This study is about children that have been forced to flee to another country, due to conflict, poverty or natural disasters, without their families. They are known as unaccompanied refugee children. The aim of the study is to, by focusing on individual children's feelings and experiences of being forced to flee create greater knowledge and understanding of what is hidden behind some of the statistic of migration.To answer the aim of the study, I used the following research questions: How is a child affected by being forced to leave home and to flee to a foreign country? How does an unaccompanied refugee child perceive the exodus? How do the unaccompanied refugee children handle their situation during the flight and at arrival in Sweden?The study is based on a qualitative method and consists in semi-structured interviews with five unaccompanied refugee children aged 17 to 21. The theoretical framework is based on three theoretical concepts; refugee crisis, identity and coping.The study results show that these children are a very vulnerable group, who were forced to be exposed to several losses and traumas.

It is widely recognized that the town of Södertälje, a small Swedish town of 85 000 inhabitants, has alone received more war refugees from Iraq than the US and Canada have put together. Whilst writing this thesis had nearly 6000 Iraqi refugees sought their way to Södertälje since the US invasion in Iraq 2003.Nevertheless, life is not what the media and the government retail. Six of these Iraqi refugees who resided in Södertälje share their life stories in the following thesis. They discuss their escape from Iraq and the difficulties of living in the segregated parts of Södertälje where they solely speak Arabic and Assyrian, whilst learning Swedish at sfi (Svenska för invandrare, Swedish for immigrants). Another distress is related to the unsecure future in Sweden waiting ahead.      The aim of this thesis is to engage in, and highlight the studies of six sfi-students in their endeavor to learn Swedish, whilst struggling through Swedish bureaucracy and experiencing despair due to their situation and uncertain future.       .

AbstractTitel: Ur elden in i askan. En kvalitativ studie om det sociala nätverkets betydelse för ensamkommande barnKeywords: unaccompanied refugee children, social network, risk and resilience, social work.Authors: Karin Bodå och Leila Silva The main purpose of this study is to illuminate and describe the importance of having a social network for unaccompanied refugee children in Sweden. Using qualitative interviews this study looks at their possibilities to create a social network in Sweden and how their network helps them to solve problems. Knowledge of this subject is important for social workers, in order to be able to encourage and help unaccompanied refugee children to build a social network. The base for our analysis is attachment theory, coping theory, social network theory, KASAM theory, risk and resilience theory, system theory are used to give deeper insight into experiences of four unaccompanied refugee boys.

The aim of this study was to examine how social workers relate to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, regarding their cultural background and potential social issues. In order to achieve a more profound and comprehensive view of the social workers views regarding the separated children, we selected to execute semi structured interviews with social workers. These interviews were aimed at those social workers who performed assessments and investigations concerning unaccompanied children. We completed nine interviews which we recorded and transcribed in a strict manor. When we analyzed the empirical material, certain themes where identified as more protuberant and thus we our selection was based on what we regarded as the most relevant topics, in accordance to the aim of the study.

The aim of this study is to investigate what kind of support unaccompanied children needs when arriving in Sweden, according to the staff that is receiving unaccompanied asylum seeking children in Sweden. The method is qualitative and is based on interviews and previous research. The result shows that the main subjects who were of interest from the interviews are elementary need, the support offered, security, ?parental gestalt?, education, leisure, obstacles in the work.All the interviewees describe young people's needs very different when it differs from person to person. The support children receive is the most important factor that unaccompanied children need to be developed and get a better and safer life.

It is widely recognized that the town of Södertälje, a small Swedish town of 85 000 inhabitants, has alone received more war refugees from Iraq than the US and Canada have put together. Whilst writing this thesis had nearly 6000 Iraqi refugees sought their way to Södertälje since the US invasion in Iraq 2003.Nevertheless, life is not what the media and the government retail. Six of these Iraqi refugees who resided in Södertälje share their life stories in the following thesis. They discuss their escape from Iraq and the difficulties of living in the segregated parts of Södertälje where they solely speak Arabic and Assyrian, whilst learning Swedish at sfi (Svenska för invandrare, Swedish for immigrants). Another distress is related to the unsecure future in Sweden waiting ahead.      The aim of this thesis is to engage in, and highlight the studies of six sfi-students in their endeavor to learn Swedish, whilst struggling through Swedish bureaucracy and experiencing despair due to their situation and uncertain future.       .

Sweden is the country in Europe that receives most applicants from asylum seeking unaccompanied children. The majority of all unaccompanied children are boys and the two biggest sending countries are Afghanistan and Somalia. There is however a big difference between the proportion of unaccompanied girls between the two countries, Somalia with a big proportion of girls and Afghanistan with a low proportion of girls. Previous research has shown that there is a big knowledge gap about unaccompanied girls? migration.

