4 Migrant girls’ experiences of integration and social care in Sweden
-
Elin Ekström
Abstract
This chapter explores the narratives of teenage girls who arrived in Sweden between 2014 and 2017 seeking refuge. Their stories of integration through existential struggles relating to rights, identity and belonging stand in contrast to a Swedish integration discourse that emphasises labour market integration. The girls question how their process of integration is framed, as circumstances beyond their control impact on their chances of staying in Sweden. In different ways they argue against how their personal struggles are disregarded leaving them without recognition and support. The chapter highlights the discrepancy between a general integration discourse that conceptualise integration as individual achievements and integration as it is reflected upon by the girls themselves.
Abstract
This chapter explores the narratives of teenage girls who arrived in Sweden between 2014 and 2017 seeking refuge. Their stories of integration through existential struggles relating to rights, identity and belonging stand in contrast to a Swedish integration discourse that emphasises labour market integration. The girls question how their process of integration is framed, as circumstances beyond their control impact on their chances of staying in Sweden. In different ways they argue against how their personal struggles are disregarded leaving them without recognition and support. The chapter highlights the discrepancy between a general integration discourse that conceptualise integration as individual achievements and integration as it is reflected upon by the girls themselves.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures ix
- Notes on contributors x
- Introduction 1
- The contribution of social work research to promote migration and asylum policies in Europe 5
- Participatory art in social work: from humanitarianism to humanisation of people on the move 25
- Grasping at straws: social work in reception and identification centres in Greece 47
- Migrant girls’ experiences of integration and social care in Sweden 64
- “Come to my house!”: Homing practices of children in Swiss asylum camps 80
- Transnational dynamics of family reunification: reassembling social work with refugees in Belgium 95
- Open or closed doors? Accessibility of Italian social work organisations towards ethnic minorities 112
- Refugee children and families in the Republic of Ireland: the response of social work 126
- Sense of place, migrant integration and social work 146
- “If not now, when?”: Reclaiming activism into social work education – the case of an intercultural student-academic project with refugees in the UK and Greece 161
- EU border migration policy and unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece: the example of Lesvos and Samos hotspots 177
- Epilogue: Time to listen, time to learn, time to challenge … because there is hope 198
- Index 201
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents vii
- List of figures ix
- Notes on contributors x
- Introduction 1
- The contribution of social work research to promote migration and asylum policies in Europe 5
- Participatory art in social work: from humanitarianism to humanisation of people on the move 25
- Grasping at straws: social work in reception and identification centres in Greece 47
- Migrant girls’ experiences of integration and social care in Sweden 64
- “Come to my house!”: Homing practices of children in Swiss asylum camps 80
- Transnational dynamics of family reunification: reassembling social work with refugees in Belgium 95
- Open or closed doors? Accessibility of Italian social work organisations towards ethnic minorities 112
- Refugee children and families in the Republic of Ireland: the response of social work 126
- Sense of place, migrant integration and social work 146
- “If not now, when?”: Reclaiming activism into social work education – the case of an intercultural student-academic project with refugees in the UK and Greece 161
- EU border migration policy and unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece: the example of Lesvos and Samos hotspots 177
- Epilogue: Time to listen, time to learn, time to challenge … because there is hope 198
- Index 201
