“…There are very few if any monolingual Welsh speakers in Wales, but many Welsh speakers feel their language is central to their sense of selfhood. In response the amended 1993 Welsh Language Act granted the right for the country's 500,000 bilingual English/Welsh speakers to use the Welsh language in judicial and administrative contexts (Huws, 2006(Huws, , 2009Lewis, 1999). Currently in Wales, police forces, probation, youth justice teams and the Crown Prosecution Service, all use language schemes approved by the Welsh Language Board, which grant individuals the right to receive services in either English or Welsh (Crown Prosecution Service, 2008;HM Courts and Tribunals Service, 2013;North Wales Police and North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, 2013;Wales CRC, 2014).…”
Notwithstanding greater concern about the experiences of minorities, responding effectively to diversity issues has becomes increasingly challenging. Anxiety around how best to meet minority needs can stifle debate enabling the emergence of new, more subtle forms of oppressive practices. Drawing on the approach of Bourdieu (1979, 1986), and using language as an exemplar, this paper engages in a 'dangerous conversation' to explore how issues of diversity were mobilised, ignored and leveraged in one particular service context and to what ends. The argument is made that in some service contexts, a habitus obtains that renders reflexivity about diversity issues problematic and predicates against the critical reflection necessary to promote anti oppressive practice. We intend our paper to encourage greater reflexivity in instances when diversity issues are raised and to render simplistic any attempt to validate or invalidate claims of discrimination.
“…There are very few if any monolingual Welsh speakers in Wales, but many Welsh speakers feel their language is central to their sense of selfhood. In response the amended 1993 Welsh Language Act granted the right for the country's 500,000 bilingual English/Welsh speakers to use the Welsh language in judicial and administrative contexts (Huws, 2006(Huws, , 2009Lewis, 1999). Currently in Wales, police forces, probation, youth justice teams and the Crown Prosecution Service, all use language schemes approved by the Welsh Language Board, which grant individuals the right to receive services in either English or Welsh (Crown Prosecution Service, 2008;HM Courts and Tribunals Service, 2013;North Wales Police and North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, 2013;Wales CRC, 2014).…”
Notwithstanding greater concern about the experiences of minorities, responding effectively to diversity issues has becomes increasingly challenging. Anxiety around how best to meet minority needs can stifle debate enabling the emergence of new, more subtle forms of oppressive practices. Drawing on the approach of Bourdieu (1979, 1986), and using language as an exemplar, this paper engages in a 'dangerous conversation' to explore how issues of diversity were mobilised, ignored and leveraged in one particular service context and to what ends. The argument is made that in some service contexts, a habitus obtains that renders reflexivity about diversity issues problematic and predicates against the critical reflection necessary to promote anti oppressive practice. We intend our paper to encourage greater reflexivity in instances when diversity issues are raised and to render simplistic any attempt to validate or invalidate claims of discrimination.
“…Following a series of Welsh Language Acts in the late 20th Century, however, the right to use the Welsh language in the criminal justice system in Wales has become enshrined in law. Section 5(2)(b) of the Welsh Language Act 1993, for example, holds that:In the administration of justice in Wales the Welsh and English language should be treated on the basis of equality.Lewis () and Huws (, ) have argued that subsequent to this Act, significant provision has been made for Welsh speakers in police stations and courtrooms across Wales. Presently police forces, Probation Trusts and courts across Wales have Welsh language policies that guarantee Welsh speakers the right to use the Welsh language in legal proceedings if they so wish.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In the administration of justice in Wales the Welsh and English language should be treated on the basis of equality. Lewis (1999) and Huws (2006Huws ( , 2009 have argued that subsequent to this Act, significant provision has been made for Welsh speakers in police stations and courtrooms across Wales. Presently police forces, Probation Trusts and courts across Wales have Welsh language policies that guarantee Welsh speakers the right to use the Welsh language in legal proceedings if they so wish.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In 2007 the North Wales area of the probation service produced 2,897 pre‐sentence reports for court but only 49 (2%) of these involved interviews conducted in the Welsh language, and only five (0.2%) of these led to the production of Welsh language reports (North Wales Probation Area ). Despite the right to use the Welsh language that exists in a range of criminal justice contexts in Wales, a growing body of research with service users suggests that Welsh language services are unavailable in practice or problematic to access (Drakeford ; Adlam and Lynn ; Standing Committee on the Welsh Language , ; Madoc‐Jones and Buchanan , ; Dafis ; Huws , Rooney ; Cwmni Iaith ).…”
European language activists have successfully campaigned for the right to use regional or minority languages in judicial contexts. Despite this, such rights are rarely exercised. This is commonly understood as a function of the unavailability and/or inaccessibility of appropriate language services, so judicial authorities in a range of countries are urged to do more to meet their obligations to meet the needs of minority language speakers. The article draws on a study of language use in one criminal justice system where the right to use a minority language exists. It uses a discourse analytic approach to explore how first‐language Welsh‐speaking criminal justice service users account for their choice, and usage, of language, and what purposes these accounts may serve for narrators. Despite their commitment to the Welsh language, none of the study respondents used Welsh in their most recent episodes in the police station or at court. Two competing discursive constructions were evident in respondent accounts which served specific objectives for narrators. A ‘down to them’ discursive construction, which drew on wider imperialist discourses, positioned narrators as powerless victims of a system in which they had no choice over language. This construction legitimised narrators’ claim to Welshness and castigated agencies of the criminal justice system. Simultaneously, however, narrators deployed ‘up to me’ discursive constructions to demonstrate resistance to the role of victim. This construction positioned narrators as more powerful and as exercising agency and choice in the criminal justice system. The article thus challenges oversimplified understandings of minority language use and non‐use in the criminal justice system.
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