Mixed families in contemporary London

This is a group project examining the experiences of couples in mixed families in contemporary London. Five MA social work students are involved, each exploring a specific group of mixed families in which couples are from different races or different nationalities, ethnicities or faith groups. These groups of families include Christian-Muslim families, Black-British and South-Asian families, Zimbabwean inter-tribal families (the Ndebele and Shona); Black-British and Czech families and British-Portuguese families.

Whereas historically, research in this area tended to portray mixed families as potentially ‘problematic’ and leading to a variety of negative consequences for the parents and children, more current research challenges such perceptions and is able to highlight the strengths, coping mechanisms and a variety of advantages resulting from such families.

This project followed this more recent literature and explored the experiences of couples, the challenges they face as well as the ways in which these are overcome; the advantages and disadvantages of being part of a mixed family in contemporary London; the way families and couples make key decisions and how they negotiate their different cultural traditions, preferences and aspirations; how they pass these on to their children and what might be the positive and negative impact of these issues on family members’ wellbeing.

Publications

The three-legged pot and the lasting impact of the Gukurahundi: Shona Ndebele inter-tribal families in England | Social Work and Social Welfare (syncsci.com)

Meet the Principal Investigator(s) for the project

Dr. Yohai Hakak - Dr Yohai Hakak joined Brunel University London in 2014 and is currently Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Programme Lead for the MSc Social Work programme. His practice background is in mental health social work, having worked with adults experiencing severe and enduring mental health difficulties. Yohai's research explores migration, embodiment, parenting, religion, masculinities, youth, mental health and risk, with a particular interest in how these themes intersect with social work theory, practice and education. In recent years, he has developed a significant programme of research examining the international migration of social workers, including migration to and from the UK and the experiences and contributions of internationally recruited social workers. He has published extensively in social work and related disciplines and is the author of several books, including Haredi Masculinities between the Yeshiva, the Army, Work and Politics: The Sage, the Warrior and the Entrepreneur (Brill, 2016), an ethnographic study of ultra-Orthodox Jewish young men in Israel. His work has attracted international attention through academic publications, public engagement activities and several award-winning documentary films. Yohai plays a key role in the British Association of Social Workers' Special Interest Group on Diaspora Social Workers and is Book Reviews Editor and Associate Editor of Social Work Education: The International Journal. He has co-edited four special issues of Social Work Education and played a leading role in establishing the London Social Work Research Network, which promotes collaboration and knowledge exchange among social work researchers, practitioners and doctoral researchers across London and beyond. He is also the founder and producer of the How Does the Social Work podcast. Yohai welcomes enquiries from prospective doctoral researchers interested in the following areas in relation to social work: Migration and internationally recruited social workers Embodiment and the sociology of the body Religion and religious minorities Masculinities and gender Mental health Risk and risk perception Parenting and family relationships Interfaith and intercultural relationships Social work education and professional identity Qualitative and creative research methods

Related Research Group(s)

Embodiment in Academic and Professional Practice - Development of an enhanced awareness of bodies as sensors of crucial information about ourselves and our reality; Enhancing our performance as human beings, practitioners, researchers and educators.

Partnering with confidence

Organisations interested in our research can partner with us with confidence backed by an external and independent benchmark: The Knowledge Exchange Framework. Read more.

Project last modified 02/10/2023