References to Yasmin's excellent work and the work of Kate Gerrish can be
found in a short piece which tries to tackle some of these issues:
Culley, L.A. (2000) Working with diversity: Beyond the Factfile. In Davies,
C et al (eds) Changing Practice in Health and Social Care. Sage, London,
pp.131-142.
I think the best advice is "Never assume - always ask". But it is important
to know what to ask about. In my experience students and staff desire these
guides because by and large they are trying to "do the right thing" and
avoid offense. Those who are involved in the education of health workers
need to show an alternative approach - which is in any case simply good
practice for all clients.
Lorraine Culley
De Montfort University]
Leicester
-----Original Message-----
From: Alastair Owens
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 16/01/2004 16:09
Subject: Re: Ethnicity Online project
An example...
Yasmin Gunaratnam's work offers a constructive critique of 'cultural
guides' within the field of palliative care, making many of the points
raised by Alison and Luarence. It is also suggestive of other ways of
developing 'cultural awareness' and 'anti-discriminatory practice'
Gunaratnam, Y. (1997) Culture is not enough. A critique of
multi-culturalism in palliative care, in Field, D., Hockey, J. & Small,
N. (eds.) Death, Gender and Ethnicity, Routledge, London, pp. 166–186.
Gunaratnam, Y., Bremmer, I., Pollock, C. & Weir, C. (1998)
Anti-discrimination, emotions and professional practice, European
Journal of Palliative Care, 5 (4), pp. 122–124.
In the research that I have done with health care professionals around
such issues, there was a general enthusiasm for cultural guides as
'starting points'. However, there was also ready recognition of their
limits, and we should not assume such resources are used uncritically.
But to use a phrase of Yasmin Guanaratnam, there are real dangers that
result from 'categorical thinking', that Alison and Laurence have
usefully alerted the list to. The website certainly looks useful, but
the provisionality and positionality of some of the material it contains
might be more readily signalled.
Alastair Owens
--
Dr Alastair Owens
Department of Geography
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS
United Kingdom
Tel +44 (0) 20 7882 5401
Fax +44 (0) 20 8981 6276
Email [log in to unmask]
Personal Homepage: http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/staff/owens.html
Department Pages: http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/
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