7 Open or closed doors? Accessibility of Italian social work organisations towards ethnic minorities
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Elena Cabiati
Abstract
As human beings, people in need should have the right to access services and support to improve their living conditions, irrespective of their backgrounds. However, in reality, practising this principle is often ridden with complexity; therefore, social work organisations continue to grapple with the problem of accessibility towards ethnic minorities. Research and practice reveal that the accessibility of social work practices and social work organisations for ethnic minorities depends on several objective and subjective factors. These factors impose different responsibilities on social workers and organisations at the political and managerial levels of the welfare system. Considering the Italian social work context, this study uses the metaphor of the door-closing and door-opening movements within the welfare system to show how the former prevents, discourages or limits the access of ethnic minorities to the required support, while the latter facilitates them in navigating the system.
Abstract
As human beings, people in need should have the right to access services and support to improve their living conditions, irrespective of their backgrounds. However, in reality, practising this principle is often ridden with complexity; therefore, social work organisations continue to grapple with the problem of accessibility towards ethnic minorities. Research and practice reveal that the accessibility of social work practices and social work organisations for ethnic minorities depends on several objective and subjective factors. These factors impose different responsibilities on social workers and organisations at the political and managerial levels of the welfare system. Considering the Italian social work context, this study uses the metaphor of the door-closing and door-opening movements within the welfare system to show how the former prevents, discourages or limits the access of ethnic minorities to the required support, while the latter facilitates them in navigating the system.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- 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
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- 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
