British Journal of Social Work (2008) 38, 476–492

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcl370
Advance Access publication December 13, 2006

Black African Children and the Child

Protection System
Claudia Bernard and Anna Gupta

Claudia Bernard is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work in the Department of Professional and
Community Education, Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research interests include how
narratives of racism and gender oppression affect the way trauma ensuing from familial mal-
treatment is experienced, understood and named.
Anna Gupta is a lecturer in Social Work (Child Care) in the Department of Health and Social
Care, Royal Holloway, University of London. She is an experienced social work academic and
practitioner and worked for many years as a social worker and team manager in two London
boroughs before becoming an academic. Her research interests include work with black and
minority ethnic families as well as permanency planning and adoption.

Correspondence to Dr Claudia Bernard, Department of Professional and Community Educa-

tion, Goldsmiths, University of London, 33 Laurie Grove, New Cross, London SE14 6NW.
E-mail: c.bernard@gold.ca.uk

Summary
This paper explores black African children’s experiences of the child protection sys-
tem in the UK. The central focus of the paper is a review of the available literature on
the social circumstances and environmental influences affecting many black African
families involved in the child protection system; specific parenting practices and care-
giving environments; and their experiences of social work and other professional
interventions aimed at safeguarding and promoting the needs of African children.
This paper examines these themes to elucidate the factors that contribute to the pro-
vision of effective, culturally competent interventions with black African children at
risk of significant harm. It suggests that there are a number of tensions inherent for
professionals in working with culturally diverse African families such as reconciling
different beliefs and behaviours concerning child-rearing practices; affirming the
parenting practices of these families in the engagement process; adopting a
strengths-based orientation whilst at the same time safeguarding and promoting the
welfare of vulnerable children. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implica-
tions for practice.

Keywords: African children, child protection, cultural interpretations, child-rearing

practices

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of

The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.
 Black African Children and the Child Protection System 477

Introduction

This paper provides a review of the literature on African children’s involve-

ment in the child protection system. In recent years, the vulnerability of some
black African children in Britain has been highlighted by the tragic murders of
two children: Victoria Climbié (Laming, 2003) and the young boy known as
Adam, whose torso was found floating in the River Thames (Sale, 2005). More
recently, media reports of possible ‘ritual’ abuse of African children in Britain
were fuelled by the criminal prosecution in relation to Child ‘B’, who was phys-
ically abused because it was believed she was a ‘kindoki’—a victim of witch-
craft possessed by the devil (Tendler and Woolcock, 2005; Thompson, 2005).
Although there has been some detailed focus on individual tragic cases, a prim-
ary reason for undertaking this review is that limited attention has been given
to analysing the needs and experiences of the diverse group of African children
involved with child protection agencies. Key messages from the literature are
presented to explore a number of issues that contribute to the provision of
effective, culturally competent interventions with African children at risk of
significant harm. The challenges posed for professionals charged with safe-
guarding vulnerable children, whilst at the same time affirming the parenting
practices of diverse African families, are highlighted.
In this paper, we focus specifically on black children and families from sub-
Saharan Africa in order to further elucidate their particular needs and experi-
ences, whilst recognizing the heterogeneous nature of this group, whose lived
experiences are differentiated by their histories, cultures, ethnicities and social
circumstances. For the purposes of this paper, we use the terms ‘black African’
and ‘African’ interchangeably to refer to this group, but also recognize that the
African continent includes North African countries and comprises people of
different racial origins.

The research context

Before examining the literature, it is worth highlighting some key shortcomings.

First, when undertaking this review, we have found that there is a paucity of liter-
ature and hard data from research on the specificities of African children’s experi-
ences to inform the knowledge base. Where literature does exist, the experiences
of African children tend to be merged with those of other black and minority eth-
nic children; unfortunately, how their experiences differ from these groups of chil-
dren, and the variation in experiences of different groups of African children
depending on the country of origin of their families, is rarely illuminated. Indeed,
the diversity and constantly changing nature of African children’s experience of
child protection is often obscured in the general discourse about black children.
Given increasing global mobility and the changing pattern of migration to Britain,
it is particularly important to focus on the specific needs of African children in the
UK child welfare system (Kyambi, 2005; Thoburn et al., 2005).
478 Claudia Bernard and Anna Gupta

