ABSTRACT
It can be difficult working effectively in child protection matters when engaging with an ethnic minority family low in English proficiency:
We use interpreters and telephone interpreters and that’s often difficult in itself. [CW_Anglo]
For a Persian-speaking family we are currently working with, the only way we can communicate is via interpreters. That is extremely challenging and difficult. [CW_Anglo]
Yet, it is a necessity. Inadequate interpreting services are ‘detrimental to the needs of minority ethnic families, as well as the professionals involved’ (Chand, 2005, p. 812). Humphreys et al. (1999) say ‘the significance of the interpreter service, in the absence of a child protection system with workers representing the range of languages in a multicultural society, cannot be underestimated’ (cited in Chand, 2005, p. 810):
[If] it was [the] ideal situation, we’d have someone that could speak every language in the office. [CW_Anglo]
Importantly, ‘the presence of an accent should not result in a presumption that a person requires translated materials or an interpreter’ (Sawrikar et al., 2008, p. 72), and caseworkers should engage with their client families in a respectful manner; ‘raising the voice or verbal bombardment is usually unhelpful, as is constantly correcting the client’s grammar’ (Ely and Denney, 1987, cited in Chand, 2005, p. 817), for example. However, overall, the effective use of interpreters is most critical for accurately gauging a child’s safety:
When you are trying to get what you mean in English, you may perceive that as ‘wow, that mother was very negative’, but maybe that’s how they speak in their culture. [CW_NESB]
Psychiatrist: I interviewed her in Cantonese. Her behaviour may appear inappropriate in the Australian setting but entirely appropriate in the Chinese culture. She just wanted to teach her son to be respectful to authority. She loves her son but her English is not good enough to convey her feelings. [CHN_case file]
Ethnically matched interpreters, in particular, can understand cultural nuances especially for explanations about the cause of maltreatment but also for understanding body language (Perry and Limb, 2004). For example, Owen and Farmer (1996) noted that ‘in some Asian languages (in the UK) the words necessary for the description of sexual abuse do not exist, or are so rarely used that people would be shocked by their usage, [so] in many cases a balance had to be maintained between politeness and clarity’ (cited in Chand, 2005, p. 811). Thom (2008) also notes that actions like head-nodding and smiling should not be assumed to indicate sufficient understanding:
They say ‘yes’, but it’s ‘yes’ just to be polite. See, in our [Vietnamese] culture, first you try to please and if they don’t know how to answer, they just have a smile. [CW_NESB]
Families may say ‘yes’, which the caseworker might interpret as confirmation they have understood what they just explained, whereas in fact it is simply an indication to keep going. [CW_NESB]
Chand (2005) also notes that:
The presence of an interpreter will often raise the anxiety levels of the social worker … For the social workers, there may be a pressure to try and balance being concise with trying to convey the message appropriately. One obvious consequence in achieving this balance is that the attention of the social worker may become misdirected towards issues of language, instead of concerns about the child.
