Migration and Social Work: Approaches, Visions and Challenges

Front Cover
Half-title
Series information
Migration and Social Work: Approaches, Visions and Challenges
Copyright information
Table of contents
List of figures
Notes on contributors
Introduction
1 The contribution of social work research to promote migration and asylum policies in Europe
	Inspirational thoughts from social work pioneers
		First pointer: awareness, outrage and ethical commitment are key elements for change, but they are not enough
		Second pointer: the need to collect valuable information
		Third pointer: putting research into practice
		Fourth pointer: what is not communicated does not exist
	Updating pioneers’ tips: knowledge, empathy, emotion and action
		Empathy, knowledge and awareness
	Academia and social work research on migration and asylum
	Organisational culture and social work research on migration and asylum
	At the right moment in the right place? Social workers influencing politics: the role of research
		The role of social work associations
			IFSW as a political actor
				IFSW at the United Nations
				IFSW at the Council of Europe
				IFSW participation in other networks and platforms
			International Association of Schools of Social Work as a political actor
				European Association of Schools of Social Work
			Social work research associations as political actors
				Society of Social Work Research
				European Social Work Research Association
				The contact group on legal migration
				The expert group on the views of migrants in the field of migration, asylum and integration
				The expert group on economic migration
				EU High Level Group on combating racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance
		The role of the individual, think tanks and informal research alliances
		The presence of social work research in the European Commission expert advisory groups
	A way forward
		Critical thinking
		Rediscovering social work values
		From residual to structural: migration contents in academia
		Leaving comfort zones and research bubbles: a true challenge
		Social work is (always) political work
	References
2 Participatory art in social work: from humanitarianism to humanisation of people on the move
	Introduction
	Methodology
	Conceptualising migration through embodied reflexivity
	Epistemological flexibility
	Participatory art in social work
	Conclusion
	Acknowledgements
	Notes
	References
3 Grasping at straws: social work in reception and identification centres in Greece
	Introduction
		Social work in Greek reception and identification centres
	Methods
	Research setting
		Lack of resources
		Working conditions
	Discussion
	Acknowledgements
	Disclosure statement
	Notes
	References
4 Migrant girls’ experiences of integration and social care in Sweden
	Introduction
	Outline of the study
	Integration discourses in Swedish social work practice
	An alternative perspective
		The right to life and being worthy of protection
		Understanding identity in a new context
		Finding someone who can listen
	Conclusion
	References
5 “Come to my house!”: Homing practices of children in Swiss asylum camps
	Introduction
	The coercive community of an asylum shelter
	Asylum procedure and residency of asylum seekers in Switzerland
	Methods and terminology
	Ethics
	Non-places
	Dimensions of home
	Home as a place
	Home as an idea and feeling at home
	‘Homing’
	De-homing
	Discussion
	References
6 Transnational dynamics of family reunification: reassembling social work with refugees in Belgium
	Introduction
	Beyond methodological nationalism
	The transnational lives of refugee families
		Doing family at a distance
		Conflicting roles, frictious loyalties and altered positions
		Working on the nexus of (trans)national migration law and the welfare state
	Building an infrastructure for transnational social work
		The level of family relations
		The political level
	Conclusion
	Acknowledgements
	References
7 Open or closed doors? Accessibility of Italian social work organisations towards ethnic minorities
	Introduction
	‘Intercultural discrimination’: social work organisations do not work the same way for everyone
	Objective and subjective factors of door-opening and -closing practices
		Linguistic barriers
		Legal status
		Obstacles inherent in interventions and support
		Social workers’ competences and sensitivities
		Ethnic minority service users’ diffidence and prejudices
	Equivalence of care and intersectionality
	The culture of Italian social work organisations
		Italian social welfare organisations’ need for self-reflection on their degree of accessibility and inclusivity
		Anti-discrimination is not an automatic process
	Intercultural social work requires taking a position
	Conclusions
	Note
	References
8 Refugee children and families in the Republic of Ireland: the response of social work
	Introduction
	Social work in the Irish context
	Children and families in direct provision
	Resettled and relocated children and families
	Unaccompanied minors
	Family reunification
	Discussion and conclusion
	Acknowledgements
	Notes
	References
9 Sense of place, migrant integration and social work
	Introduction
	Integration: building a sense of place and belonging
	Capability Approach and flourishing lives
	Scottish context
		Policy and social work practice: Precarious Integration
	Conclusion
	References
10 “If not now, when?”: Reclaiming activism into social work education – the case of an intercultural student-academic project with refugees in the UK and Greece
	Introduction
	The project
		Reflection and action before the trip
		Reflection and action during the trip
		Reflection and action after the trip
	Conclusions
	Acknowledgement
	Notes
	References
11 EU border migration policy and unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece: the example of Lesvos and Samos hotspots
	Introduction
		The hotspot approach
		Legislation for the protection of unaccompanied minors
	The evolution of the ‘hotspot’ approach in Moria, Lesvos and Vathi, Samos
		The hotspot of Moria, Lesvos
		The hotspot of Vathi Samos
	Method
	Results
		Identification of URMs
		Legal proceedings: asylum application and family reunification
		Living conditions
		Lack of safety
		Violence among residents
		Police violence before arriving at the hotspot
		Police violence inside the hotspots
		Mental health of URMs in the hotspots
	Discussion
	Acknowledgements
	Disclosure statement
	Notes
	References
Epilogue: Time to listen, time to learn, time to challenge … because there is hope
	Key themes
	A sense of hope
	References
Index