Young, unaccompanied refugees’ expectations of social workers and social worker roles
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v18i1.388Keywords:
social work with young unaccompanied refugees, expectations of social workers, social workers roles, young unaccompanied refugees, integration of minor unaccompanied refugees, social workAbstract
Background: Young people who have travelled to another country, unaccompanied and with refugee status, are a both resilient and vulnerable group with specific needs. Supporting them is often challenging for social workers, and providing this support is mediated by the expectations that these young people have of social workers and social worker roles.
Aim: In this study, we explore how young unaccompanied refugees (YURs) perceive the roles of social workers in the national context of Norway, where concerns about the quality of social work for this group have been highlighted.
Method: Using the theoretical lens of role theory, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 Afghan boys between 16 and 23 years of age, living under the protection of the Child Welfare Services (CWS) in two municipalities in Norway. The interviews explored the boys’ positive and negative experiences of the social worker. A thematic analysis was conducted, in which the coding framework was informed by the premise that actual experience informs our expectations of other individuals’ behaviour and roles.
Findings: YURs’ expectations are more than instrumental, and more than a task they expect the social worker to perform. They also expect the task to be performed in a person-centred, therapeutic alliance (e.g. with humour and trust), and that the social worker exhibits particular personal characteristics or competences, besides being culturally competent and sensitive.
Conclusion: We find that YURs’ descriptions of the social worker’s roles of being a caregiver and practical helper are similar to what other young people in contact with the CWS expect. However, YURs expect an additional role, which is specific to this field of social work, namely that of an integration helper. However, the expectations that each individual young person has of social workers are individual, in flux and contextual, and not consistent over time. Therefore, we recommend prioritizing learning more about the young person’s individual expectations of the social worker roles, as well as a useful weighting of these roles for each individual young refugee.
References
Berg, B. & Tronstad, K. R. (2015). Levekår for Barn i Asylsøkerfasen. NTNU Samfunnsforskning. https://doi.org/10.7577/nibr/samarbeidsrapport/2015/4
Biddle, B. J. (1979). Role Theory: Expectations, Identities, and Behaviors. Academic. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-095950-1.50008-1
Biddle, B. J. (1986). Recent Developments in Role Theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 12(1), 67-92. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.so.12.080186.000435
Blaikie, N. & Priest, J. (2019). Designing Social Research (3rd ed.). Polity Press.
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Broch, T. (2012). Etiske og metodiske utfordringer i forskning rettet mot enslige flyktningbarn. In Eide, K. (Ed.), Barn på Flukt. Psykososialt Arbeid med enslige mindreårige flyktninger. Gyldendal Akademisk Forlag.
Bryman, A. (2008). Social Research Methods (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Bufdir [The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs] (2021a). Enslige mindreårige Asylsøkere og Flyktninger. Hvem gjør hva? https://www.bufdir.no/Barnevern/enslige_mindrearige_asylsokere_og_flyktninger/ansvar/
Bufdir [The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs] (2021b). Enslige mindreårige Asylsøkere og Flyktninger. Bosetning i Kommunene. https://www.bufdir.no/Barnevern/enslige_mindrearige_asylsokere_og_flyktninger/Bosetting_i_kommunene1/
Caelli, K., Ray, L. & Mill, J. (2003). Clear as Mud: Toward Greater Clarity in Generic. Qualitative Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2(2), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690300200201
Dey, I. (1993). Qualitative Data Analysis: A user-friendly guide for social scientists. Routledge.
Eide, K. (2012). Barn på Flukt. Psykososialt Arbeid med enslige mindreårige flyktninger. Gyldendal Akademisk Forlag.
Foucault, M. (1991). Governmentality. In G. Burchell, P. Gordon, & P. Miller (Eds.), The Foucault Effects: Studies in Governmentality, (p. 87-104). Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Gibbs, G. R. (2002). Qualitative Data Analysis. Explorations with NVivo. Open University Press.
Graneheim, U. H., & Lundman, N. B. (2004). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today. 24(2), 105-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2003.10.001
Goffman, E. (1956). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Penguin Books Ltd.
Healy, K. (2014). Social Work Theories in Context. Creating Frameworks for Practice.(2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-02425-1
Herz, M. & Lalander, P. (2017). Being alone or becoming lonely? The complexity of portraying ‘unaccompanied children’ as being alone in Sweden. Journal of Young People Studies, 20(19), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-02425-1
Jerolmack, C. & Khan, S. (2014). Talk Is Cheap: Ethnography and the Attitudinal Fallacy. Sociological Methods & Research, 43(2), 189-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124114523396
Johansen, K. & Studsrød, I. (2019). Help goes around in a circle: Young unaccompanied refugees’ engagement in interpersonal relationships and its significance for resilience. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 15(4), 249-261. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-03-2019-0035
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2015). Det kvalitative Forskningsintervju (3rd Ed.). Gyldendal Akademisk Forlag.
