In dialogue with Critical perspectives in the field of Forced migration, this thesis aims to explore the spaces of „irregularity‟ regarding unaccompanied minors living non-status in the city of Malmö. With a theoretical departure in the ontological ideas of Hanna Arendt and Giorgio Agamben, the perspective of the Autonomy of Migration, and the concepts of „Acts of Citizenship‟, the thesis argues that these spaces are structured by multiple mechanisms of control, such as deportability, racism, poverty and precarity. In addition, the thesis investigates how these structures of control are contested by the minors. As the „irregular‟ subject in its presence challenges the Nation-state „order‟, the study argues that all her or his acts must be interpreted as confrontations. Hence the study aims to highlight the claims of rights and freedoms performed, not only by the minors themselves but also by the social networks surrounding them. The research is built upon fieldwork with non-status minors, asylum rights activists and semi-grass root actors in the spring of 2011 in the city of Malmö. Influenced by Methodological and Epistemological perspectives of Critical Ethnography and Action Research, the thesis also contains a normative requisite to deconstruct and question hegemonies and marginalizing structures.

Studiens syfte var att klargöra och redovisa för de främjande och försämrande faktorer som är betydelsefulla för asylsökande barns psykosociala välmående. Enligt vår förförståelse som vi erhållit genom arbetslivserfarenhet och utbildning lever de asylsökande barnen under svåra omständigheter och vi ansåg det viktigt att undersöka de påverkande faktorerna. Den metod som användes var en kunskapsöversikt som tolkades hermeneutiskt. Kunskapsöversikten baserades på 10 primärstudier och resultaten visade på följande främjande faktorer; skola, föräldrar/familj, adekvat information gällande beslutsprocessen, en väl fungerande barnpsykiatrisk vård, sociala nätverk och fritidsaktiviteter. De försämrande faktorerna var; bristfällig information och lång väntan under asylprocessen, föräldrars ohälsa, okunskap hos professionella om barnens lagstadgade rättigheter samt osäkra boendevillkor. Studiens resultat analyserades utifrån teorin Känsla av sammanhang. Resultatet ligger i linje med tidigare forskning. / "Outside I´m smiling, but inside I´m crying" - A litterary review of factors affecting the asylum seeking children´s psychosocial health. The study´s purpose was to examine the promoting and detoriating factors that are of importance for the psychosocial well-being of children seeking asylum. According to our prior understanding which we have acquired through working experience and education the asylum seeking children lives under difficult circumstances. We therefor considered it important to investigate the factors that are influencing the children. The method used was a review of the litterature which was interpreted hermeneutically. The review was based on 10 primary studies and results showed promoting factors as; school, parents/family, adequate information regarding the decision-making, a well-functioning child mental health service, social networks and leisure activities. The deteriorative factors were; lack of information and delays during the asylum process, parents´illness, ignorance among professionals about children´s legal rights and unsafe housing conditions. Our results were analysed based on the theory Sense of coherence. The results are in line with previous research.

Syftet i den här studien har varit att undersöka hur ensamkommande unga i Sverige beskriver sin upplevelse av familjeåterförening och vilken innebörd eller mening familjeåterföreningen har för dem. Vidare har vi haft för avsikt att ta reda på hur ensamkommande unga upplever den förändring som sker när samhällsstödet dras in vid familjens ankomst till Sverige. Studien är en kvalitativ intervjustudie där vi intervjuat tre personer som kommit till Sverige som ensamkommande barn och som senare återförenats med sina familjer i Sverige. Studiens teoretiska ramverk utgörs av Schütz fenomenologiska sociologi samt Berger och Luckmanns teori om den sociala verkligheten. För att ytterligare fördjupa förståelsen har vi kompletterat det teoretiska ramverket med Boss teori om tvetydig förlust samt med Greifs teori om tvetydig återförening. Analysmetoden var interpretativ fenomenologisk analys (IPA). Studiens huvudsakliga resultat är att det verkar finnas en kluvenhet i ensamkommande ungas upplevelser av familjeåterföreningen. Samtidigt som familjeåterföreningen har haft stor betydelse för respondenterna, har tiden efter återföreningen präglats av ett påfrestande ansvar över familjen. Avslutningsvis diskuteras eventuella brister i socialtjänstens stöd för familjer vid familjeåterförening i Sverige. / The purpose of this study was to explore how unaccompanied minors describe their experiences of family reunification, and what importance or implications it has for them. Furthermore, our aim was to find out how they experience the withdrawal of public social support after the arrival of their families. We interviewed three persons who were unaccompanied minors by the arrival to Sweden, and later reunified with their families in Sweden. The theoretical framework of this qualitative interview study is formed by Schütz’ phenomenological sociology and Berger and Luckmann’s theory of the social construction of reality. We complemented the theoretical framework with Boss’ theory of ambiguous loss and Greif’s theory of ambiguous reunification. The method for analysis used is Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The main results shown in this study is that there seems to be an ambiguity in the family reunification experience. On one hand, the family reunification was of big importance to the participants. On the other hand, the time following the reunification was characterized by a great responsibility for the family. Finally, we discuss possible shortcomings in the way the public social support for families after family reunification is provided.

