‘A great pity to think of her going on the roads’: Trauma Understanding and Scottish Gypsy/Traveller Childhood in Out-of-Home Care

Allen, Dan and Donaldson, Davie and Stewart, Martha (2026) ‘A great pity to think of her going on the roads’: Trauma Understanding and Scottish Gypsy/Traveller Childhood in Out-of-Home Care. Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care: An international journal of group and family care experience. ISSN 2976-9353 (Accepted for Publication)

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Abstract

Scottish Gypsy/Traveller children have a longstanding history of state intervention, yet little is known about their experiences of out-of-home care (OHC) and how these experiences are represented in the records that follow them through life. This article examines the child welfare records of Martha Stewart, a Scottish Traveller and co-author, who was removed from her parents and placed in OHC in the 1950s. Using critical documentary analysis, we explore how family relationships, cultural identity, belonging and continuity were represented in the institutional record. The analysis shows how professional judgements and racialised classifications acquired authority, while the accounts of family and community were marginalised. As an adult, these records have become enduring artefacts of Martha’s life story, influencing how she understands her family, identity, belonging and the decisions made about her care. Returning to these records as an adult has also been re-traumatising, reopening experiences of grief, separation and loss. To help prevent or minimise similar harms for children and care-experienced adults in the future, we introduce a relational soil model for trauma-informed case recording. The model encourages practitioners to consider how records can either disrupt or sustain the relationships, cultural connections and sense of belonging that help children make sense of who they are, where they come from and the lives they have lived.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Dan Allen
Date Deposited:	28 Oct 2026 14:43
Last Modified:	28 Oct 2026 14:43
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/5002

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