The various ages of life, particularly childhood and youth, have long been focal points of social work research and practice (Hanses, Homfeldt & Schulze-Krüdener, 2008). Yet only in the last two ...decades has the importance of transition processes in life trajectories been recognized in social work (see for instance the handbook by Schröer et al., 2013). This new vantage point of transition research covers research both on sociological and psychological life course theories and on anthropological insights into the meaning of “rites de passage” for individuals, communities, and society. Transition processes between different life stages and between different institutions of education, social services, etc. are a challenge for individuals, since social expectations, environments, and reference points are changing dramatically. Therefore, social support (both informal and formal) is considered to be an important feature and starting point for social work. However, one aspect that is not well recognized and researched is the forms of change in life trajectories which are subsumed under the term “turning points” (Gilligan, 2010). This is all the more astonishing since the concept of “turning points” was introduced at the same time as the prevailing notions of trajectories and transitions.
There are currently 65.6 million people who have become refugees worldwide. (UNHCR 2017) Many of these people try to make it to so-called Western welfare states. The latest peak of 2.0 million new ...asylum claims in 2016 confirms this trend: By the end of 2016, “with 722,400 such claims, Germany was the world’s largest recipient of new individual applications, followed by the United States of America (262,000), Italy (123,000), and Turkey (78,600).” (UNHCR 2017). As a specifically categorized subgroup of young people who have been forcefully displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations, and who fled without any legal guardian to assumedly safe(r) countries, so-called “Unaccompanied Minors (UAM)” symbolize this general development of flight and migration like few others. In 2015-2016, 300,000 young people became registered as UAM. (Unicef 2017, p. 6) This was neither a sudden development, nor was it unforeseen by those experts who had investigated the phenomenon for years and pointed at it to alert politicians and (social service) administrators across Europe and the world. Instead, the number of UAM increased rapidly and constantly during the last eight years, until the total number of asylum applicants considered to be UAM rose to approximately twenty times the original number in 2008.
While there is a large difference in the number of young inhabitants in the Netherlands and Germany, their child protection frameworks are quite similar. In both countries, child protection services ...are mainly focused on youth aged 0 to 18 and regulations are aimed at clients’ responsibility and their active involvement during care. Youth care services consist of community-based services, day treatment and out-of-home care services, which include foster care and residential care. The history of out-of-home care services in both countries is characterized by similar developments. Over the last four decades, similar trends in residential care, towards more small-scale forms of residential care, smaller residential group sizes, and increasing professionalization of staff have emerged. Over the last two decades, a comparable trend towards increasing professionalization can be seen in the context of foster care in both countries. In addition, the number of youths in out-of-home care increased in both countries over the last decade, specifically in foster care. Over the last decade, more studies have been conducted in residential care than in foster care in both countries. Despite similar trends and developments in out-of-home care practice, research mainly shows differences in applied topics and methods between Germany and the Netherlands.
A pesar de la gran diferencia en el número de habitantes jóvenes entre Holanda y Alemania, sus estructuras de protección de la infancia son muy semejantes. Los servicios de protección de la infancia en ambos países se centran fundamentalmente en los jóvenes entre 0 y 18 años y la reglamentación va dirigida a la responsabilidad de los clientes y su compromiso activo durante el acogimiento. Los servicios de protección a los jóvenes constan de servicios comunitarios, el tratamiento de día y los servicios de proteccion con separación familiar, que abarcan el acogimiento familiar y residencial. La historia de los servicios que implican separación familiar en ambos países se caracteriza por desarrollos semejantes. En los últimos cuatro decenios han surgido tendencias semejantes en el acogimiento residencial más encaminadas a modos de acogimiento a pequeña escala, menor tamaño de los grupos residenciales y una mayor profesionalización del personal. En los dos últimos decenios puede apreciarse una tendencia comparable hacia una mayor profesionalización en el contexto del acogimiento en ambos países. En el último decenio se han llevado a cabo más estudios sobre acogimiento residencial que sobre acogimiento familiar en ambos países. A pesar de las tendencias y desarrollos semejantes en la práctica de las medidas de protección con separación familiar, la investigación muestra principalmente diferencias entre Alemania y Holanda principalmente en los temas y métodos aplicados.
In Germany the issue of unaccompanied minors (UAM) has attracted increasing attention during recent years: politics, the media, professionals and researchers have all tried to react to the phenomenon ...adequately and “find solutions” to assumed problems. However, this paper reviews different aspects in regard to unaccompanied minors in Germany from a socio-pedagogical perspective. Firstly, insights into statistical data are given that reveal how heterogeneous the group of young people arriving and living in Germany is, despite the fact that they are all labelled the same (as UAM). Secondly, the changing legal and political framework for UAM reception in Germany is outlined and discussed. Thirdly, there is a focus on clearance practices and care arrangements for which the child and youth care system takes the main responsibility. Since the body of German research on this topic is far from being satisfactory, the conclusion points out the main gaps and challenges for future research.
