Abstract
Refugees, asylum seekers, and other survivors of forced displacement are impacted by laws, policies, sociocultural influences, and individual actions at every stage of their displacement journey. It is important for practitioners to understand the varied and complex influences across survivors’ social ecology in order to best plan and respond. This introductory chapter to Integrative Social Work Practice with Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Other Forcibly Displaced Persons presents an overview of integrative social work practice across contexts of displacement, argues for increased engagement of social work and social workers in all areas of response, and provides an overview of the edited volume. Integrative Social Work Practice bridges three levels of social work practice—the micro, the mezzo, and the macro—to demonstrate the need for a more integrative conceptualization of practice when working in the humanitarian emergency and refugee resettlement fields. Experts from around the world present key history, laws, policies, theories, practices, and approaches for social workers and other practitioners to effectively attend to individual, family, and community needs, as well as navigate and influence broader structural factors such as policies and frameworks of support and sustainability in humanitarian emergencies, protracted crises, and resettlement.
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Notes
- 1.
Under the Trump Administration, the United States’ refugee acceptance cap was set at an all-time low of 15,000 people.
- 2.
As of 2018 the median duration of exile is 5 years. The mean duration is 10.3 years that has fluctuated between 10 and 15 years since the late 1990s.
- 3.
Global Agenda for Social Work: https://www.iassw-aiets.org/global-agenda/
- 4.
Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training: https://www.iassw-aiets.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/IASSW-Global_Standards_Final.pdf
- 5.
Global Social Work Statement of Ethical Principles: https://www.iassw-aiets.org/archive/ethics-in-social-work-statement-of-principles/
- 6.
Global Definition of Social Work: https://www.iassw-aiets.org/global-definition-of-social-work-review-of-the-global-definition/
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Murakami, N.J., Akilova, M. (2023). An Introduction to Integrative Social Work Practice with Survivors of Forced Displacement. In: Murakami, N.J., Akilova, M. (eds) Integrative Social Work Practice with Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Other Forcibly Displaced Persons. Essential Clinical Social Work Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12600-0_1
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