The role of social worker in promoting immigrants’ integration

Mosso Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy ABSTRACT The dramatic increase in migration in Italy represents a challenge for social workers involved in the integrati

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The Role of Social Worker in Promoting Immigrants’ Integration

Erica Viola, Elena Biondo & Cristina O Mosso

To cite this article: Erica Viola, Elena Biondo & Cristina O Mosso (2018) The Role of Social Worker in Promoting Immigrants’ Integration, Social Work in Public Health, 33:7-8, 483-496, DOI: 10.1080/19371918.2018.1546252

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2018.1546252

Published online: 21 Nov 2018.

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The Role of Social Worker in Promoting Immigrants’ Integration

Erica Viola , Elena Biondo, and Cristina O Mosso

Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

ABSTRACT

The dramatic increase in migration in Italy represents a challenge for social

workers involved in the integration services The current study explores the

Italian social work practice with immigrants within different working

con-texts through qualitative data consisting in interviews with social workers.

The data were analyzed through T-LAB, a software for content analysis and

text mining Results showed that social workers suitably address

immi-grants ’ needs, approaching and understanding different cultures We may

conclude that social workers promote integration and individual

empower-ment, building a “relational bridge” between cultural diversities,

immi-grants ’ heritage, and the mainstream culture Particularly, social workers

have to meet and answer the essential needs of newcomers because the

route to integration passes through the practical sphere of welfare

provisions.

KEYWORDS

Acculturation model; individual empowerment; immigration; integration process; social work

Introduction

The phenomenon of immigration into Europe, particularly into Italy,1 represents a significant challenge for different social workers (engaged in the fields of social services, cultural mediation, education, etc.) who practice with immigrants, promoting their integration Despite the complexity

of the integration process, social workers’ skills are often “nạve,2 voluntary and experience-based” (Barberis & Boccagni,2014, p 77) Therefore, the main aim of the current research is to shed light

on practices and strategies implemented by Italian social workers to promote the integration of immigrants into the receiving society, considering different fields of intervention

The integration process transcends nationality and reasons for migration Therefore, focusing on social workers’ action, we will consider people from European Union (EU; intra-EU mobility, particularly from Eastern Europe) and non-EU countries (extra-EU mobility, particularly from Africa) as well as refugees (asylum seekers) as part of the same category of newcomers

Transnational migrations in Europe and Italy

Current migratory flows have been increasing in Europe since 2011 (62,500 immigrants arrived in

2011, compared to 241,643 newcomers estimated in the first 7 months of 2016), following the Syrian war and the political crisis in Libya (World Health Organization [WHO],2016)

By the end of June 2017, the total number of registered arrivals into Europe dropped by 58% from the same period of 2016 Nevertheless, a different tendency has been observed in Italy: the new arrivals show a 19% increase compared to the same period of 2016 and a 31% increase compared to June 2014 (International Organization for Migration [IOM],2017)

CONTACT Erica Viola violaerica84@gmail.com Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Via Verdi 10, Turin, 10124, Italy.

Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/whsp

2018, VOL 33, NOS 7 –8, 483–496

https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2018.1546252

Italy is considered a “country of transit” as many immigrants and refugees pass through it to reach other European nations (Pugliese, 2016) However, the phenomenon is gradually changing because the number of immigrants who stay in Italy long term is increasing (Frigeri & Ferro,2016) Currently, there are over five million foreign residents who are the 7% of the total population (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR],2016)

The socioeconomic crisis, the increase in relative and absolute poverty and in negative prejudice against outgroups, worsenx immigrants’ living conditions Therefore, international migration repre-sents a challenge for social workers who specialize in practice with immigrants, promoting the integration

Integration process: the role of social workers

Integration process allows for the development of a multicultural society The role of social workers

in promoting immigrants’ successful integration is crucial The social work welfare sector promotes social cohesion, collective responsibility, individual and community empowerment Particularly, empowerment (e.g., Rappaport, 1987) is an important goal, increasing social participation and commitment

Because of the wide spectrum of their mandate, social workers are employed by public, private, formal, and informal (voluntary) services and constitute a relevant source of support for the whole population

Professional skills and the participation in different settings (e.g., social assistance, education, etc.) place social workers in a pivotal position, actively engaged in the integration process of immigrants,

as well (Wegmann,2014) Particularly, social workers address newcomers’ needs and necessities who are often facing lack of resources, social barriers, intolerance, and negative prejudices of the host population (Fazzi,2012)

In the Italian contexts characterized by a “munificent welfare” (Caltabiano, 2004), distinctive socioeconomic and organizational aspects of the social-assistance structure ensure resources’ alloca-tion and support to citizens and immigrants In these contexts, immigrants benefit from integraalloca-tion projects and evaluate positively the national social system (Monaci, Carbone, & Bonapace, 2010) However, many regions even fail to allocate sufficient resources due to the lack of public funding As

a consequence, citizens perceive newcomers as a threat to their own rights and the integration process—which requires the commitment of immigrants and the receiving society—becomes ever more challenging for social workers

The complexity of the integration process will be examined analysing Berry’s (1997, 2001) acculturation model and Ager and Strang’s (2008) approach These models are complementary in dealing with the theme of integration Berry (1997, 2001) considers integration an acculturation strategy implemented by immigrants, feasible within a mainstream characterized by a multicultural ideology, in which hospitality and inclusion are promoted Ager and Strang (2008), in turn, consider the integration in terms of basic needs and civil rights fulfilment Following these theoretical lines,

we will briefly review the literature on acculturation strategies and then consider essential acquisi-tions for a successful integration An integrated approach can develop a useful framework for social workers

Integration as a crucial strategy of acculturation

Acculturation represents a multidimensional process, which originates in the encounter between immigrants’ heritage and receiving-cultural traditions and values (e.g., Schwartz, Unger, Zamboanga,

& Szapocznik,2010) It stems from intergroup contact and entails a mutual change of attitudes and behaviors for immigrants and receiving societies (Berry, 2001) The relevant literature has often investigated acculturation process within immigrant groups However, receiving societies and new-comers face intercultural situations by adopting different acculturation strategies

The acculturation strategies depend on two independent, but related, factors: (1) the degree of intercultural contact and social participation (i.e., to what extent immigrants are involved in the mainstream) and (2) the degree of cultural maintenance desired by groups (i.e., heritage’s values and culture importance) (Berry,1997) Depending on these factors, four possible acculturation strategies emerge, for the immigrant group and the host society (seeTable 1)

From the immigrants’ point of view (on the left side of Table 1), the integration strategy occurs when immigrants maintain their heritage adopting, at the same time, the culture of the receiving society; vice-versa, when there is a lack of interest in cultural maintenance and intergroup contact (because of discrimination or intergroup hostility) the marginalization takes place; the separation strategy occurs when immigrants want to preserve their traditions and avoid intergroup interaction; finally, the assimilation strategy refers to the lack of interest in maintaining cultural heritage and immigrants consider themselves as part of the mainstream culture

The receiving society influences the strategies used by immigrants (right side ofTable 1) When the larger society supports a multicultural ideology, integration is called “multiculturalism”; when marginalization is imposed, the majority group is using the exclusion strategy; when separation or assimilation is enforced, segregation or melting pot, respectively, occurs

Integration and multiculturalism are the most suitable strategies because they favor interaction and contact between different cultural identities However, another factor must be considered is the satisfaction of essential needs, a core aspect of a successful integration process

Essential needs fulfilment: the substantial basis of integration

The integration process requires an equal access to welfare system to address immigrants’ primary needs However, the current crisis increases an overall risk of poverty and social exclusion, hindering the work of social workers who cope with immigrants’ needs and claims (see Barberis & Boccagni,

2014) For example, employment seems to be crucial in facilitating integration, but the paucity of migratory policies in Italy increases the incorporation of immigrants into the labor black market, concealing their working contribution

