New Ways of Thinking about the Influence of Cultural Identity, Place and Spirituality on Child Development within Child Placement Practice

Abstract

The policy and practice of family placement within the UK can be understood as the archetypal separation of a person from their physical environment, yet the intersection of ‘person with place’ - both past and present - has been argued to be crucial for identity formation. Indeed, intersectional analysts have called for alternative frameworks which challenge western models centering on the individual person disconnected from his or her community. An emerging body of work has drawn on Maori social work literature to explore the intersection of ‘person (identity) with place’ through an application to the concept of spirituality within western social work practice models (Zapf, 2005a, b). According to this perspective, people can have deep spiritual connections with the physical environment in which they live, creating a sense of belonging and attachment to that place. Victoria Sharley considers this Maori spiritual analysis in the context of family placement practice in the UK. In so doing, she offers a new way of thinking about the inter-relationship of cultural identity, place and spirituality as it affects the development of children separated from their birth families.

Foster parents: an enduring presence for vulnerable youth

“…Findings indicate that foster parents created a sense of security and belonging for young people vulnerable to poor outcomes (Biehal, 2014; Christiansen, et al., 2013; Fernandez, 2008; Sharley, 2012) and over time became an enduring presence. To achieve this and to be available to provide meaningful support for young people requires resources to be arrayed around the foster parent and the young person.…”

“…Given their disrupted attachments, young people struggled to form a strong sense of self. Being able to reconnect with their cultural heritage enabled them to explore who they were and where they fitted into the world (Sharley, 2012; Ward, 2011). Again, foster parents have a key role to play in supporting youth to stay connected with their own family system, including extended family members who can become part of the wider support network.…”

“…Other research has asserted that healthy identity development is facilitated when young people retain a connection with their culture and family of origin. Knowing where they fit in the world engenders a positive sense of self (Munford and Sanders, 2011; Sharley, 2012); foster parents have a key role in supporting young people to maintain these connections with immediate and extended family members (Sharley, 2012).…”

Akiikaa (it is the land): exploring land-based experiences with university students in Ontario

“…Place refers to location or where an activity will or has occurred, whereas space refers to the experience within a place and the effects that the space has for an individual (33,34). Indigenous TEK and Indigenous knowledges (IK) are continually under threat as mainstream society seeks to eradicate Indigeneity from spaces and places through dispossession and disruption of culture and language and by encapsulating IK and TEK within mainstream knowledge systems (33)(34)(35)(36). Indigenous concepts of place are about the physical environment or area that they are known to inhabit while the concepts of space vary by place, but essentially have effects on cultural identity and location within mainstream society.…”

International placements: learning from a distance

“…On my return to the UK, I drew on creative and visual representations to connect international experiences to personally significant areas in the New Zealand landscape congruent with Māori culture (Suopajarvi, 1998;Zaph, 2005). My aim was to convey the notion that who I was and how I now understood the world had become strongly rooted in my overall sense of self, creativity, place and most profoundly, with the people whom I had stood beside (Spretnak, 1991, cited in Zaph, 2005Sharley, 2012). When I was later reoriented at the university, it felt natural therefore to attempt to suffuse my cultural to the Māori understanding of 'whānau' or wider family grouping (Love, 2008).…”