Kohli, R. K. S. (2006). The sound of silence: Listening to what unaccompanied asylum-seeking children say and do not say. British Journal of Social Work, 36(5), 707-721. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bch305
Kohli, R. K. S. (2007). Social work with unaccompanied asylum, seeking children. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-230-62575-4
Lange, J. (1991). Ungdom må få vise at de kan ting. Borderline-fungerende ungdommer i behandlingshjem. En deskriptiv oppfølgingsstudie. Barnevernets Utviklingssenter, Oslo. Rapport nr 6. Cited in https://www.forskningsradet.no/siteassets/publikasjoner/1169716623104.pdf, and in Larsen, E. (2020). Miljøterapi med barn og unge. Organisasjonen som terapeut (3rd Edition). Universitetsforlaget.
Larsen, E. Isberg, T., & Freng, G. I. (1990). Tilbake til framtida - En oppfølgende undersøkelse av ungdom innskrevet ved Grepperød Ungdomshjem. Barnevernets Utviklingssenter, Oslo. Rapport Nr.1/90. Cited in https://www.forskningsradet.no/siteassets/publikasjoner/1169716623104.pdf and in Larsen, E. (2020). Miljøterapi med barn og unge. Organisasjonen som terapeut (3rd Edition). Universitetsforlaget.
Larsen, E. (2001). At vokse er greie, gjør det mulig å bli grei selv. En oppfølgingsundersøkelse av hvordan ungdom som har vært til langtidsbehandling i heldøgnsinstitusjon opplevde oppholdet, og hvilken betydning de mener det har hatt for den situasjonen de er i dag. Skjærviken ungdomspsykiatriske behandlingshjem og Skjærviken skole. https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008111804021
Lidén, H., Eide, K., Hidle, K., Nilsen, A. C. E. & Wærdahl, R. (2013). Levekår i mottak for enslige mindreårige asylsøkere. Research Report. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. http://hdl.handle.net/11250/177431
Lidén, H. (2017). Barn og Migrasjon, Mobilitet og Tilhørighet. Universitetsforlaget.
Linton, R. (1947). The Cultural Background of Personality. Keagan Paul.
March, J. G. (1994). A Primer on Decision Making. The Free Press.
Oppedal B., Seglem K. B. & Jensen L. (2009). Avhengig og Selvstendig: Enslige mindreårige flyktningers stemmer i tall og tale. Rapport nr. 11, Folkehelseinstituttet, Norway. https://www.fhi.no/publ/eldre/avhengig-og-selvstendig.-enslige-mi/
Papell, C. P. (2015). The Need for Afghan Social Workers. Social Work with Groups, 38, 3-4, 228-230. https://doi.org/10.1080/01609513.2014.948589
Paulsen, V., Aune, J.A., Melting, J.K., Stormyr, O. & Berg, B. (2017). Relasjonen som plattform i møte med ungdom i barnevernet. Tidsskriftet Norges Barnevern 94(2), 84-94. https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1891-1838-2017-02-02
Rogers, C. R. (1959). A Theory of Therapy, Personality, and Interpersonal Relationships: As Developed in the Client-Centred Framework. In Koch, S. (Ed.), Psychology: A Study of a Science. Formulations of the Person and the Social Context, 3, (p. 184-256). McGraw Hill.
Rugkåsa, M. & Ylvisaker, S. (2021). From culturalisation to complexity – a critical view on the cultural competence discourse in social work, Nordic Social Work Research, 11(3), 239-248. https://doi.org/10.1080/2156857X.2019.1690558
Schein, E. H. (1985). Organizational Culture and Leadership. Jossey-Bass.
Skårdalsmo, E. M. B. & Harnischfeger, J. (2017). Vær snill! - Råd fra enslige mindreårige asylsøkere og flyktninger til voksne omsorgsgivere. Tidsskriftet Norges Barnevern, 94(1), 6-21. https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1891-1838-2017-01-02
Thrana, H. M. (2016). Love: Recognising relationships in work with vulnerable young people. International Journal of Social Pedagogy, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444.ijsp.2017.06
Turner, R. H. (2002). Role Theory. In Turner, R. H. (Ed.), Handbook of Sociological Theory. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publisher.
UDI [The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration] (2023). Statistikk om Innvandring. https://www.udi.no/statistikk-og-analyse/statistikk/
UNICEF (2023, 23rd April). Latest statistics and graphics on refugee and migrant children. Latest information on children arriving in Europe. https://www.unicef.org/eca/emergencies/latest-statistics-and-graphics-refugee-and-migrant-children
Volckmar-Eeg, M. G. & Enoksen, E. (2020). Navigating the multifaceted landscape of culture and social work: A qualitative evidence synthesis of cultural competence and cultural sensitivity in practice, Journal of Comparative Social Work, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v15i2.314
Ylvisaker, S. & Rugkåsa, M. (2021). Dilemmas and conflicting pressures in social work practice, European Journal of Social Work, 25(4), 643-654. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2021.1954884
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Linda Natalie Borho, Wenche Hovland, Sarah Hean
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.