According to Ager and Strang (2008), specific provisions are essential for a successful integration process At a first level, the achievement and the access to key areas of the public activity (i.e., employment, housing, education, and health) are indicative of a successful integration Achievements in these areas represent markers of integration and, simultaneously, means to support integration At the highest level of provisions, citizenship and rights represent the foundation of nationhood in all countries Citizenship includes responsibility and participation in public and political activities, whereas rights concern the possibility to maintain cultural identity and practices Social connection mediates between markers-means and foundation Social relationships within and between groups, as part of the “intercultural social tissue,” facilitate the communication and the integration at a local level Finally, different facilitators allow to overcome structural barriers, which concern two main areas: (1) language and cultural knowledge and (2) safety and security Language competence represents a cross challenge, and multicultural contexts should provide mediation services to facilitate the communication among cultures Moreover, an integrate community relies

Table 1 Intercultural strategies for immigrant groups and receiving societies (adapted from Berry, 2001 , p 618).

Maintenance of heritage Culture and identity Desired relations among groups Strategies of ethnocultural groups Strategies of larger society

+ Integration Assimilation Multiculturalism Melting pot

- Separation Marginalization Segregation Exclusion Note The “plus” and “minus” symbols are not referred to quality evaluations but are respectively referred to a greater (or lesser) tendency either to maintain one ’s culture, or to search for an intergroup contact.

on mutual knowledge and understanding of different cultural expectations Public safety and national security priorities concern the desire of peace, overcoming forms of oppression and social threats

Resources allocation versus the“progressive’s dilemma”

Resources allocation may be affected by the socioeconomic crisis and by the potential intolerance of the host society The citizens tend to blame social workers who support immigrants whether they perceive threatens to their benefits and resources A greater perception of threat increases negative attitudes and reactions toward foreigners

Particularly, the modern society still swings between two ambivalent attitudes: negative attitudes and egalitarian values The tension between ethic value of solidarity and ethnic diversity, called

“progressive’s dilemma” (Calvo, Rojas, & Waters, 2014; Pearce, 2004), requires the ability of the social organization to reduce prejudices and overcome unfounded perceptions of threat A possible solution is the universalization of social services, which may facilitate intergroup interaction and the access to welfare for the whole population (Calvo et al.,2014) Universal social programs deal with the population equally, implement coexistence initiatives, and allow intergroup contacts, whereas means-testing programs (e.g., poverty programs) exclusively support the poor segment of the population

Overview of the current study

This study focuses on an urban area in the northwest of Italy, characterized by a strong presence of foreign citizens New programs and initiatives have been activated to promote the integration process However, there are still some problems due to the increase in migratory flows and the pervasive crisis Social workers involved in the integration process within different formal and informal fields of action have been interviewed to understand the working contexts and adopted strategies

According to the constructivist approach, a qualitative data analysis has been employed: the interpretative research allows a more in-depth understanding of the context in which the phenom-enon is studied (Golafshani, 2003; Weng, 2012) Knowledge and reality develop through human practices and interactions between individuals and the specific social context (Crotty, 1998) Constructivist investigation looks at the phenomenon through personal experiences and stories Participants tell their own personal experiences together with the researcher, creating a mutual and negotiated process, which favors the progressive understanding of the phenomenon (Rodwell,1998) However, the specific contextualization reflects the national and international social situation

Aims

This study focuses on the role of social workers, involved in the integration process of immigrants, who are the main (often unrecognized) source of support and intervention in the receiving society The main purpose is to explore the ways of integration pursued by the social workers involved Integration, as a twofold desire to maintain one’s own traditions and to make an intergroup contact, depends on the adoption of a multicultural ideology by the mainstream as well Therefore, it entails the immigrants, institutional (i.e., social workers) and social sphere of the mainstream In addition, integration can be reached when institutions are geared to specific essential needs: primary needs and the acquisition of a legal status and social rights As a consequence, the concept of integration cannot be reduced either to the definition of Berry (e.g.,2001), or to the definition of Ager and Strang (2008), concerning both of these dimensions

For these reasons, the first aim is to investigate the significance of the integration process from the social workers’ point of view The second aim is to highlight, for each professional area, the

major problems and difficulties daily faced We want to explore practices and efforts necessary to improve integration, trying to understand how social workers act to promote the integration The third aim is to investigate to what extent the real experience reflects the theory, trying to answer

a few questions: “Is integration a matter of achieving a pluralist social ideal or rather a matter of resource allocation? To what extent is integration a complex process derived from the efforts of specific assistance branches of the host society faced different cultures?” Finally, from the social workers’ point of view, “What are the milestone of integration?”

Method

Participants

Twenty social workers employed in a municipality in the Northwest of Italy took part in this study The percentage of immigrants in this area is about 9.6%, most of them coming from Romania and Morocco The participants could be part of formal (i.e., social service, cultural mediation, education, health-service, security service) and informal networks (i.e., not-for-profit sector, voluntary and religious associations)

Procedure

Participants were interviewed during working hours and after being contacted by telephone Two researchers interviewed the participants.3 Interviewers explained the aims of the study (viz, the interest to understand activities and strategies concerning the integration of immigrants) Ethical norms and guidelines for the research project have been respected, anonymity and confidentiality were guaranteed All the participants gave consent to the processing of data for research purposes Each interview was recorded, and then typed in the txt format for the analyses using T-Lab 8.0 version software (Lancia, 2004) Particularly, T-Lab allows us to analyze data and yield categories starting from a single corpus (the entire recoded text) subsequently interpreted by the researchers It represents the appropriate tool for this study, which aims to understand the complexity of the integration process

Measure

A semistructured interview, lasting on average 30 to 40 minutes, was conducted This interview was composed of four sections The first section examined the current immigration situation within the municipality, changes happening over time (e.g., growth in number of immigrants, changes in the origins

of immigrants, the impact of economic crisis, etc.) and the significance attributed to the concept of integration within their working environments The second section concerned crucial problems for immigrants (employment, housing, legal status, well-being, etc.) This section also concerned complex situations, such as family reunification procedure, academic and social inclusion, critical familiar situations (alcoholism, abuse) etc., and the practical strategies for problem solving A subsequent section examined institutional difficulties (lack of resources, lack of information, growing bureaucratization, etc.) and solutions (e.g., increasing accessibility to services, multidisciplinary, etc.), particularly focusing

on the cooperation among different professional figures To facilitate recall, respondents were asked to describe events faced recently Then, respondents were asked to suggest effective programmes to facilitate integration process Finally, the fourth section investigated future expectations

Data analysis

Before proceeding with the analysis, grammatical errors were corrected and the keywords have been classified into overordinate conceptual categories.4 Five documents were used for the analysis,

representing the different fields of intervention: social services (SSs), cultural mediation (CM), education (EDU), other fields of intervention (OFs), and no-profit associations (NPAs) The docu-ments were handled by customizing the dictionary (obtaining a total of 2,647 distinct words and 1,290 lemmata), disambiguating homonyms and joining composed words (e.g., social_worker) Concerning the analyses, the word association will show the significant relationships between co-occured keywords, the specificity analysis (conducted for each category of social workers) will show exclusive and typical concepts for each fields of intervention, the hierarchical cluster analysis will show the significant thematic contents (based on the factorial analysis of the report)

The whole corpus includes 11,563 occurrences (occ) We considered the words with a threshold frequency equal to four for a list of 78 key words

Results

Word association analysis

The word association organizes for specific key concepts a semantic structure of main associated word

We decided to focus on the keywords integration and immigrant to understand the social workers’ representation of the integration process and the newcomers (seeTable 2)

The social workers mostly associate integration with difficulties in integration process for Roma people, who would embrace the separation strategy, living on the boundaries of the community (e.g., NPAs: “> Roma< > integration< is difficult, because of their mentality”) The participants do not perceive cultural differences as difficulties for the integration (e.g., EDU: “You have to think that they can > integrate< into society, while still remaining citizens of two > different< worlds”) Then, the importance to address specific primary needs emerged (e.g., OFs:“If you have a > home< and an

> employment< you are able to > integrate< yourself”) They also highlight the importance of an effective communication (“The problem is (…) > interaction< [> Interaction<] is “an action among people” and each one becomes protagonist”); a hindered communication limits the access to information, resources, and knowledge

When the social workers consider the immigrant, the primary needs dimension emerged, particularly employment, foundations and the access to information They consider unemployment

at the basis of economic difficulties of immigrants (e.g., SSs:“> Unemployment< affects the payment

of a rent > Foreigners< have the same rights of Italian population”), highlighting the problem of the black labor market as well (e.g., NPAs:“[Many > immigrants<] are > employed<, but unfortunately these kinds of > employment< are illegal”) They also describe the complex process of obtaining the regular status (e.g., CM:“[> Immigrants<] need to translate document to > legalize< their status…”) Moreover, they report the attempts to facilitate access to useful information for immigrants (e.g., OFs: “Together with the Municipality, we provide and share > information<; there is a centre for

> immigrants< which can support them but they do not know it”)

Table 2 Associated Keywords and Related Coefficients for the Concept of Integration

and Immigrant.

Associated keywords Coeff Associated keywords Coeff

Note Coeff = cosine coefficient.

Typical specificity analysis

The typical specificity analysis of the “subcorpus” (categories of social workers) has revealed challenges and features for different fields of intervention (seeTable 3)

Social-services

In this field of intervention, social workers indicate women as primary users, often on the behalf of the families According to the literature, women are common;y considered more at risk than men (Berry, Poortiga, Segall, & Dasen,1992), and SSs deal with many situations concerning, for example, the abuse

of wives by husbands, or single mothers who try to raise their children within a new social, cultural, and bureaucratic context The problems are exacerbated because of cultural differences, which may distance from this institution (e.g., “We must use a different approach with immigrant > women< (…) there could be something more complex, that they do not tell us either because of fear, or because it is considered ordinary (therefore, insignificant) in their culture For example, husbands’ alcoholism, in Romanian community, is not a problem…”) SSs highlight the positive consequences of educational processes for minors and adults Education breaks down language barriers and facilitates mutual understanding They refer to“scholar” as well as “local” education (i.e., social inclusion activities for newcomers who need support) active and available for immigrants (“There is the possibility of

> scholastic_educational< hours It would be very useful”) Moreover, SSs report the immigrants’ perception of discrimination and prejudice (“[Immigrants] feel the > discrimination< against them…”)

Cultural mediation

Cultural mediators mostly deal with bureaucracy processes, assisting and accompanying immigrants along organizational and practical ways toward the regularization of their status (“Vicious circles: the 20-year-old boy who has no type of > document< except his birth certificate (…) he needs to be regularized to gain access to a job and to the health service”; “We address them to (…) the foreign-office, the embassy for the > documents< Maybe they need to translate a > document< to legalize their status…”) CMs report that newcomers often fear to turn to the institutions due to a lack of

a deeper knowledge (“They [immigrants] are > afraid< that social-services could throw their children out (…)”; “There is the > fear< of those who have the power”) CMs recognize their role between two cultures; the mediation, as a bicultural bridge, allows a mutual knowledge Intergroup connections are built through explanation and mutual comparison (“I have to > explain< that institutions want to help families and children”; “When the user arrives, we give him/her information about everything

If he has a family, we > explain< how things work in Italy”) Cultural mediators facilitate the communication with institutions, give information, translate documents, and create a contact between newcomers and the host society

Table 3 Typical Specificity Analysis relating to Each Category of Social Workers.

p

Other social services Health-care system 219.01 001

Teachers focus on school and minors, the educational environment, and recipients (“Immediately,

we have been looking for activities to receive [foreign] > children< within the > school< (…) and not just within the class where the > child< was enrolled”) They mostly report barriers to effective communication due to linguistic differences (“Sometimes the > communication< becomes really difficult because parents do not speak Italian”) Likewise, recognizing the value of the diversity, they convert an assumed obstacle to a resource through which mutual knowledge can take place (“He/she [the foreign child] > says< us words in his/her language, and we [teachers and students]

> say< him/her the same words in the Italian language”; “Even the > communication< about the less important matters happens; it is necessary both at the linguistic and the cultural level”)

No-profit associations

NPAs report the negative impact of welfarism opposed to the maintenance of the autonomy of immigrants (“We must help them to take their little or big responsibilities No > welfarism<:

