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Social workers as targets for integration
Linnaeus University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Social Work. (LNUC Concurrences in colonial and postcolonial studies; SWAM; TOLK)ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0641-7096
Linnaeus University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Social Work.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9933-6687
University West, Sweden.
2023 (English)In: Nordic Social Work Research, ISSN 2156-857X, E-ISSN 2156-8588, Vol. 13, no 4, p. 550-562Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Sustainable development
SDG 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Abstract [en]

The aim of this article is to write against normative discourses and interpretations of 'integration' by nominating social workers and social work as the main subject of 'integration' and find ways to overcome exclusionary and discriminating social work practices. To do that, we use material collected when observing public service interpreters giving lectures to social workers about their experiences from encounters in social work settings. In a critical analysis, we found two 'integration' problems, that is, certain problems that social workers have in making themselves accessible and where they risk reinforcing exclusion and discrimination. One problem is 'the failure of handling perceptions that social services take children'. The other is 'the failures of (re)producing bureaucratically driven social assistance'. These problems might lead to exclusionary practices towards migrant families, often with disastrous outcomes. The analysis shows that these problems appear due to social workers' lack of institutional self-awareness, language competencies, and emphatic ability. To overcome these shortcomings, the interpreters emphasized the impact of encounters that social workers were already involved in during their everyday work. The interpreters recognize that social services are unknown to most families who are newly arrived in Sweden and point out the importance of making more efforts to be clear, rephrasing questions, explaining, avoiding abbreviations, and becoming proactive in dialogue outside of the offices, i.e. recognizing that social work is language work.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis Group, 2023. Vol. 13, no 4, p. 550-562
Keywords [en]
child protection, discrimination, integration, public service interpreter, social assistance, social work
National Category
Social Work
Research subject
Social Sciences, Social Work
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-124969DOI: 10.1080/2156857X.2023.2256737ISI: 001065097400001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85170657414OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-124969DiVA, id: diva2:1801283
Available from: 2023-09-29 Created: 2023-09-29 Last updated: 2024-01-18Bibliographically approved

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Gustafsson, KristinaNorström, Eva

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