Second, in considering the literature on parenting and child-rearing prac-

tices, there is an absence of material that has looked at normative parenting
among African families in the UK context. Thus, the little literature that exists
focuses on African families where things have gone wrong, or where the
parenting is deemed to be below the thresholds of what is considered to be
good enough. A focus on maltreatment or dysfunction within African families
can risk reproducing stereotypes of these communities as ‘deficient’, thus fos-
tering a pathological viewpoint of African family relationships. This raises the
question of how we may call attention to the particular issues framing the expe-
riences of African children at risk of significant harm, yet not reproduce ideas
of all African families as deficient. This paper focuses on a minority of African
children who may be suffering significant harm, but it is important to bear in
mind that the majority of African children in Britain live safely with well func-
tioning families.

Black African children and families in Britain

According to the 2001 census, African people made up about 0.8 per cent of
the population of the UK and 1.4 per cent of the children in 2001 (National Sta-
tistics, 2003). London was by far the main place of residence, with 78 per cent
of Africans living in the capital. In the 1950s and 1960s, African immigrants
tended to come from Commonwealth countries, such as Ghana and Nigeria, as
a response to post-war labour shortages. In the last two decades, African
people settling in Britain have come from a wider range of countries, some with
different colonial histories and experiencing extreme political turmoil. African
people have come to Britain over the years for varied reasons, including as stu-
dents, to join family members or to seek asylum (Mason, 2003). African famil-
ies’ experiences in Britain will be influenced by their socio-economic
circumstances. According to the 2001 census, ‘Black African’ or ‘Black other’
communities were after Pakistani and Bangladesh communities—the most
likely in Britain to live in low-income households (National Statistics, 2003).
However, Kyambi’s (2005) study showed considerable variations within
African communities, with only 12 per cent of Somalis being employed, compared
with 73 per cent of Zimbabweans and 61 per cent of Nigerians. When consider-
ing the heterogeneity of African people, religion, language and ethnic origins
also need to be recognized. African people have varied religious beliefs, with
Islam and Christianity being particularly significant in the lives of many African
families.

Black African children and child welfare services

Available data on African children in need estimated that the number of

African children in need in the sample week in 2005 to be 8,000 (Department
 Black African Children and the Child Protection System 479

for Education and Skills, 2006a). This accounted for 3 per cent of the overall
total—an over-representation compared with the 2001 census in which African
children made up 1.4 per cent of the population. A number of studies have
indicated that most families of children in need, regardless of ethnicity, struggle
to bring up their children in conditions of material and emotional adversity
(Department of Health, 1995, 2001). Other studies have highlighted some of
the additional factors affecting the lives of many African children in dispropor-
tionate numbers, such as private fostering (Philpott, 2001; Holman, 2002) and
unaccompanied asylum-seeking status (Ayotte and Williamson, 2001; Okitikpi
and Aymer, 2003; Kohli, 2006a). It has been reported that the majority of chil-
dren and families in Britain affected or infected by HIV/AIDS are of African
origin (CHIVA, 2004) and African children are likely, in disproportionate
numbers, to have to deal with issues of grief, loss and separation because of this
life-threatening illness (Health Protection Agency, 2004).
Many African children in need will not be drawn into the child protection
system, instead receiving voluntary support services. However, the available
research evidence tends to suggest a similar pattern of over-representation in
the child protection system, although much of the data aggregate black African
with black Caribbean and other minority ethnic children (Gibbons et al., 1995;
Brandon et al., 1999; Thoburn et al., 2005). Statistical data from the Depart-
ment for Education and Skills (2006b) show that ‘Black or Black British’ chil-
dren represented 5 per cent of the children on the child protection register on
31 March 2005. According to the census data, in 2001, ‘Black or Black British’
children made up 3 per cent of the population (National Statistics, 2003).
Thoburn et al.’s (2005) review of the research into the nature and outcomes of
child welfare services for black children concluded that African children are
almost twice as likely to be looked after than their numbers in the population
as a whole would suggest, although some of these children will be accommo-
dated under section 20 of the 1989 Children Act, by virtue of being unaccompa-
nied asylum-seeking children.
In relation to the reasons for African children being involved in the child
protection system, no official national data are collected on ethnicity and rea-
sons for referral or registration on the child protection register (Department
for Education and Skills, 2006b). The available research data paint a complex
and often contradictory picture and once again the information is often aggre-
gated with data on other minority ethnic children. For example, Gibbons et al.’s
(1995) study found over-representation of black and Asian children for phys-
ical injury, whilst this was not the case in Brophy et al.’s (2003) study of care
proceedings. Thoburn et al.’s (2005) review of the research indicated that
minority ethnic children, including African children, tended to be under-
represented for sexual abuse; however, the authors questioned whether this was
because of lower prevalence or it being more of a hidden problem. Brophy et al.’s
(2003) study, which did disaggregate data on different minority ethnic families,
highlighted an increased complexity in the cases involving African children and
found that many involved ‘multiple concerns and allegations about parental
480 Claudia Bernard and Anna Gupta

behaviour’ (Brophy et al., 2003, p. 141). We explore below the literature on the
social circumstances and child-rearing practices of many African families
involved in the child protection system, as well as the literature on the
responses and interventions of social workers charged with safeguarding and
promoting African children’s welfare.

Social circumstances and environmental influences

The adverse effects of poverty and social exclusion on parenting capacity and
children’s development have been well documented (Bradshaw, 2001; Ghate
and Hazel, 2002). Brophy et al. (2003) highlight the experience of living in pov-
erty as being a factor common to most families involved in care proceedings—a
finding echoed in many other studies (Department of Health, 1995, 2001). As
mentioned above, African families are proportionally more likely to live in
poverty than many of the other communities in Britain. It was suggested that
Victoria Climbié may have come to Britain to escape chronic poverty (Laming,
2003). It has been noted that many families will retain connections with family
members in Africa and some may endure increased financial constraints
because of the need to support families in more dire circumstances in their
countries of origin (Anane-Agyei, 2002).
Though many African parents undertake paid work, some are on low
incomes, which can cause difficulties in obtaining affordable childcare
(Kyambi, 2005). Gibbons and Wilding’s (1995) study identified that inadequate
supervision or ‘home alone’ cases disproportionably involved more African
families and suggested this could be influenced by parents’ income and ability
to access affordable childcare. It is thought that the decision to have their child
privately fostered is frequently taken because of the lower cost of this largely
unregulated market for parents who may be working more than one job or
studying and surviving on a low income (Philpott, 2001). The subsequent prac-
tice of privately fostering West African children with white families often living
in rural areas is one that can leave many of these children vulnerable to emo-
tional and identity difficulties, as well as abuse and neglect (Holman, 2002).
Immigration and asylum status will determine income, employment opportu-
nities and access to support services for many African people in Britain today.
Families receiving support from National Asylum Support Service (NASS)
only receive a proportion of income support benefits. A study undertaken by
Penrose (2002, p. 4) found that ‘asylum-seekers are forced to live at a level of
poverty that is unacceptable’. Issues of entitlement to services will complicate
cases involving asylum seekers or those of uncertain immigration status (Wade
et al., 2005). The withdrawal of their rights to support services under section 17
of the 1989 Children Act inhibits the provision of preventative services for
some of the most vulnerable children and families (Kohli, 2006b). The contro-
versial issue of taking children into public care because of the destitution of
their parents caused by the withdrawal of all support services in accordance
 Black African Children and the Child Protection System 481

with section 9 of the 2004 Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of claimants

etc.) Act has significantly affected some African families (Kelley and
Meldgaard, 2005).
Brophy et al.’s (2003) study suggests that immigration and asylum issues,
combined with psychological problems associated with seeking refuge from
war-torn countries and language difficulties, are likely to be reasons for the
increased complexity of cases involving African children. The traumatic experi-
ences of refugee children in their home countries are often compounded by
their experiences in Britain (Rutter and Jones, 1998). The insecurity of not
knowing the outcome of their application to reside in Britain adds to emotional
stress (Van der Veer, 1998) and can cause enormous difficulties in the court
arena when making plans for children (Brophy et al., 2003). Okitikpi and
Aymer’s (2003) study found that African refugee families presented with a
huge range of practical and emotional problems, and are ‘faced with a continu-
ing sense of dislocation, isolation, fragmentation and fear of the unknown’
(Okitikpi and Aymer, 2003, p. 218).
The child protection system that exists in Britain will be unfamiliar to many
African families, especially those more recently arrived, as similar state sys-
tems do not exist in most African countries, particularly where socio-economic
factors, political instability and violence overshadow intra-familial child mal-
treatment and effective intervention into child abuse and neglect (Lachman,
1996; Lachman et al., 2002; Pierce and Bozalek, 2004). As one African refugee
respondent in Brandon et al.’s (1999) study explained:
You receive us into your country but suddenly if there is a family problem,
the police are at your doorstep, the social workers arrive. In our country we
don’t have social workers. The police don’t come for family problems
(Brandon et al., 1999, p. 112).

