Social Work in Europe Volume 9 Number 3 28 Introduction Europe is becoming increasingly multi-ethnic comprising diverse family formations and religious and cultural traditions (Williams, Soydan & Johnson, 1998). Such diversity requires a better and informed understanding of all citizens. In Britain, there is a growing literature on parenting and its constraints and effects in positive outcomes for families and children. Much of this literature, however, has failed to focus upon ‘ordinary’ families; and moreover has failed to incorporate the multi-racial component of today’s Britain. Consequently, a lack of research data and adequate analysis prevent the development of appropriate policy and practice initiatives which can be targeted at all sections of society (Boushel, 2000). International research literature into cross-cultural studies of child rearing indicates important issues in relation to family dynamics, migration and identity, and the patterns of parenting (Korbin, 1981; McAdoo, 1997). Such research identifies useful issues and concerns regarding the contextual understanding of child-rearing, and child abuse and neglect in modern day multi-cultural societies. Whilst we know something about family structures, disadvantage and discrimination experienced by minority ethnic families in Britain, we know relatively little about parenting within such communities. Our existing understanding is informed by studies which have not been directly about parenting, but which nevertheless have enhanced our understanding of the complexities of family life within minority communities (Drury, 1991; Barn, 1993; Tizard & Phoenix, 1993; Afshar, 1994). Such studies are useful in highlighting that in addition to ethnicity, variables such as social class, gender, generation and education serve to act as important determinants in our understanding. Background to study Our study was focused upon Bangladeshi women’s constructions of their health and social care needs, and the barriers they perceived to exist in accessing and using health and social care services. In addressing these concerns, the role of Bangladeshi women as mothers was also explored (Barn & Sidhu, 2000). The data collection involved demographic profile questionnaires (subjected to SPSS analysis); and semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The interview and focus group schedules were designed to incorporate themes and issues identified by previous research and current literature and were initially piloted with Bangladeshi women and health and social care professionals outside of the research location. Purposeful sampling was employed in the selection of Bangladeshi women for our study. The women were drawn from a range of voluntary community organisations. This initial contact then snowballed into access with informal networks. The strengths of this approach were that it provided a sample of women who were already engaged with some kind of health and social care intervention and could provide a useful reflection upon their experiences. This also helped to facilitate an easier dialogue with the women, which may not have been possible with a purely randomly selected sample. Importantly, the intention was not to produce a definitive account of the needs of Bangladeshi women, which would be a futile exercise given the dynamism of the different facets of health, but to ground these experiences within a specific context. A total of thirty interviews with health and social care professionals shed light on professional Parenting in a ‘Foreign’ Climate: the Experiences of Bangladeshi Mothers in Multi-racial Britain Ravinder Barn Ravinder Barn is a Reader in Social Policy and Social Work at Royal Holloway, University of London. As European societies become increasingly multi-ethnic comprising diverse religious and cultural traditions, it is important that an adequate understanding is developed of the needs and concerns of racially and ethnically diverse groups. This paper is based on an empirical study which explored the health and social care needs of Bangladeshi mothers, and contrasting professional ideologies about need and service provision. This paper focuses on parental and professional perceptions in its exploration of parenting within a multi-racial environment.