scholarly journals Security Net and Ambassadors for Social Inclusion? The Role of Intermediaries in Host–Refugee Relationships in Homestay Programs

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 232-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara‐Désirée Brinker
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Caring Relationships ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Sense Of Security ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

In response to refugees’ social marginalisation and lack of appropriate housing, homestay programs have emerged as a new approach to refugee accommodation. However, caring relationships between asylum‐seekers and refugees and locals are prone to reproduce power imbalances. As a countermeasure, flatshares initiated by the organisation Refugees Welcome are created within a three‐fold network of hosts, social workers, and volunteers. The volunteers serve as intermediaries and provide refugees with personalised support to become more rooted in society. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and thirty in‐depth interviews with hosts, refugees, intermediaries, and social workers in Catalonia (Spain), this article explores the responsibilities and struggles of intermediaries in the hosting networks. Results show that intermediaries give refugees and hosts a sense of security during the flatshare and keep social workers informed, yet their role varies considerably.

scholarly journals Renegotiating power in adult safeguarding: the role of advocacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah P. Lonbay ◽  
Toby Brandon
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North East ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The increased involvement of adults at risk in the safeguarding process has become a prominent issue within English safeguarding policy. However, there is evidence to suggest that actual levels of involvement are still low. The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a PhD study in relation to the benefits of advocacy in supporting this involvement in adult safeguarding for older people. Design/methodology/approach Participants in the study included advocates and social workers who had experience of working with older people through the safeguarding process within two North East England local authorities. A critical realist approach through in-depth interviews was taken with all the participants. Findings The research findings in relation to the benefits of advocacy in supporting older people going through safeguarding processes are reported. The practical limitations and factors which help and hinder advocacy support within the process are also considered. The theoretical implications for power, empowerment, and advocacy are also explored. Research limitations/implications A key limitation of this research is that it did not include older people who had been through safeguarding amongst the participants. Practical implications Key implications for practice and policy are discussed. Originality/value The paper provides an overview and critique of empowerment in adult safeguarding and the role that advocates play in promoting this key principle.

Working through Barriers: Shaping Social Workers’ Engagement in Policy Practice

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1107-1125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hani Nouman ◽  
Lia Levin ◽  
Einat Lavee
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Modes Of Operation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Policy Arena

Abstract Although social workers’ engagement in policy-shaping processes to advance social justice reflects this obligation of the social work profession, many social workers avoid implementing policy practice (PP). Previous studies have identified several barriers limiting social workers’ use of this practice. However, how such barriers can be overcome remains under-studied. In this study, we address this lacuna by examining the role of social workers vis-à-vis their engagement in PP, through the theoretical framework of social psychology of organizations, and therein, through ideas concerning open systems and the formation of roles and praxes in organizations. Drawing on twenty-eight in-depth interviews and three focus groups, we demonstrate how social workers underwent a coping and transformation process that increased their engagement in PP. In certain situations, it was the expectations of colleagues and the challenges posed by them that impelled social workers to re-examine their approach to such engagement and enhance it. We show how social workers can overcome barriers and facilitate their involvement in the policy arena, as well as highlight policy-makers’ role in shaping social workers’ modes of operation.

The impact of digital networking on the life of asylum seekers in Italy

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 253-263
Author(s):  
Magda Pischetola ◽  
Clio Sozzani
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Migration Flows ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
The Way

The article aims to investigate the relation between migration and digital technologies, in particular the way in which connectivity contributes to new forms of social inclusion. The study presented explores asylum seekers’ digital connections in relation to affective belonging, focusing on how social media enhance new forms of relationship between the homeland and host countries, as well as across migration flows. The research draws from the humanities and social sciences, proposing a qualitative methodology based on in-depth interviews with five migrants from the Middle East and Africa, who are hosted in a temporary camp for asylum seekers in Italy. It focuses on the way in which they remain connected to their home countries and how they try, at the same time, to create new relationships in the host country. The results outline how different forms of communication and digital networking impact on the migrants’ settling into new lives at the local and transnational level.

scholarly journals The Imagination of the Other in a (Post-)Sectarian Society: Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the Divided City of Belfast

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike M. Vieten ◽  
Fiona Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The City ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees ◽  
Do So

This article explores the ways a salient sectarian community division in Northern Ireland frames the imagination of newcomers and the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees. We examine the dominant ethno-national Christian communities and how their actions define the social-spatial landscape and challenges of manoeuvring everyday life in Northern Ireland as an ‘Other’. We argue all newcomers are impacted to some degree by sectarianism in Northern Ireland, adding a further complexified layer to the everyday and institutional racism so prevalent in different parts of the UK and elsewhere. First, we discuss the triangle of nation, gender and ethnicity in the context of Northern Ireland. We do so in order to problematise that in a society where two adversarial communities exist the ‘Other’ is positioned differently to other more cohesive national societies. This complication impacts how the Other is imagined as the persistence of binary communities shapes the way local civil society engages vulnerable newcomers, e.g. in the instance of our research, asylum seekers and refugees. This is followed by an examination of the situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland. We do so by contextualising the historical situation of newcomers and the socio-spatial landscape of the city of Belfast. In tandem with this, we discuss the role of NGO’s and civil support organisations in Belfast and contrast these views with the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees. This article is based on original empirical material from a study conducted in 2016 on the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees with living in Northern Ireland.

scholarly journals Sacred Welcomes

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-109
Author(s):  
Benjamin Boudou ◽  
Hans Leaman ◽  
Maximilian Miguel Scholz
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Moral Reasons ◽  
Structural Support ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
The Social ◽  
Religious Associations ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

This special section explores the role of religious ideas and religious associations in shaping the response of states and non-state actors to asylum-seekers and refugees. It brings together insights from anthropology, law, history, and political theory to enrich our understanding of how religious values and resources are mobilized to respond to refugees and to circumvent usual narratives of secularization. Examining these questions within multicultural African, European, and North American contexts, the special section argues that religion provides moral reasons and structural support to welcome and resettle refugees, and constitutes a framework of analysis to better understand the social, legal, and political dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in contexts of migration.

Recognition of Parental Love: Birth Parents’ Experiences with Cooperation When Having a Child Placed in Family Foster Care in Denmark

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tea Torbenfeldt Bengtsson ◽  
Kirstine Karmsteen
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Birth Parents ◽  
Parental Love ◽  
Family Foster Care ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Parents Experiences

Abstract Despite the fact that most children growing up in family foster care remain in contact with their birth parents, the experiences of birth parents have been largely neglected. This article draws on twenty-two in-depth interviews with birth parents to examine their experiences of cooperating with social workers and foster carers. Five patterns of cooperation are empirically identified in the parents’ narratives: (i) constructive cooperation; (ii) ambivalent cooperation; (iii) improved cooperation; (iv) diminishing cooperation and (v) lack of cooperation. While there are key differences in the characteristics of each pattern, there is one central similarity: all the parents seek recognition of their parenthood, especially their love for their child. Thus, actively recognising the role of parental love in parents’ motivation for cooperation can enable social workers to secure better cooperation with birth parents.

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