Between empowerment and powerlessness: Separated minors in Sweden

Gustafsson, Kristina; Fioretos, Ingrid; Norström, Eva

doi:10.1002/cad.20011

Cited by 17 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Backlund et al, 2012;Gustafsson et al, 2012;Keselman et al, 2010;Lundberg and Dahlquist, 2012;Stretmo and Melander, 2013), and studies have shown that the unaccompanied children experience a lack of power in the decision-making that concerns them (Gustafsson et al, 2012). Gustafsson et al (2012) point to the paradox that restrictions of participation are embedded within a care and protection system that encourages independence and freedom of choice. Research in Finland has shown that the unaccompanied children view relevant participation in a way that differs from the most common definitions, such as Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC; United Nations, 1989); Study 1 shows that unaccompanied children often argue that the stability and the right to be protected by surrounding adults overweigh the right to have their own voices heard (Kaukko, 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, research from Sweden has shown that unaccompanied children's participation is restricted during the asylum-seeking process in the reception and care system (e.g. Backlund et al, 2012;Gustafsson et al, 2012;Keselman et al, 2010;Lundberg and Dahlquist, 2012;Stretmo and Melander, 2013), and studies have shown that the unaccompanied children experience a lack of power in the decision-making that concerns them (Gustafsson et al, 2012). Gustafsson et al (2012) point to the paradox that restrictions of participation are embedded within a care and protection system that encourages independence and freedom of choice.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Belonging and participation in liminality: Unaccompanied children in Finland and Sweden

Kaukko

Wernesjö

2016

Childhood

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This article investigates children’s participation and sense of belonging from the perspective of unaccompanied children, based on two qualitative research projects with unaccompanied children in Sweden and Finland. The results show that the unaccompanied children’s own understanding of their participation and belonging in different positions was fluid; for instance, the borders between childhood and adulthood, and striving for independence or wanting to be cared for by adults were flexible, allowing the children’s movement within and between the categories.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Belonging and participation in liminality: Unaccompanied children in Finland and Sweden

Kaukko

Wernesjö

2016

Childhood

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“…At the same time, it is not measures that the migrant can choose or suggest themselves. In that sense, the migrant has relatively less power (Andersson, 2014;Gibney, 2015;Gustafsson, Fioretos, & Norström, 2012;Larsen, 2011). These concerns are central to the perspectives of the present study.…”

Section: Research Perspectives On Swedish Refugee and Migrant Receptionmentioning

confidence: 87%

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

Gustafsson

Johansson

2018

ASW

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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.

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“…Backlund, Eriksson, von Greiff, Nyberg, & Åkerlund, 2012;Lundberg & Dahlquist, 2012;Söderqvist, 2017;Stretmo & Melander, 2013). The struggle to build and uphold friendship and social relations is not always dependent on the time the young people stayed in Sweden, it can also be experienced after several years in the country (Gustafsson, Fioretos, & Norström, 2012). Friendships with people who share the same language and background is of importance (Wernesjö, 2015).…”

Section: Unaccompanied Youths and Homementioning

confidence: 99%

“…External confirmation of belonging seems to be an important part of a relation (e.g. Gustafsson et al, 2012;Söderqvist, 2017;Wernesjö, 2015). Thus, it is not enough having a personal feeling of belonging it needs to be confirmed by others to be defined and experienced as authentic by the youths.…”

Section: Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The concept of home – unaccompanied youths voices and experiences

Börjesson

Forkby

2020

European Journal of Social Work

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In Sweden, unaccompanied youths are placed within residential care units. However, to settle in a foreign country and feel emotional belonging is more complex than access to a physical building. The aim of this study is to critically discuss the concept of 'home' as experienced by the youths, narrated in nine focus group interviews. These interviews occurred in the aftermath of a turbulent migration time (2015), when over 35,000 unaccompanied youths arrived in Sweden. A transnational theoretical perspective stretches the meaning across national borders, when home links to people, processes and other geographical places. It is difficult to create an environment that mirrors the emotional attachment described in analysis. Earlier research has shown that residential care workers refer to the institutional setting as home, yet the results of this study show that the young people relate to the concept differently. Staff utilisation of the concept of home rather emphasises the lack of home-like aspects for the youths, creating a frustration in the current institutional conditions. Staff in residential care units must therefore be aware of the different interpretations and reactions that their actions and communications generate, in order to respond to various needs. ABSTRAKTEtt boende alternativ för ensamkommande unga i Sverige är hem för vård och boende (HVB). Att komma till ett nytt land och skapa förutsättning för känslomässig tillhörighet är mer komplext än att få tillgång till en fysisk byggnad. Syftet med den här studien är att kritiskt diskutera hembegreppet baserat på ungdomarnas egna upplevelser, delgett i nio olika fokus-grupps intervjuer. Intervjuerna utfördes i efterdyningarna av en turbulent tid då det 2015 anlände över 35,000 ensamkommande unga i Sverige. Ett transnationellt teoretiskt perspektiv breddar förståelsen och sträcker sig över nationella gränser där hem länkas samman till människor, processer och olika geografiska platser. Det är svårt att skapa en miljö som motsvarar den emotionella samhörighet som de unga beskriver i studien. Tidigare forskning har visat att personal på HVB relaterar till den institutionella miljön i termer av ett hem, resultatet av vår studie visar dock att de ungas förståelse av begreppet skiljer sig åt. Personalens sätt att relatera till HVB som hem understryker snarare avsaknaden av hemlika element från de ungas perspektiv och skapar således frustration. Personalen behöver vara medvetna om de olika tolkningarna och reaktionerna som deras kommunikation genererar, för att kunna bemöta olika behov.

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Between empowerment and powerlessness: Separated minors in Sweden

Abstract: between childhood and adulthood can be described as "a life on hold." Arriving in a new country brings changes that they have not been able to anticipate. A prominent feature of several of the accounts is the feeling of being a stranger, both to one's surroundings and to oneself.

Cited by 17 publications

References 3 publications

Belonging and participation in liminality: Unaccompanied children in Finland and Sweden

Belonging and participation in liminality: Unaccompanied children in Finland and Sweden

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

The concept of home – unaccompanied youths voices and experiences

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