Social work and parenting while Black

Social work is a vocation; people who chose to become social workers should ideally see it as a moral calling. Furthermore, the profession is explicitly value-laden, which requires practitioners to adhere to the ethics and values of the profession.

Black people in Western countries, and in this instance, the UK, are a historically marginalised group, and legislation have been needed to protect them from harm by the majority white race and ethnicity.

There is plenty of evidence that Black parents, like their children, are more heavily policed by social workers and similar state actors. Black parents’ experiences of social work therefore calls for social workers and their organisations to revisit their vocational sensibilities and the moral responsibility not to increase oppression.

This presentation uses data from a research with Black African parents in Greater London to reimagine conversations and relationships between Black parents and social workers, to improve understanding and co-operation between both entities.

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