Social Work Ethics and Values as a Mitigating Force in Migration: Lessons from Caribbean Child Lifers in the USA

Abstract

The role and importance of social work values and ethics in migration, promoting anti-oppressive and non-discriminatory practice within the host country and country of origin, is illuminated in this article. The argument for integrating a relational approach to migration systems, led by social work, develops from cases involving juvenile lifers/child lifers in the USA. The usual emphasis on Caribbean children left behind is shifted to those who accompanied their migrant parents and ended up in the USA penal system because of inadequate family support and transition mechanisms. The article seeks to answer the question: How can social work values and ethics mitigate the structural and systemic challenges for migrant children such that they transition successfully in their host countries? The analysis informs the current social care systems expected to respond to the exodus of migrant children and families seeking economic improvement to high income countries. The complex realities of Caribbean migrants and what is required to avoid them ending up in the penal system or child protection system of their host countries is provided. Additionally, the broader question of the efficacy of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as a practice framework is raised. The connections between deportation, crime, and violence, and more significantly, how intersecting structural issues in the host countries magnify these problems in countries of origin, are discussed. Policy makers, practitioners and educators focusing on migration work will find this research instructive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]