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The context of this article is the use of employer sanctions, in the form of raids and fines on businesses found to be employing people who do not have permission to work in the UK, as a method of in-border immigration control. Drawing on qualitative interviews with undocumented migrants and ethnic enclave employers in London, this article examines the impact of sanctions from the perspectives of those who have been or are most likely to be affected. More specifically the article sheds light on individual experiences of and strategies against immigration enforcement raids, and the effect of raids on the labour market, conditions of work and more widely, on local community relations. The paper concludes that there is a disjuncture between the real impact of sanctions and at least some of the stated policy aims. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper concerns the use of photo-elicitation interviews in constructing migrant narratives of health and well-being. It argues that photo-elicitation can be particularly effective in producing nuanced understandings about relationships among culture, place and health. It explores how, through this method, subject-centred understandings of health and well-being are able to challenge dominant discursive constructions that tend to ‘other’ and potentially stereotype minority groups in explanations of health behaviour. The paper includes discussion of issues of power and representation in research with marginalized populations, which further elaborates the value of photo-elicitation in developing a non-essentializing view of minority groups. The paper concludes with comment on the potential value of this method in the formulation of health and social policies aiming to incorporate the views and needs of marginalized or minority groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a growing literature on what contemporary cultural theorists have broadly termed the “postsecular”: the abandonment of clear-cut boundaries between the secular and nonsecular in the industrialized West and an embrace of a complex understanding of what is real that neither accepts nor rejects the supernatural. These new cultural currents may affect not only philosophers and theologians, but also the ways in which individuals with psychosis make sense of their experiences. This paper reports on the key findings of an in-depth qualitative analysis of 19 interviews of individuals diagnosed with psychotic disorders. The majority of participants described ongoing and self-conscious struggles to demarcate their experiences as the products of the real world or a “crazy” mind. With equal frequency, participants weighed and debated competing secular and supernatural explanations, often juxtaposing and blending different explanatory frameworks. We found that this syncretic process affected not only the content of psychotic experiences—what delusions or hallucinations are about—but also the type of arguments or logics used to justify particular interpretations. We discuss the implications of these observations with respect to clinical practice and the broader phenomenology of psychosis, challenging often oversimplified discourse on “insight” and suggesting that polarization(s) between “biomedical” and “psychosocial” explanations may be of less relevance to patients’ real-world experiences than is often assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1977 homelessness legislation in England has offered limited statutory accommodation rights to unintentionally homeless people who are judged to be in priority need and able to demonstrate a local connection. Using data generated in interviews with homeless people and staff working to support them, this paper considers the impact of current homelessness policy and practice and explores how decisions about intentionality, priority need and local connection serve to exacerbate the social exclusion experienced by single homeless people with multiple support needs. It is concluded that a more genuinely inclusive welfare state will only emerge when, and if, policymakers and wider society are able to abandon their current fixation with using welfare policy to punish ‘irresponsible’ behaviour and refocus instead on providing services to adequately meet the basic needs of marginalised people. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ubuntu was recently adopted as the first theme for the 2020–2030 global agenda for social work, and yet little research is available to explore how it is transmitted and implemented in communities. The authors present findings of a qualitative study conducted in an academic setting in South Africa, where the transmission of Ubuntu was discussed among 30 young adult 'born frees'. Students seemed to embrace principles of Ubuntu as a whole; however, economic, social and cultural strains are documented as obstacles to its pragmatic application. Implications of community engagement through service learning as a means of strengthening Ubuntu are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Families formed through transracial adoption face communicative challenges not faced by single-race families. Drawing upon communication privacy management theory and research on topic avoidance, this paper explores Korean adult adoptees’ reports of racial derogation in their youth and the extent to which they avoided discussing these interactions with their White adoptive parents. Results from qualitative interviews and surveys suggest that adoptee participants reported having received a range of racially derogatory messages, including appearance attacks, ethnicity attacks, and physical attacks. Most participants reported avoiding discussing these occurrences with their adoptive parents due to parent unresponsiveness and/or self-protection. This study extends the work on topic avoidance by offering sub-themes for parent unresponsiveness and sheds light on privacy management in transracially adoptive families. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper we examined discourses of mothers who use substances. Focus groups were conducted at two different treatment programmes with diverse women who identified as mothers challenged by substance use. Real scenarios were presented to the participants and feedback was sought about how the women within the scenarios managed their situations and the actions taken by legal, media, and health authorities. Through the use of three lenses - rights, risks, and evidence - we identified four major discourses in the participants' talk. The 'good mother', 'bad mother', 'thwarted mother' and 'addicted mother' discourses revealed the multiple and at times contradictory ways the women made sense of their lives. Within all of the discourses the mother-child bond and the importance of providing necessary supports to mothers with substance-use problems were central. The women's discourses highlighted the challenges of negotiating the prevailing attitudes, practices and stigmas of being a substance-using mother while trying to do the right thing for their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explored the fit between on-reserve First Nations community members' conceptualizations of help-seeking for mental health concerns and the Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services Use. Youth, adults and elders (N = 115) living and or working in eight distinct First Nations communities within a tribal council area in Canada participated in focus groups or individual interviews that were transcribed, coded and then analyzed using a thematic analysis approach informed by grounded theory methodology. Resulting themes were then mapped onto the Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services Use. Participants' conceptualizations of predisposing characteristics including social structures, health beliefs and mental illness, enabling and impeding resources had a high degree of fit with the model. While perspectives on perceived need for mental health care, and spirituality as a health and lifestyle practice had only moderate fit with the model, these domains could be modified to fit First Nations' interpretations of help-seeking. Participants' perceptions of avoidant strategies and non-use of mental health services, however did not map onto the model. These findings suggest conceptualizations of help-seeking for mental health issues in these First Nations communities are only partially characterized by the Andersen Behavioral Model, suggesting there are a number of considerations to Indigenize the model. Findings also highlight potential explanations for why some members of this population may not access or receive appropriate mental health treatment. Multi-pronged efforts are warranted to link culturally normed pathways of help-seeking with effective mental health supports for First Nations community members in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the influence of social capital on the experiences of married Syrian refugee women who live in Al-Mafraq Governorate/Al-Mafraq city centre. Focus group discussions were conducted with married Syrian refugee women in order to provide a detailed description of their situation. The findings of the fieldwork with refugee women in Al-Mafraq Governorate gathered from June to September 2015 are presented here. It becomes apparent that married Syrian refugee women living in Al-Mafraq city are encountering many difficulties, regardless of the pre-existing and extensive social capital/networks within the city. Therefore, one can deduce that social capital does not play an important role in alleviating the magnitude of the suffering faced by married Syrian refugee women due to space restrictions, economic conditions, social environments and traumatic experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a qualitative Delphi method, this study explored how the Pashtun community, living across the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, perceives the role and significance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The study also examined deep-rooted causes of the resistance to NGO-based development and suggested best practice strategies. Analysis of the Delphi finding showed consensus that most NGOs are perceived with deep suspicions and fear among the Pashtun society. Most of these suspicions and elements of mistrust were echoed in terms of an extension of western imperialism, violations of local cultures, spreading immorality, corruption and lack of credibility, and transparency. We discuss the implications for social work practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project explored how Māori understand experiences commonly labelled “schizophrenic” or “psychotic”. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 57 Māori participants who had either personal experiences labelled as “psychosis” or “schizophrenia”, or who work with people with such experiences; including tangata whaiora (users of mental health services), tohunga (traditional healers), kaumatua/kuia (elders), Māori clinicians, cultural support workers and students. Kaupapa Māori Theory and Personal Construct Theory guided the research within a qualitative methodology. The research found that participants held multiple explanatory models for experiences commonly labelled “psychotic” or “schizophrenic”. The predominant explanations were spiritual and cultural. It seems that cultural beliefs and practices related to mental health within Māori communities remain resilient, despite over a century of contact with mainstream education and health services. Other explanations included psychosocial constructions (interpersonal trauma and drug abuse), historical trauma (colonisation) and biomedical constructions (chemical brain imbalance). Participants (both tangata whaiora and health professionals) reported they were apprehensive about sharing their spiritual/cultural constructions within mainstream mental health settings due to fear of being ignored or pathologised. This study highlights the importance of asking users of mental health services about the meaning they place on their experiences and recognising that individuals can hold multiple explanatory models. Māori may hold both Māori and Pākehā (European) ways of understanding their experiences and meaningful recognition should be afforded to both throughout assessment and treatment planning in mental health services. Clinicians need to be aware that important personal and cultural meanings of experiences labelled psychotic may be withheld due to fear of judgement or stigmatisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though research into gender transition has grown in the social sciences and policy has turned its attention to the rights of trans* people, the social and family environment in which gender transition takes place is often overlooked. Based on qualitative data from two projects in Belgium and Spain addressing the experiences of parents and children undertaking a gender transition, this article explores the experiences of these families. First, we look into the reflective processes that take place within these families. Second, we look into the experience of stigmatisation and the relationship between trans* families and health professionals. These findings have implications for trans* families as well as for policy makers and trans* health professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of ‘shame’ is increasingly being recognised as a tool with some explanatory power to help promote understandings about a range of social problems. Through an exploration of migrant South Asian women’s experiences of domestic violence and help-seeking practices, this article considers the relevance of the notion of shame as a unit of analysis to help contribute to the growing theoretical and empirical literature. The article sheds light on the meanings, events, processes and structures in the lives of migrant South Asian women respondents living in Hong Kong. Within the framework of the discussion on shame and intimate partner violence (IPV), the article also identifies the implications for social work practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explores young people’s perceptions of unfairness when involved in cross-border volunteering. It extends the theoretical understanding of volunteering, by adding to the notion of barriers of access, the idea that poor volunteer management may pose obstacles in the process of volunteering. The research indicates that the young people are not passive, but justice-sensitive when faced with situations perceived as unfair. It argues that volunteering is prone to the same patterns of responding to dissatisfaction that have been researched for employment. Yet, this article adds a fifth generic decision types for quitting, namely quitting as an ethically minded statement of disapproval. This demonstrates that the tendency to invariably position young people as “morally responsible” for dropping out is often limiting and reproduces structural intergenerational power. Ultimately, the article seeks to improve organizations’ knowledge on “what does not work,” for the purpose of advancing the ethical management of international volunteering. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An examination of interpersonal relationships of runaway youth in varying cultural contexts provides an important glimpse into processes that help construct their personhood. Informed by Relational Dialectics Theory (RDT; Baxter, 2011), this ethnographic study explored competing discourses that animate the meaning of personhood in conflict communication of runaway boys in India. A discourse of individualism with accompanying themes of individual rights, fairness, and protection of self-worth dominated youths’ communications with peers, with secondary emphasis on interpersonal harmony. In contrast, a discourse of collectivism along with themes of respect for elders and non-expression were privileged over individual desires in the relationships between runaway youth and adults. A nuanced understanding of what it means to be a child in the context of relationships in India emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Job loss has negative consequences for health and evidence shows that the agency of workers experiencing job loss is affected by labour market and welfare policy. The policy environment into which workers emerge after losing their jobs strongly influences the way job loss and its aftermath is experienced. This article draws on findings from two waves of in-depth semi-structured interviews with 33 retrenched South Australian automotive workers. It discusses how, within the context of Australian welfare and industrial policy, workers experienced the consequences of mass job losses that occurred at Mitsubishi Motors during 2004 and 2005. Key findings include largely negative experiences associated with negotiating welfare-to-work policy, and a more precarious employment environment further entrenched under industrial relations policy. Job loss is both a personal and a structural story and we use an agency and structure perspective to examine how workers’ agency was enabled, but more often constrained, by policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article summarizes the findings of a project investigating women’s experiences with the Canadian child protection (CPS) and family law (FLS) systems. We examine both service systems together here because although both privilege children’s best interests as their primary consideration and define the concept similarly, the two systems diverge in their expectations of women relative to child custody. While FLS requires women to accept custody arrangements that provide close and continued contact between themselves and their former abusive partners, CPS expects women to leave these same abusive partners or risk removal of their children. The results of thirty-five qualitative interviews with women demonstrate their struggles, firstly, in having their experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) recognized by professionals in the FLS, and, secondly, in becoming caught between the opposing expectations of CPS and FLS while not receiving help from either. Recommendations for change to improve these services are included in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Physical abuse, as well as other forms of child abuse, has become a serious social problem but remains understudied in mainland China. This study examined physically abused children and collected data on how they perceive and interpret their experiences of parental physical abuse, and what barriers impede their help-seeking. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine child victims of parental physical abuse in Nanjing, China. Findings focus on children’s views of legitimacy and effectiveness of physical abuse, and reasons for not seeking help. Research and policy implications are discussed at the end of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Foster parents of Sudanese refugee adolescents were both gratified and frustrated by their desires to nurture, successfully parent, and socially interact and experience cultural differences with the youths. These parents coped with challenges with the help of God, family, peers and self-talk. Commitment to their wards typically was lifelong. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An ethnographic study was conducted in the Spanish Monastery of Santa Mónica whose community consists of ten contemplative Augustinian nuns. Through participant observation and interviews the stresses encountered by the nuns and the coping strategies they deployed are explored in depth. It was found that symptoms that otherwise might have been described as evidence of a depressive episode were understood by the nuns within the framework of the so-called Dark Night of the Soul narrative: an active process of transforming emotional distress into a process of self-reflection, attribution of religious meaning and spiritual growth. We conclude by discussing the clinical implications of this religious narrative, highlighting the importance of incorporating existential issues into clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Qualitative research in psychology has tended to draw on a relatively narrow range of research methods, and the recent shift towards the analysis of material involving 'naturally occurring talk' in some areas of psychology has reinforced this trend. This article discusses the implications of a preference for the analysis of 'naturally occurring talk' or 'naturalistic records' across the full range of qualitative psychology research. In particular, I focus on how researchers are positioned in debates over the advantages and limitations of analysing 'naturally occurring data' and research interviews. Drawing on examples from a current project concerned with the meanings of consumption for young people. I interrogate the assumptions associated with a preference for analysing 'naturalistic records' and consider some of the benefits as well as the problems involved in using research practices that involve a degree of direct engagement between the researcher and other participants. This article is therefore discussing the origins as well as the implications of the preference for analysing 'naturally occurring data'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]