Comparative social work practices with young refugee and asylum seeker: the European experiences

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite the increased interest in improving the wellbeing of youth refugees and asylum-seekers, studies examining the links between social work practices in the recipient countries, the migration context, and the diverse needs of youth refugees, are limited. This paper builds a comparative perspective of youth social work policy, practices, and engagement related to young refugees in Finland, the United Kingdom, Malta, Italy, and Serbia. We solicited 48 good practices in youth social work, identified the central themes of social work practices, and linked them to each country’s migration context and social work policy. We found that the majority of youth programmes were carried out by NGOs at national level, except in Finland, where support from public institutions was significant. Social work practices in the arrival and first transit-point countries such as Malta, Italy, and Serbia, emphasise support on socioeconomic empowerment. In the main destination countries like Finland and the UK, the artistic and social initiatives as well as person-centered support services were more dominant. One common theme is found, that many of the programmes aimed to create a safe space for the refugees and sense of belongingness through the inclusion with in the communities they currently live in.