Brophy et al.’s (2003) study concluded that some minority ethnic parents,
including many African parents, saw state intervention in parenting as a com-
plete anathema and distrust of the state was intense, especially where parents
originated from countries in political turmoil and with no child welfare services.
Increased global mobility will have an impact on the nature, stability and
cohesion of local communities, particularly in metropolitan areas (Kyambi,
2005). Parton (2004) compares and contrasts the Maria Colwell and Victoria
Climbié Inquiry Reports, and highlights the impact of global mobility on some
communities in Britain. He notes that ‘we are not simply talking about diver-
sity here but incredible complexity and fluidity’ (Parton, 2004, p. 85). This was
brought into sharp focus by the police investigation into the murder of ‘Adam’,
which involved asking London schools to check whether any black boys had
disappeared during a two-month period in 2001. It was reported that 300 boys
aged between four and seven were identified as having gone missing—all but
one of African origin. Although most were thought to have returned to Africa,
by June 2005, the whereabouts of only two of the boys had been traced (Sale,
2005).
482 Claudia Bernard and Anna Gupta

To summarize, the literature would suggest that there are a series of interac-
tions between a number of environmental factors that affect the life chances of
many African children and the capacity of their parents to provide adequate
care. The picture that emerges is that these factors create complex needs for
many African children, and, in some instances, increase their vulnerabilities.

Specific parenting practices and care-giving

environments

A preliminary examination of the literature highlights that the parenting prac-

tices and day-to-day realities of African families in Britain have been mini-
mally studied in the child welfare literature and there is a paucity of evidence
about the normative patterns of parenting in African families in Britain today
(Bernard, 2002; Graham, 2006).
A number of commentators have questioned how cultural values about fam-
ily relationships and care-giving environments influence the context of the lives
of many African children involved in the child protection system (Brophy et al.,
2003; Thorburn et al., 2005). It has been claimed that African family relation-
ships, like those of many other minority ethnic communities, are often con-
structed differently from the conventional nuclear family model in the majority
culture in contemporary Britain (Sudarkasa, 1997; Graham, 2002). There is
some suggestion that African families can best be understood by recognizing
that definitions of what constitutes a family are fluid and complex. It is thought
that fictive-kinship is commonplace in African communities and that house-
hold structures and family compositions can comprise members who are not
biologically related, or an extensive network of cousins (T’Shaka, 1995). Some
writers have noted that African-centred values that emphasize a sense of con-
nectedness, interdependence and collective responsibility are central to family
structures and relationships (Dwivedi, 2002; Graham, 2002). It has been noted
that patterns of family life have been changing for African families on the con-
tinent due to war, globalization and other social forces (Lachman et al., 2002).
It has been suggested that caring for other people’s children, particularly
those in one’s kinship network who need substitute care, is a common occur-
rence in some African communities (Sudarkasa, 1997; Olusanya and Hodes,
2000). Available evidence suggests that some practices of private fostering may
include relatives caring for children from their extended family network
(Philpott, 2001; Holman, 2002). In some cases, the children have been brought
to the UK from African countries because they are separated from their birth
families due to war or illness (Ayotte and Williamson, 2001). Whilst many of
these arrangements are appropriate and welcomed, it is important to keep in
mind that some arrangements may be imposed on children, or undertaken
because of a sense of duty (Olusanya and Hodes, 2000). Whatever the circum-
stances, these children are likely to experience loss and displacement (Kohli,
2006b). Thus, many will have complex attachment needs that require skilled
 Black African Children and the Child Protection System 483

