A Worthy Reception? Ambivalences in Social Work With Refugees and Migrants in Sweden

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze how reception practices and the meaning of a “worthy” reception of refugees and migrants are negotiated in encounters between various receiving actors in times of shifting Swedish migration policies. The analysis is grounded in ethnographic methodology and draws on data collected in 2016. The aim of the study was to document experiences of the so-called “refugee crisis” in Europe and Scandinavia from a bottom-up perspective among professionals and volunteers narrated during reference group meetings. The reference groups consisted of representatives from state and municipal agencies, the private sector, and civil society organizations. The actors represented in the mixed reference groups were diverse, but all were involved in reception activities. In the analysis we have combined political philosophy about willingness versus ability to receive refugees and migrants with postcolonial theoretical perspectives on concurrent claims and voices. We identified three themes that are central in the negotiation of the practice and meaning of a “worthy reception”: first, the overlooked existential needs of refugees and migrants; second, the lack of gender- and diversity-sensitive reception practices; and third, ambivalences in relation to various refugees groups in times of shifting migration policies. We recommend that in order to promote a worthy reception of refugees and migrants, existential needs must be taken care of and gender- and diversity-sensitive practices must be developed. Another recommendation is to recognize how migration policy limits a society’s ability to receive refugees and migrants, but also affects the willingness among those actors who receive.

Policed empowerment at the intersection of child welfare and migration control

“…Negotiations on inclusion or exclusion of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors in Sweden occur at several institutional levels (Gustafsson and Johansson 2018;Hedlund 2016;Stretmo 2014). Care and welfare for these minors is negotiated at the municipal level in Sweden (Nordling 2016;Stretmo 2014).…”

“…In November 2015, a temporary migration policy was proposed in Sweden, reduced to EU minimum standards (, Öberg & Sager, 2017). The policy caused a breach in Swedish ideals of solidarity (Dahlstedt & Neergaard, 2019), compromising the possibilities of welfare actors to tend to the needs of minors in a more precarious situation than before (Gustafsson and Johansson 2018). The possibilities for gaining permanent residence have become restricted, and the rights of minors to re-unite with their families in Sweden have been limited (Dane 2020).…”

“…Efforts to uphold separation between the social services and the border police are described as causing ill-health among social service workers and confusion among minors (Sundkvist, Ghazinour, and Padyab 2017b). On the contrary, another strand of research highlights how encouragements of social work collaboration in border policing disconnects social workers from the professional ethics of social work (Björngren Cuadra 2015;Gustafsson and Johansson 2018;Jönsson 2014) which may disrupt trusting relationships between minors and social workers (Söderqvist 2017;Wernesjö 2014). Welfare collaboration has emerged as an end in itself for Swedish welfare organizations, even though different aims and professional ethics may collide (Chaib 2018;Danermark and Kullberg 1999).…”

“…ensamkommande barn] (Stretmo 2014;Gustafsson and Johansson 2018). These are minors that become precarious (cf.…”

Mirrored Social Representations of Canadian Caseworkers with Migratory Paths Intervening with Refugees in the Host Country

“…Bouquet and Jaeger pointed out that refugee-integration professionals, like any other professional working with disadvantaged people, are confronted with permanent contradictions between public order, professional ethics and the need to take into account the daily reality of migrants' journeys [23]. These professionals are also challenged in their relationships with refugees by institutional norms and social policies over which they have little control [84].…”