Serious case reviews: The lived experience of Black children

Abstract

Despite the many high‐profile Black child deaths in England, race as a factor remains a largely underexplored factor of serious case reviews (SCRs). Evidence from analysis of SCRs indicates that race receives limited attention, or is virtually absent. Given that the main function of SCRs is to provide opportunities for learning lessons to improve practice, the way in which issues of race and culture may influence child protection processes for Black children is therefore of critical importance. In this article, we employ content analysis to examine the extent that race and cultural factors are considered in SCRs involving Black children. It is argued that race is often an important factor influencing Black children's experiences of abuse and neglect, as well as their encounters in the child protection system. This article therefore poses two key questions: (a) What questions are asked about race, ethnicity, and culture in SCRs concerning Black children? (b) How did the SCRs extract lessons to be learnt for improving practice to safeguard Black children? By extending the analysis of race and ethnicity in SCRs, this article furthers our understandings of the needs of Black children in the child protection system.

Children and families with no recourse to public funds: Learning from case reviews

“…There were examples where the ethnicity of the child was missing, incomplete, inconsistent, or difficult to find, as was also found in Bernard and Harris' (2019) review. Diljeet's ethnic origin and religion were recorded, but little consideration was given to how these might impact their lives or the service delivery.…”

“…Some analysed all SCRs within a set timeframe, such as the studies undertaken by Brandon et al (2010, 2012, 2020). Others have taken a themed approach, such as Bernard and Harris' (2019) study examining whether SCRs involving Black children consider race and cultural factors. No studies to date have analysed SCRs involving children and families with NRPF.…”

An intersectional model of reflection: is social work fit for purpose in an intersectionally racist world?

“…Taking the pandemic analogy of racism and its weathering effects (Geronimus, 1992) further, I argue that the way in which the state apparatus, including social work, are handling it is, at best, incompetent and, at worst, perpetuating the virus. This is evidenced in the analysis by Bernard and Harris (2019) of serious case reviews (independent inquiries following the death or serious harm and abuse of children in the UK), where their focus on the deaths of Black and Asian children are a damming indictment of the failure of interprofessional social work to use intersectional anti-racist curiosity. My call for Black feminist social work remains insistent and compelling because I look about: with trembling, and with shocked anger, at the endless waste, the endless suffocation of my sisters: the bitter sufferings of hundreds of thousands of women who are the sole parents, the mothers of hundreds of thousands of children, the desolation and the futility of women trapped by demeaning, lowest-paying occupations, the unemployed, the bullied, the beaten, the battered, the ridiculed, the slandered, the trivialized, the raped, and the sterilized, the lost millions and multimillions of beautiful, creative, and momentous lives turned to ashes on the pyre of gender identity.…”

Black girls navigate the physical and emotional landscape of the neighbourhood: Normalized violence and strategic agency

“…The findings suggest that the challenging context of the young women’s lives contributed to a state of constant hypervigilance, which is bound to have an effect on their well-being. Additionally, social workers have been criticized in the past for what appears to be a lack of professional curiosity about the circumstances of Black children in need of support and protection (Bernard, 2020; Bernard and Harris, 2019). Thus, a commitment to trauma-informed interventions with young Black women affected by gang-affected violence necessitates social workers developing relational ways of engaging them in order to be fully cognizant of the ways in which their circumstances and environments will impact on their coping mechanisms.…”