Forced marriage - an international, but not cultural, issue

Forced marriage is an international issue, at least partly because some young women are taken to their family’s home country and their passports taken away to force them into marriage; they are also put under physical and emotional pressure to consent to a family’s wishes. This is different from an arranged marriage, in which both man and woman consent, but the family (usually the parents) play a big part in bringing the couple together. My experience is that increasingly parents are anxious about accepting the responsibility for this in Western societies, even where the family's historic culture has supported arranged marriage. However, it's still widespread among British Asian communities, and supported by many in both the current marrying generation and among many of their parents.

In the UK, a useful House of Commons Library research briefing covers the current government consultation on forced marriage. As always with Library briefings, it also covers a wide range of official and non-official documentation. If you followed back all the sources, you would be very well-informed indeed.

The English government is thinking about criminalising (as the Scottish Parliament has) forced marriage – at the moment it is a civil offence, that is an offence against the victim, who has to take action in the courts. The recent The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 allows the courts to intervene with various protective orders. There are international processes for retrieving people from families who have in effect kidnapped them.

The paper makes the point that consent (informed and unpressurised consent) is required for marriage in all major world religions. However, some of the political and professional anxiety in pursuing these cases may well come from a feeling that we should not interfere in cultural matters. But it’s like violence towards children or women, it may be a commonplace in some cultures, but it’s an unacceptable trespass on the victim’s human rights and should not be condoned.

However, it's a pity that in his speeches the Prime Minister has discussed it alongside immigration issues. Neither forced marriage (illegal) nor arranged marriage (legal) ought to be a factor on thinking about our minority ethnic groups and their cultural preferences.

Research Briefing on Forced Marriage in the UK

Czech/Slovak social work journal

Here's a lot of titles from a journal. Look familiar; sort of thing social workers across the world are interested in? this lot come from the most recent volume of the Czech and Slovak Journal of Social Work, which I get as an international member of their editorial board. Parts of thejournal are magazine-like, with info about new legislation and news about personalities and projects. And, of course, if you don't read Czech and Slovak, you can't read the full content of the articles - neither can I. But there are English abstracts, and some articles in English on its website, which you can use to educate yourself about social work practice and thinking in those countries. What a pity language difference means that we can't read what all our colleagues are writing about their practice.

Knowledge creation in social work

Using sociological research methods in social work

Survey of approaches to social work education, especially in practice education

Self-help and support groups in the Czech Republic

Organisational identity and culture in staff working in a Czech charity

Theory and practice in working with families at risk

Case management using a postmodern collaborative approach

Complex needs assessment in problem- and solution-focused practice

Risk assessment with children in need

Citizen participation in working with families caring for disabled children

Social work with children experiencing domestic violence

Psychosocial effects of unemployment on families

Stereotypes of maternal and paternal roles in child protection practice

Rights of children with intellectual disabilities in the Czech Republic

Alternative approaches to data analysis in small samples in social work practice

Applying ethical theory in practice

Mediation in family conflicts

The key worker role in care homes for older people

Individual planning in domiciliary care services for older people

Experiences of staff as individual planning is introduced in residential care for older people

Teaching ethics in social work

Widows and widowers’ views of support from their environment

The approach to death of helping professionals in a hospice and their ways of managing stress

Volunteering and do-gooding

Volunteering to promote social inclusion

Volunteering in Slovakia – new trends

Psychological aspects of volunteering in social work

Youth volunteering as a framework to make social connections

Volunteering in hospices

 The journal English website here:  http://www.socialniprace.cz/english.php

More creativity and funding for children: aims in Australian debate

An Australian social worker who has built up a big family and child welfare organisation uses a congratulatory press interview to press for reform of the Victorian child welfare system : no it’s not that old – the state of Victoria. She aims for:

Getting rid of the adversarial legal processes through the Children's Court … 'Investment in early years; funding for out-of-home care that matches the demand — right now it's capped; an education allowance for kids in out-of-home care, and the transferring of case management from the Department of Human Services to the community sector.

These would be recognisable aims in many countries. Adversarial legal antics is not a good way of handling children’s lives. Adequate funding that prevents children from coming into state care, supports children’s education and if possible keeps them in a community setting is an important priority to many social workers. And too often hard-pressed state social work agencies focus on government priorities and political prejudices instead of the needs of children. Better to support planning and advocacy outside the state. Of course, social workers can be creative in government services, but over-bureaucratic controls and poor finance often hold creative practice back, for children and for adults.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/repairing-broken-young-lives-20110715-1hi75.html#ixzz1SSp5O7vI