A Critical Reflection
Exposing Whiteness in Child Welfare Practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21778426 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lauren Kalvari (0000-0003-3871-8715, Independent researcher, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 51-61 |
| Publication date | 2023-03-20 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | First Peoples Child & Family Review An Interdisciplinary Journal Honouring the Voices Perspectives and Knowledges of First Peoples (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1708-489X • E-ISSN: 2293-6610 |
| Publisher | Consortium Erudit (PUBLISHER • CA) |
| DOI | 10.7202/1097722ar |
| OpenAlex | W4384706253 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 18 |
This critical reflection is based on my practice encounter as a white settler social worker within the context of Child Welfare, in rural Canada during the late 1990s. This paper is in line with Karen Healy’s (2001) notion of critical social work, as a means to enhance systemic and related child welfare social worker practice. More specifically this paper addresses, through a specific case encounter with an Indigenous mother, how white settler social workers are systemically entangled in perpetuating acts of oppression. This critical reflection enables the reader to become aware of how mainstream social work practice, has the ability to unintentionally harm those service receivers that it actually intends to help. This paper critically addresses discourse around professional innocence, the risks of professional knowledge, representational violence and ethical practice dilemmas, within the context of a disguised practice encounter. The relevance of this critical reflection may be seen as a social justice initiative, catered predominantly towards white settler front line practitioners. These challenges are originating from within our own practices. Our practices are historically embedded in systemic colonial forms of discrimination and racism against First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities. I bring light to how white settler social workers should confront their own personal and professional pre-conceived notions, biases, and misconceptions and instead, implement anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practices within their work. This process begins with critical self-reflection
Criminology · Environmental ethics · Oppression · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Racism · Sociology · Child Abuse and Trauma · Gender Studies · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Law · Social Work Education and Practice · Social Work
The Power of Being Professional
Social Work Practices
The Structure of Aboriginal Child Welfare in Canada
The Occasional Evil of Angels
Wholistic and Ethical
(Re) Conceptualizing Neglect
On saviours and saviourism
Predicting chronic neglect
Critical Reflexivity and Moral Regulation
It Matters What Stories Tell Stories; It Matters Whose Stories Tell Stories
Bursting Bubbles”
What Do We Know? The Experiences of Social Workers Working Alongside Aboriginal People
Unsettled Social Work
Pathways to the Overrepresentation of Aboriginal Children in Canada’s Child Welfare System
Beyond deficit
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |