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Approximately 13,000 unaccompanied children apply for asylum in Europe each year. This study explores what happens to them when they 'become adult' at the age of 18 while still subject to immigration control. The presentation reflects on how we might best capture the well-being outcomes of young people becoming 'adult' as they experience multiple transitions across different maturation, geographic, bureaucratic, cultural and cognitive spaces. Presentation by Elaine Chase in University of Oxford seminar series on Children and Youth in a Changing World.
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In Motion: Conceptual and methodological challenges in capturing the wellbeing outcomes of young people ‘becoming adult’ while subject
to immigration control
Elaine Chase
(Nando Sigona, Jenny Allsopp,Dawn Chatty)
Outline Background and Context
Young people subject to immigration control
Research to date
Examples of circumstances/complexities
‘Becoming Adult’ project
Wellbeing as a concept in different spaces
Example: Bureaucratic space – ‘welfare’
Challenges capturing wellbeing on the move
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Young people seeking asylum alone: Europe
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2013- 12,690 2012- 12,685 2011- 12,225
2010 - 10,845 + UNKNOWN
2009 - 12,245 2008 - 11, 715 E.g Spain 60 applications for asylum (2008-2011) + 5,000 Independent migrant children(European Commission, 2012)
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Asylum applications from minors in top 12 countries in Europe (Source: Eurostat 2013; Norwegian Directorate of
Immigration 2013)
Young people seeking asylum: UK
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2006-2012 - 14, 047 Unaccompanied minors (Home Office, 2013) Afghanistan, Albania, Iran, Eritrea (Syria and Vietnam) 12% Refugee Status 67% Discretionary Leave to Remain (DLR) + Unknown numbers not claiming asylum Trajectories and outcomes post 18
–Limited research and policy focus
Research : ‘Futures and Wellbeing’
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Undocumented young people: social and economic lives in UK (2007-2009)
Emotional wellbeing study (DH, 2008) Combined with legal data => PhD (2010)
Undocumented children and families (2010-2012) Protracted Limbo – Scoping Project (Fell Fund 2013)
Trajectories of former ‘unaccompanied’ children across Europe.
Literature review; policy analysis; participant observation and interviews with young people subject to immigration control
Development of research design on longer term trajectories
Work so far ….. Established link between subjective ‘wellbeing’ and a
sense of future
Critiqued current notions of a ‘durable solutions’ for young people
Return; integration; resettlement
Normative ideas about ‘belonging’ and ‘social membership’
Beginning to understand how young people exercise agency to resist bureaucratic rhythms and processes
Beginning to unpick how social networks, family and cultural influences may influence decision-making and risk
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Becoming Adult: 3 year project
First longitudinal research to examine wellbeing outcomes of young people subject to immigration control
Primarily UK focus looking out Italy (Grant-linked studentship) + Norway & Belgium?
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Rationale for current research Builds on previous work showing link between futures and subjective
wellbeing (Chase, 2013) Practically nothing is known about
Long –term outcomes after ‘becoming adult’ (WITHIN/WITHOUT)
Young people’s migration strategies over time – ‘FUTURE’
Part of life course; rite of passage; economic independence; adventure…….
Cultural, family, peer influences on migration decisions and risks
The intersection between agency and vulnerability in the migration process
How transitions to ‘adulthood’ intersect with ‘wellbeing’ in the context of immigration enforcement practices and (international) immigration politics
The significance of gender and ethnicity
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Components: ‘Becoming adult’
Work Package One: Young People’s
conceptions and constructions of ‘futures’
Longitudinal (18 months); biographical narrative
Wellbeing outcomes & ‘measure’; social network analysis
Work Package Two: Cultural constructions of
‘futures’; ‘wellbeing’; ‘migration’; ‘adulthood’ etc.
Work Package Three: Policy conceptions of
‘wellbeing’ and ‘futures’
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Wellbeing
Contested across disciplines
Different meanings and associations for adults/children
What is it?
How can we (should we?) measure it?
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Some agreement on …….
More than ‘absence of disease’ (WHO 1978)Multi-dimensionality -physical, psychological, social Subjective and objective+ rights, protection from social exclusion/
povertyAbout capabilities (Sen 1992)A sense of belonging and control over one’s
environment (Nussbaum 2000) ‘At ease with one’s place in the world’ (White
2009)
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Wellbeing linked to Future
Ontological security and wellbeing Order, stability, routine (Giddens 1991) A sense of ‘projected self’ Sustaining a biographical narrative (Laing 1965 ) Sense of coherence (Antonovosky1979) Wellbeing linked to a viable ‘future’ Sustaining the ‘narrative’, order and routine
=)contingent on resources/social rights
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Can we capture wellbeing as: Trust & Belonging Connectedness (Marginalization; segregation) A positive identity (not the ‘undeserving’; the ‘bogus’; ‘the illegal’ Possibility to access to basic needs and support – ‘Welfare’
Deservingness: vulnerability ( ‘good’ ?)l Agency (‘bad’ ?) Sustainable lives and livelihoods (education, training etc) Moving forward – sustaining the biographical narrative
- OVER TIME
- OVER TRANSITIONS:
Child to ‘Adult’ (developmental/ maturation space)
Geographical space
Cultural space (including inclusive/exclusionary contexts)
Bureaucratic space (protected child to ‘illegal immigrant’)
‘Intellectual/cognitive’ (?) space
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Example: Wellbeing in Bureaucratic space: ‘Welfare’
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Entitlements depend on
oAge
o time spent in the UK
o legal status
Significant ages: 16, 18, 21, 25
Care leaver?
