Recognition as an inclusionary and exclusionary mechanism in Finnish public health and social services: experiences among migrant families with a disabled child when interacting with professionals.

This article examine migrant families' experiences with public health- and social services in Finland. Using the theory of recognition as a theoretical framework, data consist of interviews with 20 parents who moved to Finland from six different countries. This research focuses on a recognition and services for disabled persons for two reasons. Firstly, research on disability in the migration context remains lacking. Secondly, while theoretical discussions about recognition are rich, empirical studies relying on theory have received less attention in the social sciences and, especially, in the institutional context. Here, we aim to explore the practical forms of recognition acquire in specific social settings and the consequences of recognition, or non-recognition for individuals' and families' everyday lives. Our results indicate that, parents face multiple challenges when encountering public service professionals. For example, parents' concerns for a child's disabilities are nor easily recognized by professionals. In addition, professionals recognize parents neither as equal partners, nor as autonomous agents. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the families perceive the available services as fragmented, inflexible and technocratic. Regardless of problems related to services, parents employed different strategies to struggle for recognition based on their own resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]