«What you can do, you have to do it» (…) this means helping them”; “Promotion, but not

> assistance< Promotion means talking to them without commiseration…”) They also report problems in the field of employment: illegal work and the widespread unemployment (“Many immigrants have an > employment< However, I dare say that many kinds of > work< are illegal…”; “The real problem is: «I am here, but I do not have a > job<»”) This field of social action does not report specific problems, rather a wide range of complex situations that they try

to tackle every day often without institutional support, funding and resources (“The biggest

> problem< is housing payment”; “The > problem< is also the interaction”; “A real > emer-gency<: most homeless people are immigrants”)

Other social services

This category involves health and security services The first word that emerges is an umbrella concept that includes everything that falls within the health-care system (e.g., diseases, therapies, hospital services, etc.) Health services focus on poverty-related illnesses (“Many > pathologies< are infectious, cardiovascular; we care diabetes and gastritis (…) They do not eat either healthy, nor adequately”), providing a framework for understanding cultural interpretations of the therapeutic treatments, highlighting the impact of the culture on diagnoses and treatments (“Concerning

> vaccinations<, we have to explain them what vaccines are used for, as well as benefits and risks”) Moreover, doctors and policemen report the difficulties of treating people without

a regular status and the challenges faced by undocumented newcomers (“The project [The Friendly Window] was developed for the > irregular< immigrants However, for example,

I continue to deal with the pregnant woman even when she has > regularized< her status”; “The highest percentage of immigrants is constituted by > irregulars<; they do not find a > regular< job and/or become part of the > crime< tout court”) Linked to the illegality condition, these professional figures emphasize the role of the cultural mediation to improve immigrants access to health and public services (“Cultural > mediation< allows the first contact between immigrants and doctors”;

“For us, the fact that we have hours of > mediation< from the municipality has been a breath of air”)

Cluster analysis

The main issues that characterize the interviews were finally analyzed through a hierarchical cluster analysis.5Four clusters were identified (seeTable 4)

Intervention fields concern core aspects of the interventions (mostly observed among social services dedicated to health and security) Recipients and integration pathways, associated with different professional fields, embraces a wide range of concepts: the main users of the services as well as concepts concerning the interventions (e.g., intercultural communication process, diversity, etc.) Foundation is not associated with a specific professional area but mostly includes concepts

linked to bureaucratic procedures to obtain a regular status and the main actors involved in this process (i.e., social services and women) This cluster also concerns the useful actions to improve the integration within the scholastic institution for children and adolescents (i.e., academic inclusion) Needs analysis, the most representative cluster, concerns general problems and needs: ethnic differences, problems to deal with every day, unemployment, and so on, involving social workers who deal with primary needs within a bicultural context

Discussion

The current study allows to understand the contribution of different social workers in the integration process of immigrants Formal and informal social workers represent important networks of sup-port, playing an active role in the integration process Social workers, pillars of welfare, provide support and opportunities for immigrants, recognizing and respecting cultural differences despite possible social barriers Without replacing people’s abilities, they manage to develop individual responsibility and empowerment, making newcomers able to face different situations

According to Berry (2001), social membership can be achieved through the integration strategy, which encourages cultural maintenance and intergroup contact Therefore, the integration strategy is successful within cultures that embrace a multicultural ideology The multiculturalism theory connects psychosocial studies on intergroup relations with studies concerning the integration process However, from a normative perspective, Berry’s (1997;2001) theory lacks the consideration

of the essential components for a successful integration Ager and Strang (2008), in turn, explored an operational definition of the integration, showing that key domains of this strategy concerned employment, housing, education, and health, at a more basic level—citizenship and rights—at the highest level of provisions Social connection and facilitators (e.g., cultural mediation, social security,

Table 4 Identified Clusters and Related Percentages of Representation within the Corpus; Associated Variables, Keywords, and Occurrences Concerning Each Cluster.

Clusters (%) Associated variable (V-test value) Keywords Occurrences

Academic inclusion 21

Note OF = other fields of intervention; EDU = education; SS = social services; CM = cultural mediation; NPA = no-profit associations.