Understanding the ‘Lived Experience’ of Unaccompanied Young Women: Challenges and Opportunities for Social Work

Larkin, Rachel

doi:10.1080/09503153.2015.1070817

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…These carers' experiences demonstrate that the development of these support networks can be rather ad hoc. Larkin (2015) found a very similar pattern of advice and information seeking among social workers working with unaccompanied young asylum seekers in another locality. Carers' reflections here suggest that there is scope and need for fostering agencies to assist in the development of those networks, such as by providing carers with written resources for signposting and creating opportunities for them to connect with one another.…”

Section: Support Networkmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Facilitating discussion around cultural expectations can also be useful (Linowitz and Boothby, 1988). However, the building of trust between a carer and a young person over time and the creation of opportunities for young people to share and explore their thoughts and perspectives with their carer, through an interpreter where needed, may perhaps lead to a more meaningful understanding of their experiences (Kidane, 2001; Larkin, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fostering unaccompanied asylum seeking young people: the views of foster carers on their training and support needs

Sidery

2019

Adoption & Fostering

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The implementation of the National Transfer Scheme, whereby local authorities across the UK are encouraged to voluntarily receive unaccompanied young asylum seekers, has prompted a necessary focus on the training needs of those caring for this population. As agencies consider how to build their capacity to support unaccompanied young people, this study set out to learn from the experiences and views of foster carers, in order to inform the development of effective carer training and support. Eight semi-structured interviews were undertaken with foster carers who have cared for unaccompanied young people in one county in the South West of England. The findings draw attention not only to the potential benefits of training focused specifically on fostering unaccompanied young people, but also reveal aspects of the impact that limited access to training and support can have upon carers. The findings shed light on the carers' experiences of encountering 'unknown' factors and allow new insight into the networks they had developed over time to enhance their ability to access information and support as new challenges arise. Possible implications for local authorities and fostering agencies are considered.

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Section: Support Networkmentioning

confidence: 54%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fostering unaccompanied asylum seeking young people: the views of foster carers on their training and support needs

Sidery

2019

Adoption & Fostering

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“…This research adds to our knowledge about social work practice with a diverse group of young people who are under-represented in the literature. It raises questions, not just about how UYFs are understood, and who they are trying to be seen as, but about who it is possible for them to become in the micro-spaces of the practice encounter (Larkin 2015). The UYFs in this study made a particular link between consistent physical presence, engagement and a felt understanding, and they described a sense of not being known if their social worker was physically or emotionally absent.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…A key theme that emerges is the challenge practitioners face in working in an empowering manner as 'champions' for unaccompanied children (Drammeh, 2019) within processes such as age assessment, claiming asylum, the provision of care, and family reunification. There are examples of practitioners working to meet the needs of young migrants through reflective acts of care, advocacy and solidarity (Boyles et al, 2019;Larkin 2015), but these sit alongside continuing examples of young people's exclusion (McLaughlin, 2018). So how do practitioners balance a human rights ethos, which should promote young people's agency and rights, when they are arguably contributing to a system of surveillance and control (Chase, 2010)?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unaccompanied Young Females and Social Workers: Meaning-Making in the Practice Space

Larkin

Lefevre

2020

The British Journal of Social Work

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This article considers the role and importance of the intersubjective practice space created between social workers and unaccompanied young females (UYFs)—girls and young women under eighteen years of age, who arrive in a country, not in the care of a parent or guardian, and claim asylum in their own right. The voices of UYFs are under-represented in the literature and there is very little research which considers social work with this marginalised group. Through a study of how UYFs and practitioners in England experienced and constructed each other during their everyday practice encounters, we discuss the potential of the practice space for creating mutual understandings and enabling positive changes. Analysis revealed that their subjective and affective experience of their encounters and of each other, both as individual humans and as representations of particular categories (asylum-seeker/looked-after child and professional helper/agent of the state), influenced how they engaged, communicated, co-constructed understandings of each other and viewed the process and outcomes of the social work contact. We argue for the importance of practice encounter spaces, their distinctiveness from what is written in policy and law and their potential as a site for creativity and change.

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“…In relational interactions practitioners used ‘ways of feeling’ , combining empathy and imagination (Larkin, 2015: 300) with embodied sense-making. This ‘ embodied knowing’ (Sodhi and Cohen, 2012: 122) constituted a significant but not necessarily recognised form of sense-making.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How social workers understand and use their emotions in practice: A thematic synthesis literature review

O’Connor

2019

Qualitative Social Work

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Emotions are intrinsic to social work. Social workers engage with people at points of crisis or need. The emotions of both practitioners and the people they interact with are central to the lived experience of practice. This paper presents a thematic synthesis of empirical studies which illuminate how social workers understand and use their emotions in practice. A search of electronic databases and reference harvesting located 28 papers which were screened against inclusion criteria and appraisal tools. Four analytic themes were identified: emotions as a dynamic relational resource; patterns of organisational and professional relationships; ambivalence, dissonance and distance and the place of emotions in professionalism and identity. Patterns and themes were found in diverse settings. This review brings together a small but valuable knowledge base. Findings suggest that emotions constitute a paradox for social work and are potentially a constructive resource. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research into the situated emotions of social work practice.

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Understanding the ‘Lived Experience’ of Unaccompanied Young Women: Challenges and Opportunities for Social Work

Cited by 8 publications

References 25 publications

Fostering unaccompanied asylum seeking young people: the views of foster carers on their training and support needs

Fostering unaccompanied asylum seeking young people: the views of foster carers on their training and support needs

Unaccompanied Young Females and Social Workers: Meaning-Making in the Practice Space

How social workers understand and use their emotions in practice: A thematic synthesis literature review

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