In Search of Protection: Unaccompanied Minors in Italy

Demurtas, Pietro; Vitiello, Mattia; Accorinti, Marco; Skoda, Aldo; Perillo, Carola

doi:10.14240/cmsesy040618

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Among migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean Sea in the last few years, children have been the subjects of attention because a large number of them are unaccompanied minors. From January 1 to November 30, 2017, over 15,500 minors arrived in Italy unaccompanied by an adult responsible; in the previous year, the number was even higher-with over 25,800 minors (Demurtas, Vitiello, Accorinti, Skoda, & Perillo, 2018).…”

Section: Migrationmentioning

confidence: 96%

Beyond Risk Factors: Structural Drivers of Violence Affecting Children

Maternowska¹,

Fry

Potts

et al. 2019

Peace Psychology Book Series

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As global data on violence affecting children (VAC) has emerged, the scope of violence has become increasingly clear as well as alarming: over 1 billion children between the ages of 2 and 17 experience violence every year (Hillis et al., Pediatrics 137(3), e20154079, 2016). Although the numbers may be clear, understanding why and how this violence manifests in children’s lives is a critical and still developing field of practice. The Multi-Country Study on the Drivers of Violence Affecting Children in Italy, Peru, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe set out in 2014 to understand what drives violence and what can be done to prevent it (Maternowska et al., Vulnerable Child Youth Stud 13(Supp 1), 2018; Maternowska et al. The multi-country study on the drivers of violence affecting children. A cross-country snapshot of findings. Florence: UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti. Retrieved from www.unicef-irc.org/publications/8, 2016). Through a systematic literature review, secondary analysis and an intervention mapping, national teams analysed individual, family and community-level risk and protective factors as well as the macro forces or “drivers” of violence—the often invisible forms of harm that create the structural and institutional context in which violence affecting children occurs. Our approach, working in close collaboration with national teams, demonstrates how violence manifests in children’s lives. The study considers a nation’s geohistoric place as essential to understanding how structure-based inequalities work in potent combination with the risk and protective factors to determine a child’s safety. We present a model, called the child-centred integrated framework, for placing our understanding of VAC squarely within the child’s social ecology. In this chapter we use examples of two drivers of violence common across all study countries—poverty and migration—to illustrate the power of structural factors on children’s everyday lives, with a focus on our findings from Peru. Our interpretations of violence are useful in that they lend practitioners of peace psychology a kindred view of the world but focusing on violence affecting children and their families from a population-based perspective, while also proposing ways to build more effective violence prevention policy and programmes.

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Section: Migrationmentioning

confidence: 96%

Beyond Risk Factors: Structural Drivers of Violence Affecting Children

Maternowska¹,

Fry

Potts

et al. 2019

Peace Psychology Book Series

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“…There are two types of migration drivers, as Demurtas et al (2018) argued. In the first 'escape from' model, the arrival in Italy was the consequence of circumstances rather than a conscious choice.…”

Section: The Phenomenon Of 'Missing Children'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the second 'in search of' model, the main objective of the unaccompanied minor was to find a job, be autonomous, and to help the family. In these cases, most of the UASCs come to the decision to leave their homes in agreement with their parents at the end of their mandatory scholastic preparation (Demurtas et al, 2018). Bhabha (2014) highlights how protective policies may not always be in line with these UASC's autonomous desires and plans.…”

Section: The Phenomenon Of 'Missing Children'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Unaccompanied minors’ needs and the child welfare response

Sanfelici

Wellman

Mordeglia

2020

Journal of Social Work

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Summary This study examines a sample of 1705 cases of unaccompanied and separated children (UASCs) included in a pilot project for early recovery child protection intervention. The project was started in two Southern Italian regions; multidisciplinary teams ensured an immediate intervention at the moment of disembarkation, working on children engagement and need assessment. Data were gathered about minors’ characteristics and services activated. Descriptive information was selected to develop a profile of cases and bivariate analysis was used to assess the relationship between case characteristics and outcomes. Findings The UASCs belong to 38 different nationalities, forming a very diverse group in terms of culture, reasons for leaving their country and past experiences, most of them traumatic. A high number of children were victims of torture, maltreatment, and human trafficking. The empirical evidence highlights that, at the end of the intervention, the majority of UASCs were still hosted in first-level facilities that could respond to basic needs only. Second-level centres were not always equipped to promote their integration process. Applications Findings suggest that even if an early child protection intervention to identify children’s strengths and vulnerabilities was crucial for the children engagement, a parallel action for advocacy at national and European level needs to be carried out to raise awareness about human rights violations, the complexity of these minors’ needs, and the necessity to promote adequate services in the reception system, giving voice to these children.

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“…Chapter 2 1 In Italy, unaccompanied minor asylum seekers do not risk deportation to their country of citizenship (Demurtas et al, 2018). It was not possible for me to understand what exactly happened in Italy with regard to Walid's legal case.…”

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confidence: 99%

Navigating the European Migration Regime

Wyss¹

2022

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EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC- ND Anna Wyss’ survey of the heavily politicised group of male migrants in Europe provides insightful analysis of both masculinity and the European migration crisis. The book tracks men’s repeated attempts to achieve permanent residence status and the successive detentions and deportations they endure. It measures the effects of precarity on their lives and explores the hope and vulnerability they experience.

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In Search of Protection: Unaccompanied Minors in Italy

Abstract: Un bambino assiste, dalla costa, all'arrivo di un gommone carico di migranti nell'isola di Lesbo in Grecia.

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Beyond Risk Factors: Structural Drivers of Violence Affecting Children

Beyond Risk Factors: Structural Drivers of Violence Affecting Children

Unaccompanied minors’ needs and the child welfare response

Navigating the European Migration Regime

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