Social disability: Roma and refugees in Swedish welfare

Abstract

Purpose -The aim of this paper is to discuss the importance of the disability category in Swedish welfare policies. The paper seeks to focus on two cases that illustrate how the social dimension in the understanding of disability permitted the inclusion of individuals, previously considered as ''unwanted strangers'', in the Swedish welfare context. The first case is that of refugees classified as unfit for work after the Second World War. The second deals with the Roma groups who obtained the right of formal Swedish citizenship during the same period.Design/methodology/approach -The analysis is based on data collected during two research projects. The first concerning the Roma policy of the Swedish Government from 1880 to 1970, primarily based on the analysis of public documents collected in the Swedish National Archives, including government reports and accompanying background material. The second research project deals with the development of an institutionalised reception of refugees by the Swedish welfare services after the Second World War. This research mainly uses documents produced during the international negotiations dealing with refugees interned in different camps in Europe and related documents in the Swedish National Archives related to the history of the organised reception of refugees in Sweden. In the case of refugees, the analysis focuses on the construction of disability in the classification system of the international refugee camps and in the organised reception of these refugees in Sweden. In the case of Swedish Roma, the analysis focuses upon the construction of social disability both in the arguments elaborated by Swedish authorities for the inclusion of Roma and in the practical organisation of their inclusion in the Swedish welfare system.Findings -The paper provides insights about the crucial importance on the disability category in the organisation of Swedish social welfare after the Second World War. The policies developed raise important questions about basic requisites to obtain citizenship and also call into question the unequal conditions of citizenship. The case of Swedish Roma and the refugees interned in international camps illustrated how changing perceptions of poverty and deviance were strongly influenced by medical representations of disease and disability. Disability, previously perceived as a principally medical category with social consequences, now acquired a social dimension that enabled new refugees and Roma groups to be considered as members of the nation state.Research limitations/implications -This paper is primarily descriptive. Further research is needed in order to develop a better understanding of how the social dimension of disability is constructed and how this social dimension was used to include new groups. The contents focus on the emergence of new social policies in Sweden after the Second World War; further research should focus on how these policies and processes still have a considerable influence on present policies and representations on migrants and...

The Prolonged Inclusion of Roma Groups in Swedish Society

“…However, the Swedish political scientist Carl Dahlström (2004) differentiates between the rhetoric on immigrant policies and the practice of it; policy rhetoric has changed but practical policies show a remarkable continuity between 1964−2000 (Dahlström, 2004). This is confirmed when considering the practices developed since WWII to make newcomers "fit in"; migrant and ethnic minority groups have been seen as people with special needs in these processes (Montesino, 2012), "requiring special treatment to enable them to adapt to the Swedish society" (Eastmond, 2011, p. 280).…”

“…socially relocate-citizens classified as deviants. During the decades following WWII the category of disability thus provided arguments for the admission of new citizens, as well as arguments for interventions towards "old" citizens considered socially deviant (Montesino, 2012). The scientific justification and legitimacy of such arguments was provided by both researchers and practitioners in the social field, hence giving way to the establishment of new dimensions in the understanding of social problems.…”

“…The national authorities soon considered these experts to be the "Gypsy Experts" ("zigenarexperter") par excellence. Hence, social and medical experts became key persons in formulating contemporary and future policy plans concerning socially disabled citizens such as the Roma in the post-war decades (Montesino, 2002(Montesino, , 2012Ohlsson Al Fakir, 2015).…”

“…They criticized previous policies for being repressive and argued for a social approach to the understanding of deviance. In this debate, they collaborated with medical experts and added a social dimension to the medical definition of disability, stating that social conditions could also create disabilities (Kerz, Werner, & Wesser, 1995;Montesino, 2012;Ohlsson Al Fakir, 2015). This new approach created the conceptual space for drawing up new policies directed at groups previously defined as undeserving and/or unwanted.…”

Trabajo Social en Suecia, tendencias generales y el caso particular de los niños migrantes

“…Esta metá-fora daba por sentado que la población sueca era una población cultural y étnicamente homogénea. Durante mucho tiempo pervivió la imagen de la sociedad de bienestar como una sociedad que aspiraba a la inclusión de todos los ciudadanos, si bien estudios recientes muestran que, también dentro de este proyecto de bienestar, supuestamente incluyente, seguían existiendo diferentes formas de exclusión social (Runcis, 1998;Tydén, 2002;Montesino, 2012). En términos generales la mayoría de los investigadores sociales coinciden en que, durante el período de auge del Estado de bienestar, los derechos sociales se hicieron extensivos a toda la población activa, un desarrollo que permitió la estabilidad económica gracias al pleno empleo, situación única favorecida por la expansión económica que perduró hasta principios de 1970.…”