Displaying 1 - 10 of 10
Abstract
The article examines how unaccompanied young refugees in Sweden relate to and talk about their everyday lives and life plans during a time of transition from childhood to adulthood. We regard them as navigators and emotional beings embodying social situations, relationships and sentiments in their habitus throughout their lives affecting their life plans and acting to build capital in social fields. Their narratives show that they all have a life plan. However, disruptions and adjustments of life plans occur, often related to their birth families, deeply embodied in their habitus…
Abstract
Many unaccompanied minor refugees (UMRs) arrived in Sweden with the mass exodus of refugees who fled to the EU in 2015. UMRs are individuals who are under 18 years of age, outside their country of origin and separated from legal care-givers (Separated Children in Europe Programme 2004). In 2016, Swedish public opinion of asylum seekers began to shift from sympathy to fear (Kärrman 2015; Herz 2018) and Sweden implemented policies restricting UMRs’ rights. It was at this pivotal moment that we interviewed UMRs in two youth asylum-…
Abstract
Background
Sweden received, in 2016, 40% of EUs asylum seeking unaccompanied minors (UAM) (individuals less than 18 years of age). Some of these youth end up in a court mandated compulsory-care institution within months upon their arrival. A key concern is the appropriateness of UAMs ending up in an institutional care system which is aimed at youth with significant criminal justice, violence and/or drug problems. A second concern is that UAMs in compulsory care may display behavioral and acting out behaviors while in care due to their history of trauma and confusion regarding…
Abstract
The article examines from a comparative perspective how Sweden and Germany reacted to the unprecedented increase in unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in 2015. Concretely, it analyses on the basis of Windrum’s taxonomy of public-sector innovation what kinds of generic and context-specific policy instruments have been developed for this particularly vulnerable group and discusses whether and to what extent prevailing welfare-service organizational arrangements have changed in the two countries since 2015. By illustrating the reactions of two countries, the study shows…
Abstract
This article is written as part of the FORUM project (FOR Unaccompanied Minors: transfer of knowledge for professionals to increase foster care), an EU funded project which sought to enhance the capacity of professionals to provide quality foster care for unaccompanied migrant children, primarily through the transfer of knowledge. The article aims to contribute to this transfer of knowledge by bringing together literature which is of relevance to professionals developing or enhancing foster care services for unaccompanied migrant children (such as social workers), other…
Abstract
This project explores storytelling tools for the collaborative work with persons in vulnerable situation, in this case, a group of unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan living in Umeå, Sweden. The concept presented is the prototype of an eating experierence, BAHAM bolani: An idea for a social company where the participants are active into creating their own possibilities to stay in Sweden. With their own stories, they fill in the gap of how unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers are depicted in the dominant narrative. It is them providing meaning to the design concept. The…
In this paper we explore the research literature relating to the guardianship of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. In particular, we seek to find out what type of dilemmas have been identified by research concerning the guardianship of unaccompanied minors, and the focus that the literature has therefore taken. A comprehensive search of identified databases was conducted. Ultimately, 38 publications were selected for analysis. The review was qualitative and inductive. The results of the review suggest that research has identified and focused on challenges in the form of diverging policy…
This report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) provides information on the migration situation throughout the EU from 1-30 June 2017. The report includes data on the child protection situation for migrant children, particularly the identification, emergency placement and accommodation of unaccompanied children.
Children on the move are those children moving for a variety of reasons, voluntary or involuntary within or between countries, with or without their parents or other primary caregivers, and whose movement, while opening opportunities, might place them at risk (or at an increased risk) of inadequate care, economic or sexual exploitation, abuse, neglect or violence. Globally, 22 million children are international migrants or refugees. More recently their number has been growing dramatically as a result of protracted conflicts, environmental degradation, chronic vulnerability and large-…
The manual, What Works in Tackling Child Abuse and Neglect?, is the main outcome of the European Commission Daphne III programme, involving regional exchanges and research to bring together knowledge on what works in tackling child abuse. Five country reports (Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Sweden, and the Netherlands) were developed reviewing research findings and a comprehensive report compiled about strategies, measurements, and management of tackling the whole range of child abuse and neglect, from prevention to treatment. A study compiling practice-based knowledge on tackling…