The Golly in the Cupboard.
Heycox, Karen
THE GOLLY IN THE CUPBOARD
Frampton, P. (2004), Manchester, Tamic, ISBN 0-9547649-0-0
On 30th August 2004 a Senate Committee Inquiry into Australians who
experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children launched the
first part of its report, "Forgotten Australians".
I was very interested in this particular book as I am currently
researching the issues facing older care leavers and this book documents
(even though the context is England and not Australia) the experiences
of a child in "care". It is even more interesting as it is
written by a former care leaver (or as they are known here a
"homie") now aged in their mid forties who is now attempting
to find their 'identity', the 'identities' of their
biological parents, and why they were placed in "care". A
child of mixed race parentage the author experienced racism in addition
to the common feelings for children in care, such as abandonment and
neglect. That is why I have put the word "care" in inverted
commas as many of the writers on this subject use these to signify how
they now question whether one can describe the treatment they received
as "care".
The book reads like a detective story as the details of
Frampton's history unfold time. We discover that the interests of
key players meant that the child's needs were always secondary to
those of the biological mother, a foster family, and the institutional
staff. The most vivid example of this was the fact that any
opportunities for further foster care and possible adoption were
thwarted by the home's matron.
Like a detective story we get caught up in the author's quest
to find out more about their origins and get answers to many of their
questions. But unlike a detective story this book leaves the reader with
a great sense of sadness and loss for this adult/child and their peers
who had similar childhood experiences of minimal "care". Many
of them are now left as adults with little support to deal with their
grief and the process of "moving on".
The pedant in me felt at times critical of some of the grammatical
mistakes and factual inconsistencies. I see these errors more as minor
editorial problems. On further reflection I am reminded of the
submissions to the Senate Inquiry as well as the personal stories in the
CLAN (Care Leavers Network) newsletters where one of the issues for this
group is often the lack of acknowledgement of their educational needs in
childhood.
It can be argued that many of the parents and staff were also
'victims' of a time in history when narrow attitudes towards
race,single parenthood and so on , as well as a lack of resources were
common. However this book demonstrates that those who are the real
'survivors' are the children (now adults) themselves.
This book, and many like it written by older care leavers, has much
to teach social and welfare workers working in child welfare. Also it
has much to teach those working in adult services, particularly aged
care, as many of these care leavers continue to experience issues from
their time in "care" into their middle and older years.
Reviewed by Karen Heycox, School of Social Work, University of New
South Wales, Sydney, Australia