This paper is a qualitative study about how personnel in Homes for Care and Accommodation work with mental health issues among unaccompanied children. The purpose with this study is to identify how they are working with mental health issues and explore how the personnel would like to work if their resources were unlimited. Interviews have been used as a qualitative method in this study and a social constructionist approach has been applied. The theoretical perspective in this study is salutogenesis and this perspective has been the stepping stone during the analysis of the gathered material. A reflexive analysis of the empirical data has been made and the result is presented in several themes connected to the experience of the personnel. The result and analysis show that it is not the duty of the accommodations to work with mental health issues but still, in practice, this have become their responsibility. The methods used are mainly focusing on building relationships with and structure around the adolescents. Conversations are the most important tool when working with mental health issues. The result also presents that clear information, more help from professionals and more education are items the respondents wishes that they had access to. In the discussion, reasoning is around who has the responsibility for mental health among unaccompanied children and how an increased sense of context could be a proposition for trying to decrease mental health issues among unaccompanied children. / Detta är en kvalitativ studie som berör hur personal på Hem för Vård och Boende arbetar med psykisk ohälsa hos ensamkommande barn. Syftet med studien är att identifiera på vilka sätt personal arbetar med psykisk ohälsa samt undersöka hur de skulle vilja arbeta om det fanns tillgång till obegränsat med resurser. I studien har djupintervjuer använts som datainsamlingsmetod och en socialkonstruktionistisk ansats har applicerats. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten i studien är salutogenes och har därmed tillämpats vid analys av det insamlade materialet. En reflexiv analys av empirin har genomförts och resultatet presenteras i olika teman kopplade till personalens upplevelser. I resultat och analys framkommer att respondenterna anser att det inte ligger i boendenas uppdrag att arbeta med psykisk ohälsa men att det i praktiken fallit på deras lott. Metoder som tillämpas i det vardagliga arbetet går främst ut på att bygga relationer med och skapa struktur kring ungdomarna. Samtal är det viktigaste redskapet i arbetet med psykisk ohälsa. Vidare visar resultatet att tydligare information, mer professionell hjälp och mer utbildning ligger på respondenternas önskelista. I diskussionen förs ett resonemang kring vem som egentligen har ansvaret för att arbeta med psykisk ohälsa hos ensamkommande barn och ungdomar samt att en ökad känsla av sammanhang kan vara ett förslag till minskad psykisk ohälsa hos ensamkommande ungdomar.

The years 2010 and 2011 recorded a number of incidents of natural disasters around the globe. These disasters resulted in death, injuries and loss of family members. Children, a vulnerable group of persons, found themselves caught up in the chaos of the natural disasters. Some children lost family members, others became separated from their families and caregiver(s) as a result of the disaster, and those who were "alone" prior to the natural disasters became completely exposed to serious physical and psychological harm. Yet, every child has the right to a family. States have a duty to protect separated and unaccompanied children. Such protection involves prevention of separation, assessment of the child's situation, registration, documentation, family tracing, verification and reunification, emergency care arrangements, and permanent care arrangements. Based on the premise that every child has a right to grow up in a family environment this dissertation attempts to answer the question: How can separated children and unaccompanied children, in the African context, be protected in the event of natural disasters such that their right to a family is promoted and protected? In so doing, it presents an explanation of the concepts of separated children and unaccompanied children through investigation xii into the practical effects of separation on children. It also presents discussions on the concept "natural disasters" and some of the effects of natural disasters on separated children and unaccompanied children. There is an attempt at defining the concept "family" based on its internal and external constitution and function, and a consideration of the needs which a family should satisfy in a child. Familial rights enjoyed by children are presented and analysed as rights which exist under the canopy of the "right to a family". In line with the Interagency Guiding Principles, the different stages of protection in natural disasters are highlighted and particular attention is given to intercountry adoption and the implications of placing moratoriums on intercountry adoptions at different stages of the intercountry adoption process, following events of natural disasters. The study stresses the need to balance the importance of protecting the child with the need to provide the child with a permanent family. Copyright / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Private Law / unrestricted

