Home sweet home? Professionals' understanding of ‘home’ within residential care for unaccompanied youths in Sweden

Abstract

A B S T R AC TThe number of unaccompanied minors arriving in Sweden continues to rise. The majority are placed in residential care units. This qualitative study aims to increase the understanding given by the professionals to the concept of 'home' within the framework of residential care for unaccompanied young people. Data are based on participatory observations at two residential care units, followed up by individual interviews with staff. The findings confirm that the concept of home has a complex meaning involving both objective aspects such as physical buildings, and more subjective components that can be seen as state of mind. The staff's desire to offer an 'ordinary home' fails because of the surveillance, their dominant positions and especially due to the legal restrictions that were not initially meant for this target group. Unaccompanied young people have to be considered based on their own specific needs in order to make it possible for society to offer the most suitable care.

Refugee Youth Who Arrived in Sweden as Unaccompanied Minors and Separated Children: <i>Education and Labour Market Well-being</i>

“…Several studies on refugee children and UMs have dealt with the notion of resilience versus vulnerability (Derluyn, Broekaert & Schuyten 2008;Eide & Hjern 2013;Luster et al 2010;Nardone & Correa-Velez 2015;Wallin & Ahlström 2005). It has been shown that the introductory stage, namely, how these children are received and how the asylum process takes place, has a very important impact on the well-being of these children (Çelikaksoy & Wadensjö 2017a;Söderqvist, Sjöblom & Bulow 2014;Wimelius, Joakim & Mehdi 2016). Some of the important influences identified in the Nordic countries are related to close contacts with persons from the society of the destination country and the time of waiting (Honkasalo 2017).…”

“…Some of the important influences identified in the Nordic countries are related to close contacts with persons from the society of the destination country and the time of waiting (Honkasalo 2017). It is found that these contacts are very important for the adjustment process of this group, whereby they learn how to navigate the new society (Iveroth 2015; Ombudsman for Children in Sweden 2016; Söderqvist, Sjöblom & Bulow 2014;Stretmo & Melander 2013). The situation of youth in the labour market is thoroughly covered in a well-established literature for native-born individuals, while only a few studies focus on refugee youth with large-scale data that enable the decomposition of this group.…”

The social care needs of unaccompanied minors: the Irish experience

“…In more recent work, Wade, et al (2012) emphasise how problems can arise when UAMs are placed in non-specialist provision, causing confusion for existing non-UAM residents. Furthermore, a Swedish study by Söderqvist et al (2016) highlighted the challenges for residential staff in creating an 'ordinary home' for UAMs given their surveillance role and the use of legal mandates that were not designed with this population in mind.…”

Hjem eller institusjon?

“…Uklare formål kan gi ikke-reflektert praksis, det vil si en praksis der profesjonsutøverne handler ut fra egne, selvfølgeliggjorte forståelser og forestillinger om hva omsorgsarbeidet er og bør vaere. Dette beskrives blant annet i en svensk studie av omsorgsarbeid med enslige mindreårige flyktninger i bofellesskap (Söderqvist, Sjöblom og Bülow 2016). Også her finner forskerne at mange av de ansatte anser hjemmet som ideal, men uten at de synes å ha en eksplisitt oppfatning av hva dette innebaerer.…”