LGBT asylum seekers and health inequalities in the UK

YesThe experiences of LGBT asylum seekers in the UK are the focus of this chapter. The relative invisibility of LGBT asylum seekers in social work literature and research is acknowledged. Data from interviews undertaken as part of a small scale research study is used to highlight issues of psychological stress, safety, social isolation and resilience and survival. This material is discussed in relation to models of minority stress, discrimination, social determinants of health, and human rights. A holistic approach to practice in response to an opening vignette, is presented with reference to the importance of advocacy and cross-sector partnership working.This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of a chapter published in: Fish J and Karban K (Eds.) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Health Inequalities. Details of the definitive published version and how to purchase it are available online at https://policypress.co.uk/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-trans-health-inequalities

'The Great Meeting Place': A Study of Bradford's City Park

noCity Park opened in early 2012 and despite some on-going criticism, during the summer the site drew thousands of people to the heart of Bradford and was the scene of much relaxed and good natured conviviality amongst socially diverse groups. As a new and unique public space in Bradford and a focal point for the city, a number of staff from the Centre for Applied Social Research believed researching City Park to be a fruitful endeavour to help promote a dialogue with the public and other sectors about living together in Bradford

Challenging Racist Violence and Racist Hostility in 'Post-Racial' Times: Research and Action in Leeds, UK, 2006-2012

YesDespite increasing understanding of, information about and official commitment to challenge these patterns, racist hostility and violence continue to have an enduring presence in urban and rural life in the UK. This indicates the paradoxical nature of this racial crisis and challenges for antiracism as a political project. This paper charts how these issues play out at the local level through an examination of a five year process from problem identification through to research, response, action and aftermath from 2006 to 2012 in the city of Leeds, UK, with a focus on two predominantly white working class social housing estates in the city. We explore how embedded tensions and antagonisms can begin to be challenged, while examining how the contemporary climate of austerity and cuts in services, together with prevailing post-racial thinking, make the likelihood of such concerted action in the UK increasingly remote

Hosting Strangers: hospitality and family practices in fostering unaccompanied refugee and asylum seeking young people

Refugee young people entering foster care face transitions as they settle into life in a new country and household. Drawing on findings from a study on foster care for refugee young people in England, this paper examines encounters and negotiations with the public worlds of the asylum system and foster care delivery within the intimate setting of the household and everyday domestic practices in foster care. The paper considers Derrida's neologism ‘hostipitality’ to explore challenges in hospitality in this context. The framework of ‘family practices’ is then applied to explore how foster carers and young people ‘did’ family in foster care. It was found that family practices were inhibited by tensions and challenges in the notion of ‘hospitality’, but family practices also offered opportunities to respond and promote young people's sense of belonging in the family in this environment. It concludes that hospitality at the threshold is necessary, but that the most successful foster care relationships were able to move through and beyond hospitality to relationships of family‐like intimacy

Sanctuary or sanctions:children, social worth and social control in the UK asylum process

This chapter examines how discourses on asylum and childhood intersect in policy and practice in the UK asylum process, exploring the role of judgements on 'social worth' and mechanisms of social control. In May 2010 the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government declared that they would end the detention of children for immigration purposes. This followed campaigns that had highlighted the psychological and physical health impacts on children being held in immigration detention. This initial Coalition declaration was later modified by Immigration Minister Damien Green who said the intention was now to 'minimise' child detention. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg had described concerns for the welfare of children as the 'starting point' of the Coalition's approach to this issue. However, with a commitment to maintaining the restrictive asylum system that currently operates in the UK, the end point of government policies appears more complex. This chapter explores how claims for recognition in the asylum process are formed around notions of 'social worth' and vulnerability, and examines how these are identified, ordered and regulated through the asylum process

Emotions and emotional reflexivity in undocumented migrant youth activism

Emotions play a role in drawing people into activism and are a key dimension of activist experiences. However, although researchers have examined the political significance and ethical imperative of centring the voices and leadership of migrants in migrant rights struggles, there is limited consideration of how emotions are engaged in ways that inform, facilitate and challenge migrants in sustaining their activism. Through the case of undocumented youth activism in California, I explore how undocumented young people drew on practices of emotional reflexivity to navigate the complicated emotional register produced through activism as they reflected on their participation and trajectory through the undocumented youth movement. I suggest that the cultivation of storytelling spaces, cultures and practices within undocumented youth spaces supported and enhanced young people’s opportunities and capacity for engaging in relational practices of emotional reflexivity. These relational practices of emotional reflexivity supported young people to carve out expansive, dynamic and creative modes of activism that adapted to their shifting needs, circumstances and politics, while helping them to configure practices of care within the movement

Inhabiting The Borders : A Study Of 16-25 Year Old Refugee Women's Narratives of Home

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo