Fourteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

This research stems from an engaged, action-oriented ethnography of my experience as case worker with asylum seekers and the inherent contractions of this profession and the welcoming system for asylum seekers and refugees.The Italian welcoming system reminds a mosaic, a “patch-work”, with knowledge from all kind of disciplines.This fragmentation of realities of asylum seekers inside the welcoming system produces fragmented individuals. As underlined by Losi the consistency of services can favor the internal coherence of a person. The analysis adds the notion of Whyte of myopticon, which is a form of power based on the uncertainty. Inside this fragmented and uncertain system a new professional figure is developing “communities of practices”. During field-work within the framework of a Temporary Reception Center, I have been able to observe how the different actions, ideals, and roles of case workers significantly influence and shape experiences and paths of asylum seekers benefiting from the reception program, as case workers are often the lens asylum seekers use in order to have a first understanding and orienting themselves into the new reality. Case workers can represent a bridge (or a wall) between migrants and hosting communities. The cruciality of this professional figure for a positive adaptation and inclusion process is still underestimated and unconsidered. The hypothesis is, therefore, that the still fragile and blurred boundaries of this professional figure and the fragmented and uncertain welcoming system have an impact on the personal identities and on relationships of both case workers and asylum seekers.