We examine whether, and under which conditions, volunteering contributes to migrant integration. We identify two main goals of workfare volunteering-empowerment and employability-which build on two distinct images of the ideal citizen: the empowered citizen and the worker-citizen. Life story interviews were held with 46 first-and second-generation migrant women from Turkey, Morocco and Suriname living in the Netherlands. We found that volunteering contributes to employability and empowerment. However, for two mutually reinforcing reasons it eventually disempowers. Firstly, volunteering hardly ever results in paid employment because employers do not recognize volunteering as real work experience. Secondly, the focus on paid employment as ultimate form of integration misrecognizes migrant women as active citizens, which often results in disempowerment. Our findings show that the double policy goals of workfare volunteering require different conditions, and as such striving for both simultaneously often results in failing to achieve the set goals.Résumé Nous avons examiné si, et dans quelles conditions, le bénévolat contribue à l'intégration des migrants. Nous identifions deux principaux objectifs du bénévolat Resumen Examinamos si el voluntariado contribuye a la integración de inmigrantes, y bajo qué condiciones. Identificamos dos metas principales del voluntariado de ''workfare'' (obligación de trabajar para recibir subsidios) -empoderamiento y empleabilidad -que se basan en dos imágenes diferentes del ciudadano ideal: el ciudadano empoderado y el ciudadano trabajador. Se realizaron entrevistas biográficas a 46 mujeres inmigrantes de primera y segunda generación de Turquía, Marruecos y Surinam que viven en los Países Bajos. Encontramos que el voluntariado contribuye a la empleabilidad y al empoderamiento. Sin embargo, por dos motivos que se refuerzan mutuamente les desempodera eventualmente. En primer lugar, el voluntariado raras veces resulta en empleo pagado porque los Voluntas (2017Voluntas ( ) 28:1900Voluntas ( -1921Voluntas ( 1901 123 empleadores no reconocen el voluntariado como una experiencia de trabajo real. En segundo lugar, el foco de atención en el empleo pagado como forma última de integración reconoce erróneamente a las mujeres inmigrantes como ciudadanas activas, lo que da lugar a menudo al desempoderamiento. Nuestros hallazgos muestran que las dos metas de la política de voluntariado de ''workfare'' requieren diferentes condiciones, y como tales, esforzarse por ambas simultáneamente a menudo resulta en no lograr las metas establecidas.

Slootjes, J., Keuzenkamp, S. & Saharso, S. (2017). The mechanisms behind the formation of a strong Sense of Coherence (SOC): The role of migration and integration. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 58, 571-580.Considering how much we know about the impact of the Sense of Coherence (SOC) on different health-related outcomes, we know surprisingly little about how a strong SOC actually develops. In this study we examine the mechanisms behind the formation of a strong SOC and study the role of migration, integration and general resistance resources (GRRs) in this process. We held 46 life-story interviews with women of Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese descent. We divided the respondents in a relatively strong and weak SOC group in order to discern patterns of life experiences associated with SOC development. We find that, as Antonovsky predicted, experiencing consistency and load balance are associated with a strong SOC. In opposition to Antonovsky's claims, decision making power is not a necessary condition to develop meaningfulness. Moreover, the women's life narratives show that migration and integration are related to the mechanisms shaping SOC, yet, the impact is subjective and depends on the availability and use of GRRs. Our findings provide improvements to Antonovsky's salutogenic theory and provide suggestions for interventions aimed at strengthening SOC.

Migrant women in Europe have a higher incidence of health problems and have disproportionately high unemployment rates. We examine how Dutch and Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese first and second generation migrant women escape the vicious cycle between health problems and unemployment by using the theory of the Sense of Coherence (SOC). We study how SOC works and whether SOC is also applicable outside the domain of health. Our findings from life story interviews (N = 54) show that women can escape this vicious cycle through the meaningful reconstruction of adversity. Women can put a halt on the on-going negative chain reaction through focusing on the meaning and purpose of adversity. We name such life stories narratives of meaningful endurance, which are characterized by structure, authorship and meaningful reconstruction, in opposition to its counterpart, narratives of non-directional distress. The three respective components of SOC - comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness - enable the attainment of a narrative of meaningful endurance and individuals with a stronger SOC are more likely to tell narratives of meaningful endurance. Theoretical and policy implications of our findings are discussed.

First-and second-generation Turkish and Moroccan migrants living in the Netherlands have a disproportionate incidence of health problems and relatively low employment rates. Health problems are an obstacle to employment, yet there is no one-to-one correspondence between health problems and capability to work. Social ties can reduce the negative impact of health problems on employment by providing social support and providing the comfort of feeling embedded in a close social circle. In this study, we examine whether the assumed negative impact of health problems on employment is reduced by the number of close social ties, the quantity of contact, and the proportion of co-ethnics among close social ties, and whether this protective effect varies across ethnic groups. Using survey data from the Netherlands Longitudinal Lifecourse Study (N = 3911), we find that close social ties reduce the negative impact of health problems on employment. However, this protective effect depends on both the aspect of social ties which is considered and ethnic background of the individual. Quantity of contact has a protective effect for native Dutch individuals; number of social ties and a higher proportion of co-ethnics had a protective effect for Moroccan individuals, and social ties have no protective effect for Turkish individuals.