International Social Work Practices with Immigrants and Refugees
A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "International Migration".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 December 2025 | Viewed by 2030
Special Issue Editors
Interests: gender; migration; ethnicity; poverty; health inequality; diversity; identity and inclusion; feminist inquiry; intersectionality; gender violence; visual ethnography; arts based/participatory methods
Interests: migration policy; immigration/migrants’ rights; forced migration; gender equality; women’s rights; international human rights law; international social development; international social work; participatory action research; intimate partner violence; comparative policy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: suicide prevention and intervention; mental health treatment engagement and adherence; mood disorders and suicide attempt; protective factors against suicide attempt; race, ethnicity and culture in mental health research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Social work practice with refugees and asylum seekers has always been central to the very history of the profession. However, the ability to improve migration policies and resettlement practice is often constrained by evolving legal and political boundaries, and by the fluctuating public discourse, creating additional barriers for people with lived experiences of forced migration to accessing protections and claiming rights. Migrant women and children facing added complex issues remain the most invisible among all forcibly displaced people.
Globally, social work practice with forced migrants gained new prominence and increasing complexity during the so-called refugee crisis in 2015. Among other barriers, limited visibility in the host countries, lack of eligibility for public social services, uncertain legal status, and patterns of mobility have limited any rights-based, innovative responses by social work scholars, educators, and practitioners. The following editorial will highlight the need for a paradigm shift, centering the voices of people in forced migration contexts, within a human rights framework. Global migration policies will be reviewed and used to inform local initiatives that involve both third-sector organizations, as well as formal social services. Social work students, educators, and practitioners will be invited to reflect on ways to improve service delivery and international protections for people with lived experiences of forced migration. Reviewing core principles of capacity building, participatory action research, and trauma-informed care, the editorial will provide a conceptual basis for this Special Issue of Social Sciences, and for the broader debate in social work practice with forced migrants, at global and local levels.
Dr. Adriana Sandu
Dr. Marciana Popescu
Prof. Dr. Dana Alonzo
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- refugees
- asylum seekers
- social services
- vulnerability
- trauma informed care
- capacity building
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