and detailed assessments embedded in knowledge of the cultural and social

milieu of African children’s lives.
Much more needs to be understood about the factors that contribute to how
parenting practices are made sense of by African parents. There are few con-
crete data on the impact of culture, gender ideology, socio-economic status and
religious belief in influencing expectations, motivations, roles and approaches
to parenting, but also in constructing notions of what constitutes harmful
behaviour (Barn et al., 2006). The few data that exist highlight that cultural
practices appear to play some part in the reasons for African children being
involved in the child protection system. For instance, Brophy et al.’s (2003)
study found examples of conflicts between parents and professionals grounded
in diverse cultural norms and values, including differing notions of when chil-
dren should be left ‘home alone’ and methods of dealing with ‘challenging
behaviour’, which were more likely to occur in cases involving parents of African
and South Asian origin. These differences have also been noted in other
studies. For example, Gibbons and Wilding’s (1995) findings of inadequate
supervision being disproportionately a feature of referrals involving African
children could also be seen as a result of different notions of when children can
be left home alone.
Barn et al.’s (2006) findings on normative parenting in multiracial Britain,
including parenting in African families, challenge the popular myth and stereo-
type that some cultural groups have more punitive punishment practices. They
found no significant differences between ethnic groups with regard to physical
punishment of children. Thoburn et al. (2005, p. 83) agree with the assertion
that there is no evidence of a greater use of physical punishment; however, they
suggest that ‘the way in which it is inflicted has brought some ethnic minority
parents into the formal child protection (conference and registration) system
or court arena’. In coming to this conclusion, they included consideration of
Gibbons et al.’s study (1995) which found that African families were referred
proportionally more often than other ethnic groups because of the use of
implements in cases of physical abuse. This study also concluded that the con-
sequences for these children were no more likely to be long-lasting.
Some researchers have identified the importance of understanding how dif-
ferent cultural values influence the motivations behind parental action gener-
ally when punishing children (Barn et al., 2006) and specifically in relation to
actions which are deemed harmful (Dutt and Phillips, 2000). Anane-Agyei
(2002) points to the complex nature of work with African families where there
is the belief that a child may be possessed, particularly when some traditional
‘therapeutic’ measures are understood by parents to be in the child’s best inter-
ests, but viewed by professionals as prejudicial to the child. She stresses the
importance of ascertaining whether there is ‘intent to harm or whether the
behaviour is as a result of a different set of values and beliefs’ (Anane-Agyei,
2002, p. 3). Although Brophy et al. (2003) found conflict around different child-
rearing practices in cases involving African families, none of these culturally
specific behaviours formed the basis of the threshold criteria for compulsory
484 Claudia Bernard and Anna Gupta

state intervention into families’ lives in their sample of families involved in care
proceedings. They emphasize the importance of differentiating between
‘normal’ child-rearing practices and deviant or idiosyncratic behaviours that
transgress acceptable norms and values in any community.
A growing body of literature (Okeahialam, 1984; Wilson-Oyelaran, 1989;
Lachman, et al., 2002) emphasizes the importance of appreciating the social
contexts of parenting and lived experiences of African children for making
sense of child maltreatment. These researchers locate the issues in a historical
and political context and direct attention to the ways in which cultural attitudes
towards child cruelty are being tackled by professional helpers on the African
continent. What has been highlighted is that although cultural expectations
play a key role in the meanings parents attribute to their parenting, significant
social changes resulting from war, poverty and HIV/AIDS are all taking their
toll on family life and are crucial factors in increasing the vulnerability of chil-
dren to exploitation and maltreatment (Lachman et al., 2002). The general
assumption is that the extended family system is a source of support and pro-
tection for African children, but, in recent years, changing conditions have
been decimating family structures, which consequently affects how mothers
and fathers understand their parenting roles and discharge their care-giving
responsibilities (Okeahialam, 1984; Lachman, 1996).
Attention has been drawn to the significance of culture in configuring gender
relations in African families for making sense of parenting practices. For
example, the way in which deeply embedded beliefs about gender operate to
keep women in a subordinate position in African families has been stressed by
a number of African feminist scholars (Imam, 1996; Imam et al., 1997; Mama,
2004). Most notably, these critical feminist perspectives offer insights into how
gender norms define and construct relations around parenting in African famil-
ies, and contribute significantly to children’s experiences in the family. There is
an increasing recognition of how gendered norms operate in African families
for comprehending the ways in which they shape certain cultural gendered-
specific practices (e.g. female genital mutilation), as well as the particular ways
they may constrain mothers in their ability to protect their children in the con-
text of domestic violence (Traoray, 1999; Wagner, 1999). These writers note
that gender relations structure African parents’ involvement and contributions
to the parental role and have implications for the safeguarding of children’s
welfare.
To conclude this section, this discussion highlights the salience of factors
that intersect to provide a particular care-giving context for African chil-
dren. At the very least, this analysis alerts us to the fact that African families,
with varied cultural and religious backgrounds and diverse circumstances,
will draw on their cultural frame of references very differently to make sense
of their parenting. Nevertheless, there are some common strands that allow
us to explore the influence of cultural factors on the relational context of
children’s lives and the consequences of child maltreatment for African
children.
 Black African Children and the Child Protection System 485