The subject of this study deals with the work of social workers with unaccompanied children. The problem is presented from a perspective where statistics show that a large proportion of unaccompanied children are compulsorily cared for in youth care for problems such as substance abuse, crime and vagabondage. The study's hypothesis is insofar as there is a problem in the performance of the social services regarding their assignment towards unaccompanied children. Based on the problem, the purpose of the study is to investigate whether social workers experience a problem or obstacle in their work with unaccompanied children in relation to social workers' assignments and professional role, and what factors may have an obstacle. The essay has therefore been carried out according to a qualitative methodology and includes semi-structured interviews with three social workers that describe their experiences of working with unaccompanied children. The conclusions show that the main problems that social workers experience in their work with unaccompanied children are time pressure and a high workload.

The aim of our study was to investigate HVB-home staff's perceptions of the temporary asylum law's impact on unaccompanied minors’ motivation for integration into Swedish society. On 24 November 2015, the government presented a temporary law to reduce the number of asylum seekers. The temporary law was intended to apply for three years and meant that Sweden went from having generous asylum legislation to following the EU's line for a minimum level for receiving asylum seekers. All asylum-seeking groups, such as refugees and people in need of protection, would receive temporary residence permits, except that there were exceptions for quota refugees who could obtain permanent residence permits. In the study, we used a qualitative method and conducted semi-structured interviews with five staff who had previously worked with unaccompanied children. Results from both interviews and previous research show that there are several factors that affect the mood of unaccompanied children and their integration into Swedish society. The study showed that previous psychological trauma, long waiting times for information about residence permits, loneliness and lack of meaningful activity had a negative impact on unaccompanied children's mood and motivation for integration.

