Ethics of Care and Linguistic Diversity: Towards an Ethics of Communication in Social Work Practice?

This article explores the possibility of utilising ethics of care as a moral theory to understand the provision of support necessary for communication between linguistically diverse people. The article focuses on support with communication within the field of social work, and social work research, where social work is enacted within a neo-liberal welfare system. Within such welfare systems, communication across linguistic diversity, both in research and practice exchanges, is most often mediated by formal interpreters. The article includes a summary of current global linguistic diversity, neo-liberal social work ethics and ethics of care, before considering what an ethics of communication might involve. The article then utilises a worked example from the author's primary research, to demonstrate how an alternative method to professional interpretation, namely informal language brokers, can generate robust and valid outcomes whilst respecting the importance of emotion and relationships. The most important aspect of establishing alternatives to professional interpreting is the introduction of choice for those requiring communication support, and the recognition that this choice is made relationally and holistically. The article concludes by outlining the complex tensions involved in recognising and including informal language brokers as an option to support care recipient and research participant communication.