The aim of this study was to explore refugees experiences of an introduction program in a small Swedish municipality. The study was based on semi-structured interviews with six refugees and was conducted to explore how the introduction program contributed or has not contributed to feelings of being integrated. Our informants have got different backgrounds but have all been forced to flee their home country to Sweden. The interview data was interpreted through earlier research, theories about social exclusion and concepts which were relevant for our study. Our study showed that the informants felt kindly received in the small municipality.

  ?this Unpleasent klientel?A study on refugee care in Växjö between the years 1944 and 1947.The purpose of this study was to examine the treatment of sick refugees in Växjö in the 1940s. To achieve this a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The material found in the local archive and local newspaper was then put together and analyzed from the theoretical perspective, gender, class, ethnicity and social status.The result of this study shows that there were two main treatment wards for refugees, one that was supposed to treat women and children with active tuberculosis and the other ward treated refuges with ?epidemic diseases.? Foreign citizens were also taken care of in other words that were also not meant for refugees only, like the Epidemic hospital, which treated about 80 patients of a foreign nationality between 1944 and 1946.

AbstractTitel: Ur elden in i askan. En kvalitativ studie om det sociala nätverkets betydelse för ensamkommande barnKeywords: unaccompanied refugee children, social network, risk and resilience, social work.Authors: Karin Bodå och Leila Silva The main purpose of this study is to illuminate and describe the importance of having a social network for unaccompanied refugee children in Sweden. Using qualitative interviews this study looks at their possibilities to create a social network in Sweden and how their network helps them to solve problems. Knowledge of this subject is important for social workers, in order to be able to encourage and help unaccompanied refugee children to build a social network. The base for our analysis is attachment theory, coping theory, social network theory, KASAM theory, risk and resilience theory, system theory are used to give deeper insight into experiences of four unaccompanied refugee boys.

The aim with this essay was that on the basis of the care staff?s interpretations study how the unaccompanied refugee children consider cultural differences in the Swedish society and how it influenced the children. The study was carried out through six qualitative interviews with care workers at a municipal group accommodation for unaccompanied refugee children in the south of Sweden. The individual interviews were semi-structured and built on a list of questions with different subjects that were linked to the aim and question formulation for the essay. The analysis was carried out from Lazarus theory about coping and Antonovsky?s theory about ?SOC?, sense of coherence, with focus on the three components, comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness.

Vellinge is one of few municipalities in Sweden that refuses to accept refugees. The subject of this thesis is to find out how the local politicians in Vellinge make their considerations when they decide not to welcome refugees. The analysis uses the representation theory as a starting point. The two ideals of the representative role, either as a bound mandate or as a free independent role, is the base of the analysis. Vellinge is in the analysis compared to Lomma, a very similar municipality in southern Sweden that for a long time alsohas refused to accept refugees, however suddenly in 2007 decided to change their mind.

The aim of this study was to understand how staff at residential homes for unaccompanied children experiences their professional role. The main focus of the study was on how the staff defines their professional role and how they handle the situation to be close and at the same time keep a distance towards the children in care. Five women and two men were interviewed at five different residential homes for unaccompanied children. By symbolic interactionism we are able to see that the professional roles are shaped through interaction with the children in care as well as in relation to colleagues. The main role for the staff is to build up a relationship with the children.

When gender-related refugee claims was ratified in the Swedish asylum law the 31 of March this year (2006) it opened the door for women with this specific refugee status to receive asylum in Sweden. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate how these specific female refugees are represented and described in the asylum process. The focus has been the construction of identity concerning these women in the Officials discourse at the Immigration department. The theoretical framework has been a critical discourse analysis regarding the exercise of power and dominance connected to the construction of identity.An understanding of the women with gender-related refugee claims as the Others has been perceived through the Officials discourse. Female refugees which have been exposed to persecution that occur in our part of the world (rape, wife abuse, etc.) are treated differently and much more restrictive, compared to women exposed to so called culture specific oppression (e.g.

  ?this Unpleasent klientel?A study on refugee care in Växjö between the years 1944 and 1947.The purpose of this study was to examine the treatment of sick refugees in Växjö in the 1940s. To achieve this a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The material found in the local archive and local newspaper was then put together and analyzed from the theoretical perspective, gender, class, ethnicity and social status.The result of this study shows that there were two main treatment wards for refugees, one that was supposed to treat women and children with active tuberculosis and the other ward treated refuges with ?epidemic diseases.? Foreign citizens were also taken care of in other words that were also not meant for refugees only, like the Epidemic hospital, which treated about 80 patients of a foreign nationality between 1944 and 1946.