Contradictions, Discomforts and Dilemmas in Social Intervention with Adolescents and Unaccompanied Migrant Youth

Abstract

The migration of adolescents and young people reveals the contradictions of European migration policy, as well as of the childhood protection system and its comprehensive protection paradigm. In this paper we analyze how the ambivalence implicit in the double condition of these minors — childhood to protect - foreigners to control — is experienced by professionals in different territories. First, we explore the conception of childhood that underlies public policies and how they reinforce or redefine the role of children in society and, especially of migrant children. Second, we investigate the limitations, discomforts and dilemmas experienced by professionals working in the field of social intervention. Finally, we identify the imbalances and contradictions in the procedures, discourses and practices of the protection system to attend to and promote rights of migrant childs, adolescents and young people.