To this date, there is a lack of data on the absolute number of people who became refugees in 2017. There are reasons to assume, though, that the global situation regarding flight and migration has ...not changed significantly since we published Part I of this special issue on “Unaccompanied Minors in Europe” in the fall of 2017. However, there seem to be new trends with regard to refugees seeking asylum in the EU, generally, and concerning those young people who arrive and live in Europe under the label of being an unaccompanied minor (UAM). This applies to various constituents. For example, the refugee routes currently seem to be changing; the number of young people coming to Europe seems to be declining, policies are becoming more restrictive while at the same time formally putting forward the best interest of the child and, alongside this, the challenges for professionals dealing with UAM are obviously changing.
To this date, there is a lack of data on the absolute number of people who became refugees in 2017. There are reasons to assume, though, that the global situation regarding flight and migration has ...not changed significantly since we published Part I of this special issue on “Unaccompanied Minors in Europe” in the fall of 2017. However, there seem to be new trends with regard to refugees seeking asylum in the EU, generally, and concerning those young people who arrive and live in Europe under the label of being an unaccompanied minor (UAM). This applies to various constituents. For example, the refugee routes currently seem to be changing; the number of young people coming to Europe seems to be declining, policies are becoming more restrictive while at the same time formally putting forward the best interest of the child and, alongside this, the challenges for professionals dealing with UAM are obviously changing.
In Germany the issue of unaccompanied minors (UAM) has attracted increasing attention during recent years: politics, the media, professionals and researchers have all tried to react to the phenomenon ...adequately and “find solutions” to assumed problems. However, this paper reviews different aspects in regard to unaccompanied minors in Germany from a socio-pedagogical perspective. Firstly, insights into statistical data are given that reveal how heterogeneous the group of young people arriving and living in Germany is, despite the fact that they are all labelled the same (as UAM). Secondly, the changing legal and political framework for UAM reception in Germany is outlined and discussed. Thirdly, there is a focus on clearance practices and care arrangements for which the child and youth care system takes the main responsibility. Since the body of German research on this topic is far from being satisfactory, the conclusion points out the main gaps and challenges for future research.
The high and dramatically risen numbers of young people who have come to Europe unaccompanied during recent years stand for a shocking amount of vulnerable children whose individual life courses are ...at stake. At the same time, the term UAM that is usually taken to address these young people is a technical term that refers to certain contexts beyond individual life courses. Therefore, investigating “UAM” implies to reveal the extent to which young people are being addressed and socially constructed as UAM by virtue of specific welfare state frameworks. We will take a comparative perspective that draws from social constructionism and welfare state research and focus on the two phases of initial receptions and long-term accommodations of young people who enter Europe without legal guardians and the hope for protection to contribute to a better understanding of how European welfare states vary where they construct these young people as “UAM.”
Much of the attention concerning youth in care focuses on the ways they are being helped and supported. This study focuses on the motivations and experiences which lead youth in care to assume a ...helper role, the meaning they ascribe to such a role and the benefits consequently gained. The study sample consisted of 28 Israeli and German care leavers, aged 18–26, who had begun, were about to begin or had already finished higher education. The results show various motivations for assuming a helper role e.g. socialization through early parental roles within biological families, modeling by significant others, and exposure to pro-social values and opportunities for volunteering within the care systems. The ways that these young people support others vary. Some volunteer within their communities, some support members of their family of origin, and others integrated the idea of supporting others into their career choice. According to these young people, assuming a helper role provided a strong sense of purpose in life and contributed to their self-efficacy, social connectedness and ability to cope with their adverse past. In particular, supporting others seems to reflect care leavers' wish to lead a normal life.
•For many care leavers the engagement in helping others was highly beneficial.•Helping was typically aimed at youth from a similar adverse background.•Benefits of helping included working through the past, increased sense of normalcy.•Care facilities and significant others were central in socializing youth to helping.
The high and dramatically risen numbers of young people who have come to Europe unaccompanied during recent years stand for a shocking amount of vulnerable children whose individual life courses are ...at stake. At the same time, the term UAM that is usually taken to address these young people is a technical term that refers to certain contexts beyond individual life courses. Therefore, investigating “UAM” implies to reveal the extent to which young people are being addressed and socially constructed as UAM by virtue of specific welfare state frameworks. We will take a comparative perspective that draws from social constructionism and welfare state research and focus on the two phases of initial receptions and long-term accommodations of young people who enter Europe without legal guardians and the hope for protection to contribute to a better understanding of how European welfare states vary where they construct these young people as “UAM.”
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