Social work interventions

There is some evidence in the literature to suggest that social workers and
other professionals struggle to manage the complex needs and social circum-
stances of many African families. Okitikpi and Aymer’s (2003) study of inter-
ventions with African refugee families found that social workers often felt
overwhelmed and ill-equipped to deal with the families’ traumatic experi-
ences and complex needs. Some asylum-seeking and refugee families bring
with them experiences of loss, violence and dislocation and ‘social workers
can feel overwhelmed and disempowered in the light of this potential well of
need’ (Okitikpi and Aymer, 2003, p. 220). Effective service delivery can be
further hampered by difficulties in continuity of contact due to the movement
of families between local authorities, often caused by asylum policies (Wade
et al., 2005).
Problems with communication and working in partnership have also
been identified in the literature. Refugee and asylum-seeking families, in
particular, may view representatives of the state with suspicion based on past
experiences (Kohli, 2006b). The Okitikpi and Aymer (2003) study found that
the responses of African refugee families to social work intervention fell into
two categories: guarded and open groups. Forming relationships with those in
the first group often proved difficult. African families who are not fluent in
English experience additional communication problems often associated with
the failure to provide effective interpreting services (Brophy et al., 2003;
Chand, 2005).
In his analysis of the Victoria Climbié Inquiry, Parton (2004, p. 86) suggests
that increased global mobility poses not only major linguistic challenges but
‘major challenges for statutory departments in relation to the familial and cul-
tural identities of those with whom they work and to whom they have responsi-
bility’. The Climbié Inquiry (Laming, 2003) highlights the challenges faced by
local authorities when developing information-sharing indexes for keeping
sight of children who are often on the margins of society and whose lives are
characterized by transitions.
The literature also highlights some of the challenges for social workers
assessing and making decisions about African children and families whose cul-
tures differ from the majority white population in Britain (Brophy et al., 2003;
Laming, 2003). In relation to working with cultural differences, culture needs
to be regarded as dynamic and mediated by important variables such as class,
religion and gender, particularly with changing identities in a globalized world.
In relation to African children, there are examples of cultures being ‘reified’,
and a model of cultural deficit utilized, with children and families being defined
on the basis of racist stereotypes. The Victoria Climbié Inquiry (Laming, 2003)
identified examples of stereotypical racist assumptions contributing to the lack
of provision of an effective protective service. For example, Victoria standing
to attention, being frightened, and, on occasions, wetting herself when her aunt
visited her in hospital were assumed to be a reflection of the way African
486 Claudia Bernard and Anna Gupta

