upon the way they work.
- Find out about and observe religious/cultural holidays or times of worship
- Understand and acknowledge the impact of your own cultural background on your responses and actions
- Find out about community and neighbourhood involvement, including community leaders
- Work in the sphere of each family’s configuration, including grandparents, other relatives and friends
- Acknowledge, accept and, whenever possible, incorporate the role of the family’s natural helpers from the individual’s culture
- Endeavour to understand the diverse expectations individuals may have about the manner in which services are offered eg eating together may be an important element of services provided in the home, a social exchange may be necessary before each contact or discussions in a family may need to be agreed through an elder
- Understand that tangible services may be needed and expected as part of the service eg obtaining clothing, help with housing or transportation or helping with a young person’s educational problems
- Work with community and other agencies to help ensure that expected resources and/or services are made available
- Work within traditions relating to gender and age that may be important in particular cultures eg such as consulting first with elders
- When it is felt necessary to challenge aspects of a family’s life, do so with respect to their culture and clear explanations, especially where legislation is concerned eg rights of the child within law, child protection procedures etc
- Find out how different cultures demonstrate respect
Adapted from ‘Toolkits for Systems Improvements’ (1999) Institute of Educational Leadership.