Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Notes on contributors
- Introduction
- 1 The contribution of social work research to promote migration and asylum policies in Europe
- 2 Participatory art in social work: from humanitarianism to humanisation of people on the move
- 3 Grasping at straws: social work in reception and identification centres in Greece
- 4 Migrant girls’ experiences of integration and social care in Sweden
- 5 “Come to my house!”: Homing practices of children in Swiss asylum camps
- 6 Transnational dynamics of family reunification: reassembling social work with refugees in Belgium
- 7 Open or closed doors? Accessibility of Italian social work organisations towards ethnic minorities
- 8 Refugee children and families in the Republic of Ireland: the response of social work
- 9 Sense of place, migrant integration and social work
- 10 “If not now, when?”: Reclaiming activism into social work education – the case of an intercultural student-academic project with refugees in the UK and Greece
- 11 EU border migration policy and unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece: the example of Lesvos and Samos hotspots
- Epilogue: Time to listen, time to learn, time to challenge … because there is hope
- Index
1 - The contribution of social work research to promote migration and asylum policies in Europe
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 January 2024
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- Notes on contributors
- Introduction
- 1 The contribution of social work research to promote migration and asylum policies in Europe
- 2 Participatory art in social work: from humanitarianism to humanisation of people on the move
- 3 Grasping at straws: social work in reception and identification centres in Greece
- 4 Migrant girls’ experiences of integration and social care in Sweden
- 5 “Come to my house!”: Homing practices of children in Swiss asylum camps
- 6 Transnational dynamics of family reunification: reassembling social work with refugees in Belgium
- 7 Open or closed doors? Accessibility of Italian social work organisations towards ethnic minorities
- 8 Refugee children and families in the Republic of Ireland: the response of social work
- 9 Sense of place, migrant integration and social work
- 10 “If not now, when?”: Reclaiming activism into social work education – the case of an intercultural student-academic project with refugees in the UK and Greece
- 11 EU border migration policy and unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece: the example of Lesvos and Samos hotspots
- Epilogue: Time to listen, time to learn, time to challenge … because there is hope
- Index
Summary
Inspirational thoughts from social work pioneers
‘Nothing could be worse than the fear that one has given up too soon, and left one unexpended effort that could have saved the world.’
Jane AddamsFrom its very beginnings, social work has been inextricably linked with migration. The extent to which interventions with migrants were implemented in the early 20th century is highlighted throughout the pages of Mary Richmond's Social Diagnosis (1917) and Jane Addams’ Twenty years at Hull House (1910) as one of the main activities of social work pioneers. The awareness of the working conditions of migrants and how they suffered exploitation, oppression and racism outraged social work pioneers, and motivated them to challenge and condemn the injustice behind the ideology that supported the status quo. However, they soon realised that their condemnation would not be effective unless it was supported by reliable data.
The chapter titled Pioneer labor legislation in Illinois from the book Twenty years at Hull House (Addams 1910, 2010: 132) clearly illustrates this idea and provides important pointers on how to lobby for political change.
First pointer: awareness, outrage and ethical commitment are key elements for change, but they are not enough
The settlement house in Chicago, Hull House, was deliberately set up in an immigrant quarter. The decision was made with the aim of establishing a good relationship with neighbours so that Hull House members could empathise with them and understand their context at the very grassroots level.
Between Halsted Street and the river live about ten thousand Italians – Neapolitans, Sicilians and Calabrians, with an occasional Lombard or Venetian. To the south on Twelfth Street are many Germans, and side streets are given over almost entirely to Polish and Russian Jews. Still farther south, these Jewish colonies merge into a huge Bohemian colony, so vast that Chicago ranks as the third Bohemian city in the world. To the northwest are many Canadian-French, clannish in spite of their long residence in America, and to the north are Irish and firstgeneration Americans. (Addams, 1910, 2010: 64)
Awareness can only be achieved by being in touch with reality and, in this case, paved the way to outrage and ethical commitment, which necessarily (and previously) requires the willingness of the practitioner to place herself out of her comfort zone to enable her to challenge uncontested narratives.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Migration and Social WorkApproaches, Visions and Challenges, pp. 5 - 24Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2023