children show respect to their elders and was therefore not deemed an issue for
concern; a detailed assessment of her individual needs and relationships was
never undertaken.
The fear of being seen as racist, combined with cultural stereotypes, can lead
to a failure to make judgments and intervene appropriately regarding practices
that are clearly harmful. For example, a study conducted by Burman et al.
(2004) on domestic violence services for minoritized women, including African
women, found workers’ concerns about being culturally inappropriate (or
being accused of this) led to greater priority being accorded to race rather than
gender issues. They suggested that these attitudes feed certain racist myths that
suggest that particular communities condone violence and the abuse of women.
The effect of these attitudes was that supportive and protective services were
not offered appropriately to the woman and their children.
Child protection practice is deeply embedded in relationships, which fre-
quently give rise to complex feelings of anxiety, ambivalence and resistance
that can lead to a failure to ‘keep the child in mind’ (Ferguson, 2005; Rustin,
2005). In her critique of the Climbié Report, Rustin (2005) highlights the
importance of considering the emotional context of child protection work.
Attention has been drawn to the possibility that for vulnerable children, the
risk factors increase because practitioners may feel overwhelmed by the com-
plexity of issues and lack the knowledge to confidently confront abusive care-
givers (Laming, 2003). According to Rustin (2005), the emotional impact
becomes more intense when working with families that have different values
and belief systems from the majority culture and who may be asylum seekers
living in desperate circumstances. In a similar vein, Alibhai-Brown (2005) cau-
tions against social workers being subconsciously swept along with the hysteria
following the sensational and often inaccurate media reporting of alleged
abuse within African churches. In situations in which there is a risk of abuse or
neglect of African children, as with other minority ethnic children, the litera-
ture suggests that fear of difference, combined with racist stereotypes, may
both exacerbate defensive practice, leading to a more coercive approach being
taken than is necessary, or may conversely lead to avoidance that can leave
children unprotected (Dominelli, 1997; Chand, 2000). In the following section,
we consider the implications arising out of our review of the literature for the
provision of effective, culturally competent assessments and interventions with
African children and families involved in the child protection system.

Implications for practice

The complex social circumstances experienced by many African families pose

challenges for parents and children, as well as professionals working to safe-
guard and promote children’s welfare. The Framework for the Assessment of
Children in Need and their Families (Department of Health, 2000) based on the
ecological approach places a requirement on workers to consider families’
 Black African Children and the Child Protection System 487

histories and social circumstances and the literature on anti-oppressive practice

stresses the importance of consideration being paid to power relationships. As
Dalrymple and Burke (1995) explain, ‘any assessment must take account of the
power differentials that exist between both individuals and groups. There must
also be some understanding of the links between people’s personal experience
of oppression and the structural reality of inequality’ (Dalrymple and Burke,
1995, p. 123). These approaches provide an essential framework for work with
all families, including African children and families, both in terms of the con-
text of their lives and the process of the work being undertaken. In order to
safeguard and promote the welfare of African children, a starting point must be
an acknowledgement of sources of discrimination and oppression and a com-
mitment to human rights and social justice.
This literature review has highlighted the importance of attention being paid
to the length of time families have lived in Britain and the particular problems
of families who have arrived more recently, some of whom will have insecure
immigration status; very limited understanding of the child protection and fam-
ily court systems; and who may be struggling to come to terms with traumatic
experiences of political conflict as well as separation from their families and
country of origin. Only through developing effective relationships with African
children and their families can professionals begin to understand their individ-
ual, emotional as well as practical needs. A lack of an effective means of com-
munication will undoubtedly impact on professionals’ ability to undertake
culturally competent assessments and interventions with African children and
families. Global mobility and the consequent changing nature of communities,
particularly in metropolitan areas, require local authorities to be proactive in
gathering information and developing services, including interpretation serv-
ices, that are responsive to the needs of African as well as other minority ethnic
families in their area.
In terms of the process of assessment and decision making, several authors
have critically analysed the evidence on service provision for black families in
general, in an attempt to understand the dynamics of working with difference
in relation to race, ethnicity and culture (Maitra, 1995; Dutt and Phillips, 2000;
O’Neale, 2000). On the one hand, a pathologizing approach to black families
may lead to unnecessarily coercive intervention and, on the other hand, a cul-
tural relativist approach may lead to non-intervention when services are
required (Dominelli, 1997; Chand, 2000). Either way, appropriate intervention
is not provided for black and other minority ethnic children. In this review, we
have identified evidence of these dynamics in relation to African children. Cru-
cial to understanding these dynamics is an acknowledgement of the interplay of
culture and race in assessment and decision-making processes.
How cultures that deviate from the majority are viewed from the outside is
filtered through the lens of power relationships and ethnocentricism and a
number of writers caution against ignoring cultural contexts and assuming the
universality of Western ethnocentric values and frameworks (Maitra, 1995;
Graham, 2002; Brophy et al., 2003; Thompson, 2003). Employing a deficit
488 Claudia Bernard and Anna Gupta

