Paradoxical evidence on ethnic inequities in child welfare: Towards a research agenda

Abstract

This paper aims to compare developments in theory and evidence about ethnic disparities in the USA with findings from the Child Welfare Inequalities Project in England with a view to identifying key issues for a future research agenda. It has a particular focus on the relevance of the concept of the Hispanic Paradox for disparate intervention rates between ethnic populations in England. Three key theoretical dimensions for explaining such disparities are identified and outlined: artefactual, demand and supply factors. Findings from the study in England are then introduced to explore the relevance of these dimensions in a data set of over 14,000 individual children who were either on child protection plans (with substantiated child abuse or neglect) or who were 'looked after children: in out-of-home care at the 31st March 2015. While some ethnic populations were experiencing much more difficult average socioeconomic circumstances (SEC) than others (using deprivation scores for small neighbourhoods as a proxy measure of family SEC), such factors were only a partial explanation for differential intervention rates between ethnic groups. Overall, large differences in intervention rates were found between ethnic categories and sub-categories which also confounded simply attributing disparities to either cultural differences, such as family patterns, or to individual or institutionalised discrimination. The potential for cost saving if intervention rates could match those ethnic groups with the lowest levels of service use would be considerable. More research is needed to ensure that data is comprehensive, reliable and valid, that there is better understanding of how socioeconomic factors affect service demand and what characteristics of different ethnic populations and different approaches o service provision contribute to differential intervention rates.

Factors Influencing Malaria Morbidity and Mortality Among Under 15 Years Children in Parts of Ghana: The Role of Guardians’ Socio-Demographic Characteristics Demonstrated Through Modelling

“…However, the interaction between the projectors that affect the overall health of a child is yet to be accessed. For instance, health-seeking behaviour by guardians for their children is affected by multiple of factors such as socio-demographic characteristics, issues related to health services, social, cultural and economic factors as confounding factors that in uence the outcome of the health of the child [40,49]. Similarly, guardians' sociodemographic characteristics are also in uenced by social, cultural and economic factors.…”

Income inequality and child welfare interventions in England and Wales

“…These ethnic groups do not mirror the social positions of African-American and Latino populations in the USA, because of the two countries’ very different histories, but the Asian and Black groups represent the two main ethnic minority categories in England and Wales and there are some similarities to those US minority populations in terms of their contact with child welfare systems. 9…”

“…8 We also see from ecological studies that there is a concentration of protective interventions in deprived neighbourhoods. 9,10 Research in the United States by Eckenrode, Smith, McCarthy and Dineen 11 found that both income inequality and child poverty rates were associated with higher substantiated child maltreatment rates at the county level. Income inequality was measured by using Gini coefficients 12 and control variables included child poverty, adult qualifications and ethnic diversity.…”

“…8 We also see from ecological studies that there is a concentration of protective interventions in deprived neighbourhoods. 9 10…”

Child Protection and Social Inequality: Editorial

“…The history of social work tells us that good intentions regarding justice and rights are no guarantee of good outcomes. Recent evidence that a child in Scotland is three or four times more likely to be in out-of-home care than a similar child in Northern Ireland, or that a child of Indian heritage in England is 20 times less likely to be in foster or residential care than a child of Black African-Caribbean parents, leaves no room for complacency about the forms and consequences of current policy and practice (Bywaters et al 2018a(Bywaters et al , 2018b). An inequalities perspective acts as a reality check on the outcomes of well-intentioned policy, practice, and service provision.…”