Addressing needs in a liminal space: the citizen volunteer experience and decision-making in the unofficial Calais migrant camp – insights for social work

ABSTRACT

This paper examines transferable knowledge from the work of citizen volunteers addressing migrant needs in Europe, relevant to social work with migrants at border hotspots. The discussion is based on a case study conducted in the unofficial Calais camp in June 2016, which included semi-structured interviews with long-term volunteers; participant observation; and field and reflective notes. The inductive analysis examined volunteer experience, and mechanisms and values underpinning their decision-making at critical moments in the camp’s history. Starting from the observation that the circumstances at the border were a liminal, ‘in-between’, space in which migrants lived in limbo between leaving and arriving, and between cultures, life styles, and identities, we examined the implications for workers who experienced this environment by proxy, and how they developed a service infrastructure in these conditions. A horizontal, contribution working model emerged in the context of a strong bond between workers, shared human experience with camp residents, and powerful intrinsic motivation informed by a sense of duty to care. Implications for social work are discussed in the context of the profession’s search for clarity of its role in addressing grand global challenges, including forced migration.

SOMMARIO

Aceasta lucrare examineaza ce cunostinte relevante asistentei sociale cu migranti la granita pot fi transferate din analiza activitatii cetatenilor voluntari care lucreaza cu migranti in Europa. Prezentam un studiu de caz condus in tabara neoficiala de migranti din Calais in iunie 2016. Studiul a inclus interviuri semi-structurate cu voluntari pe termen lung; observatii participatorii; si note reflexive de teren. Analiza inductiva a examinat experienta voluntarilor, si mecanismele si valorile de la baza deciziilor lor in momente critice din istoria taberei. Pornind de la observatia ca circumstantele la granita erau liminale, un spatiu ‘intre’, in care migrantii traiau in limbo, intre plecare si sosire, intre culturi, stiluri de viata si identitati, am examinat implicatiile pentru lucratorii care au trait proximal acest mediu, si felul in care au dezvoltat o infrastructura de servicii. Rezultatele arata ca voluntarii au dezvoltat un model de lucru bazat pe contributie si orizontalitate ierarhica rezultat dintr-o stransa legatura umana formata intre voluntari, si intre ei si rezidentii taberei, si o puternica motivatie bazata pe simtul datoriei de a ingriji. Discutam implicatii pentru practica de asistenta sociala in conditiile in care profesia cauta sa isi clarifice rolul in adresarea marilor provocari globale, inclusiv migratia fortata.

KEYWORDS:

• Calais migrant camp
• liminality
• citizen volunteers
• decision-making
• social work at the borders

CUVINTE CHEIE:

• tabara de migranti din Calais
• liminalitate
• cetateni voluntari
• procesul de luare a deciziilor
• asistenta sociala la granita

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participants in this study and those facilitating the access to sites and participants; and Prof. Sarah Redsell, Dr. Les Gelling, and Dr Grace Spencer for advice during the study and the writing of this article, as well as the two reviewers for their helpful comments and advice.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Roxana Anghel is a senior research fellow specialised in the field of residential child care and leaving care. Her main research interest is in how various groups (e.g. care leavers, deinstitutionalised adults, migrants) manage life transitions in complex contexts of systemic and national transitions, and the role of social workers in navigating these processes. In particular, she is critically analysing the gap between policy and practice. She principally employs qualitative research methods, including participatory methods, discourse analysis, case study, and longitudinal methods. She is a member of INTRAC (The International Network for Transitions to Adulthood from Care).

Professor J. Grierson is a social researcher with over 30 years of experience in HIV/AIDS and sexuality. His research career in the area of health and social care has focused on populations of people living with HIV/AIDS. This work has focused on the points of engagement these populations have with systems of health care and social services. His work with gay men has employed social network methodologies and includes innovative work in gay saunas, the construct of monogamy, work with the Bangkok gay community, internet surveys in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam and a large programme of work in Indonesia.

Notes

1 Previously the field researcher learned that the volunteers lacked the time to engage with written documents – the only method to acquire informed permission was in situ, although email contact was made in advance.

2 The Calais Prefecture had legal jurisdiction.

3 France lacks a process of ethical scrutiny for research in social sciences and humanities (Vassy & Keller, 2008).

Additional information

Funding

Seed corn funding from the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Anglia Ruskin University.