Young people often confused about what entitled to or not
Bureaucratic wellbeing (cont)
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Welfare provisionso ‘care’ -> accommodation; education; social
protections/allowances; health care; + legal aid Social construction of rights (Morris; Dean)
oStratification and proliferation of statuses (Morris) with associated entitlements
oCollective ‘moral’ sympathy (Turner); ‘Moral economy’ (Watters)
oMultiple mediators of welfare rights
oEntitlement or serendipity?
oStreet level bureaucrats (Lipskey)
‘Ageing out’ at 18
End of temporary legal status granted on grounds of being a ‘child’
Uncertainty about the future and how long can remain in UK (fresh asylum claims, appeals etc)
Drop in rights and entitlements UNLESS ‘care leaver’
A young person who has ‘been looked after for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14’ and has been ‘in care on their 16th birthday’
=> widespread and contested age assessments
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Immigration control vs ‘welfare’
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BUT Immigration control trumps all => Appeal Rights Exhausted
oCurtails entitlements to benefits/support
oHuman Rights Assessment? (ongoing support if ‘destitute plus’)
oSupport conditional on compliance
oPossibility of detention and deportation (Deportation gap - Gibney 2008; Sigona 2012)
oLocal authority differences in practice ‘Transition into illegality’ (Gonzales 2011)
5 June 2014Chase and Allsopp 2014
Page 21
‘Ageing out’: Peter (21)
14/15: Leaves Eritrea, spent time in Sudan and Italy en route to UK 16 arrives in UK: sent back to Italy (Dublin). 16: arrives in UK 2nd time. Assigned a social worker for 10 days then age
assessed to be 17. A 2nd age assessment finds him to 17.5 years. He spends 6 months in an
asylum hostel for young people and attends college. He is refused asylum. Turns 18 and is evicted: homeless and in receipt of no support. Not ‘care
leaver’. Receives bus pass, laptop and £30 a week from a charity which allows him
to continue college. (College doesn’t require passport) 20: puts in fresh asylum claim (1 year and has still heard nothing). Not in
receipt of asylum support as wants to stay and attend college in London. 21: applies to University in the UK. If granted refugee status will be able to
access student finance.
‘Ageing out’: Elizabeth
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16: leaves Rwanda and arrives with sister in UK. Both enter children's home. No age assessment.
17: moves into independent living. Sister (15) into foster care. 19: 1st asylum application withdrawn (‘lost’); puts in 2nd asylum
claim (still pending) 19: Her and sister move in with aunt. 21: has received support until 21 as a ‘care leaver’. Day turned 21
STOPS ( not in full time education). Reassigned to NASS
(sister now 19 and has social worker who Informally helps). 21: Applies to university in the UK. If she is granted refugee status
she will be able to access student finance AND have social services support reinstated until the age of 24.
Page 23
NEF-Connect - Be active -Take notice-Keep learning -Give
Every Child Matters-Enjoying and achieving-Being healthy-Staying safe-positive contribution -economic wellbeing
Barry (1997) Acculturation-Integration -Assimilation-Separation/segregation- Marginalisation
Ryff & Singer (1996)-Self acceptance-Self esteem-Positive relationships-Autonomy -Environmental mastery -Purpose in life (hope, goals, direction)
‘Tests’ -Symptoms check lists-Strengths/ difficulties
POSSIBLE TOOLS
FRAMEWORKS MEASURES
The challenge….
How do we capture wellbeing over time, motion & multiple transitions?
A new ‘measure’ ?How best to validate it?How best to implement it? What might it add?
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Related publications
Allsopp, J. And Chase, E. (2014) The Tactics of Time and Status: Young people’s experiences of building futures while subject to immigration control in Britain. Journal of Refugee Studies
Bloch, A. , Sigona, N., & Zetter, R. (2014) Sans Papiers: The social and economic lives of undocumented migrants. London: Pluto Press.
Chase, E. and Allsopp, J. (2013), ‘Future Citizens of the world’? Contested futures of independent young migrants in Europe, Oxford: Refugee Studies Centre/ Social Policy and
Intervention Working paper.Chase, E. (2013) Security and subjective wellbeing: the experiences of unaccompanied young
people seeking asylum in the UK, Sociology of Health & Illness, 35(6), p.858–872. Chase, E. (2013) 'Unaccompanied young asylum seekers in the UK: mental health and rights'
in F. Thomas and J. Gideon (eds) Migration, Rights and Inequality, London: Zed Books, p.94-111.
Chase, E. (2010) Agency and Silence: Young people seeking asylum alone in the UK. British Journal of Social Work. 40,7, 2050-2068
Chase, E., Knight, A., and Statham, J. (2008) Promoting the emotional wellbeing and mental health of unaccompanied young people seeking asylum in the UK, London: BAAF
Sigona, N. & Hughes, V. (2012) No Way In, No Way Out. Oxford: COMPAS
Contact: [email protected]
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