Bakgrund: Under 2015 ansökte 35 369 ensamkommande barn om asyl i Sverige, vilket var en kraftig ökning jämfört med tidigare och senare åren. Det fanns tidigare brister i socialtjänstens ansvarsutövning gentemot ensamkommande barnen även under normala omständigheter. Vi har undersökt om socialtjänsten kunde tillgodose barnens behov och rättigheter i enlighet med socialtjänstlagen och barnkonventionen efter att så många asylsökande barn anlände i Sverige i en kort tid år 2015. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att studera hur har socialsekreterarna inom socialtjänsten upplevt och utfört sin roll och ansvarsutövning angående ensamkommande barn som anlänt i Sverige år 2015 och senare. Vår frågeställning var: Hur har socialtjänstpersonalen utfört sin ansvarsutövning gällande integrationsprocess av ensamkommande barn som har kommit till Sverige 2015 och senare? Metod: Undersökningen gjordes genom kvalitativ metod med 20 semistrukturerade intervjufrågor som formulerades och ställdes till nio utvalda erfarna social/barnsekreterare i Göteborgsregionen. Intervjuerna genomfördes på distans antingen digitalt eller telefonledes på grund av rådande Corona pandemin och spelades in och sedan transkriberades. Resultat: Respondenterna upplevde situationen under flyktingvågen 2015 som ”stressig”, ”jättetuff”, ”kaotisk” och ”överbelastande” då varken kommuner eller samhället var förberedd för ett sådant stor inflödet av flyktingar. Konsekvensen blev då att ensamkommande barnens basala behov såsom socialhandläggare, god man och boende ombesörjandes inte i god tid. Barnens integrationsprocess påverkades negativt och osäkerhet kring asylprocessens orsakade psykisk ohälsa hos ensamkommande barnen. Socialtjänstens ansvarsutövning angående ensamkommande barnens integration och empowerment var således bristfällig i början som förbättrades under senare åren. Slutsats: Socialsekreterarna kunde inte följa sina riktlinjer utifrån socialtjänstlagen under hösten 2015. De var tvungna att prioritera barnens basala behov såsom boende och ekonomiskt stöd över integrationsprocessen under en lång och stressig period då det saknades boende, skola med mera. Det blev dock bättre senare när kommunen anställde fler socialsekreterare, tolk och god man. / Background: Statistics shows that 35 369 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015. It was a dramatic increase in number of asylum seekers as compared to the previous years and the following years. There were insufficiencies in performance of Social Services regarding unaccompanied children in previous years under normal circumstances. We wanted to study if the Social services were able to meet the basic needs and rights of the unaccompanied children in accordance with the Social Services Act and the UN’s Children’s Convention after the huge influx of asylum seekers in Sweden in a short span of time in 2015. Objective: The purpose of our research was to study the experiences of personnel of The Social Services about their performance of their duty regarding integration and empowerment of unaccompanied children who have come to Sweden in 2015 and onwards. Our question formulation was: How have the personnel of the social services performed their duties regarding integration of unaccompanied children who have come to Sweden in 2015 and onwards? Method: Qualitative method was chosen for this study in which we formulated a questionnaire consisting of 20 semi-structured questions and interviewed a group of nine experienced social workers in Gothenburg region. The interviews were done digitally or by telephone due to Corona pandemic. All the interviews were recorded and then transcribed. Results: The respondents had experienced the situation in 2015 as “stressful”, “very tough”, “chaotic” and “overwhelming” as neither the counties nor the society at large was ready for such a huge influx of refugees. As a consequence, the basic needs of the unaccompanied children were not fulfilled, such as right to shelter, and allocation of case officers and legal guardians were delayed. It had a negative effect on the children’s integration process and uncertainty about their asylum process had caused psychiatric illness. Conclusion: The social workers could not follow their guidelines of in accordance with The Social Services Act in 2015. They were instead forced to prioritize the basic needs of the children, such accommodation, daily expenses and school over integration and empowerment. It got better, however, as the situations improved later on as the counties had employed more social workers, interpreters and legal guardians.

<p>The aim of this study is to examine which factors in the receiving-country that have had an influence on three now adult unaccompanied refugee children. The method used in the study is qualitative interviews with the three above-mentioned participants. The results show that some factors are perceived as helpful, having a positive influence on the participants life while other factors are perceived as worsening, having a negative influence on their life. Depending on the context some factors such as age, the Swedish language and housing arrangements have had both positive and negative influences on their life. Positive factors are among other things: access to good treatment and support, help with processing trauma and bad mental health, help with understanding coherence, access to a social network, family reunification, resilience and other internal factors. Negative factors are among other things: loneliness, feeling of powerlessness, mistakes made by public authority and “the long waiting” until they get a residence permit. The results correspond with previous research findings but have also originated new knowledge that can be added on the current field of research. The results have furthermore been analyzed with theories of risk and resilience, coping and sense of coherence.</p><p>Keywords: unaccompanied refugee children, unaccompanied children, asylum-seeking children /young adolts/adolecenses/minors, resilience, risk and protective factors, coping, sense of coherence (SOC)</p>

The aim of this study is to examine which factors in the receiving-country that have had an influence on three now adult unaccompanied refugee children. The method used in the study is qualitative interviews with the three above-mentioned participants. The results show that some factors are perceived as helpful, having a positive influence on the participants life while other factors are perceived as worsening, having a negative influence on their life. Depending on the context some factors such as age, the Swedish language and housing arrangements have had both positive and negative influences on their life. Positive factors are among other things: access to good treatment and support, help with processing trauma and bad mental health, help with understanding coherence, access to a social network, family reunification, resilience and other internal factors. Negative factors are among other things: loneliness, feeling of powerlessness, mistakes made by public authority and “the long waiting” until they get a residence permit. The results correspond with previous research findings but have also originated new knowledge that can be added on the current field of research. The results have furthermore been analyzed with theories of risk and resilience, coping and sense of coherence. Keywords: unaccompanied refugee children, unaccompanied children, asylum-seeking children /young adolts/adolecenses/minors, resilience, risk and protective factors, coping, sense of coherence (SOC)