perspective can skew practitioners’ assessments of parental behaviour and

functioning when assessing attitudes and beliefs about child-rearing, particu-
larly if culture is viewed as static and unchangeable. It is important to note that
resorting to ‘culture’ as a sole determinant of behaviour cannot explain why
some members of a cultural group will practice certain behaviours, whilst oth-
ers will not (Dutt and Phillips, 2000; Fontes, 2005).
Culture can be both empowering and disempowering. Most notably, culture
can be a source of empowerment and strength for parents who are stigmatized
and socially excluded; culture can bring a sense of belonging and positive iden-
tity (Lachman et al., 2002). Thus, having cultural frames of references to draw
on can help parents become more resilient about facing adversity and can pro-
vide a positive environment for promoting children’s emotional and social
development. Yet, culture can also create forms of disempowerment for chil-
dren when it is used to justify parental behaviours and practices that violate
their human rights. Practitioners, working cross-culturally, may encounter
some resistance to their assessments of parenting problems and, in particular,
their judgments about what constitutes significant harm, when parents give
culture-specific practices as an explanation for their behaviour. Thus, sensitively
probing the quality of the parent or other care-giver–child relationship to eluci-
date how families function and to challenge where cultural beliefs and customs
may be drawn upon to justify harmful behaviour requires critically interrogat-
ing how parents and other care-givers understand the needs of their children
and parent effectively to meet those needs.
Importantly, subjecting cultural practice to scrutiny is a necessary part of the
assessment process if professionals are to achieve better outcomes for African
children. In many senses, a balance must be struck between sensitively chal-
lenging claims that certain types of behaviours are the norm in African famil-
ies whilst at the same time not losing sight of children’s welfare needs. An
added layer of complication is the need to safeguard children’s welfare by
challenging culture-specific practices that are harmful to children without
pathologizing all their parents’ care-giving practices. Inherent in child protec-
tion work is the balance between protecting children at risk of significant
harm, whilst at the same time ensuring minimal unnecessary intervention into
the lives of children and families. By employing a strengths perspective, practi-
tioners can illuminate how parents draw on culture as a resource to parents in
circumstances of adversity, whilst, at the same time, not excusing behaviour
that is harmful to children, because a cultural explanation has been given to
justify it (Fontes, 2005).
Within this context, reflexivity—an analytical approach which ‘requires a
more complex understanding of the many ways in which one’s own presence
and perspective influence the actions that are created’ (Fook, 2002, p. 43)—is a
necessary pre-requisite for effective practice with African children and famil-
ies. However, in order to achieve this, practitioners require access to good
supervision and an organizational context that promotes relationship-based
practice and critical reflection (Ruch, 2005).
 Black African Children and the Child Protection System 489

Conclusion

This review has highlighted that multiple social, environmental and parental
factors interact in complex ways to bring black African children into the child
protection arena. Thus, making professional judgments regarding thresholds of
concern for African children poses a major set of challenges and, ultimately,
practitioners need the skills, knowledge and conceptual tools to distinguish
between the styles of parenting that differ from those of the majority culture,
but which are not necessarily harmful, and parents who seek to justify abusive
and neglectful behaviour by drawing on cultural explanations to justify their
actions. Additionally, an understanding of how subtle and unintended influ-
ences of racism and eurocentrism can be barriers to valuing different norms
and expectations about parenting is critical. Furthermore, it is important to
emphasize that African families are diverse; therefore, their needs and circum-
stances will differ, depending on ethnic, religious and socio-economic back-
grounds. Crucially, professionals have to find out what the child-care beliefs
and practices are for ‘this child and in this family’ (Brophy et al., 2003, p. 15) for
identifying and assessing risk and protective factors. Essentially, practitioners
tasked with safeguarding and promoting African children’s welfare will need to
eschew a cultural relativist stance whilst, at the same time, have appreciation
for how care-givers draw on cultural values to parent in a context of external
devaluing messages and adversity. Finally, this review points to the need for
more research into the particular needs of different groups of African children,
if their experiences of the child protection system are to be fully understood.

Accepted: October 2006

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