‘Not having a real life’: psychosocial functions of using and selling drugs among young Afghan men who came to Sweden as unaccompanied minors

ABSTRACT

Unaccompanied minors (UM) entering Europe face significant psychosocial challenges. Uncertain residence situations, marginalization during the asylum process, and low levels of support increase their risk of developing mental health and drug use issues. However, little is known about drug involvement (using and dealing) in this group. This is the first study to investigate drug involvement among young adults who entered Europe as UM from their subjective perspectives. We conducted qualitative interviews with 11 Afghan men who came to Sweden as UM in 2015/2016 and had experience of using and/or selling drugs, and analyzed the transcripts based on grounded theory. Drug initiation usually occurred after arrival in Sweden and was related to peer influence. Using and selling fulfilled specific psychosocial functions including self-medication and money-making. ‘Not having a real life’ (being excluded from school, employment, and many social activities) emerged as a central motive for drug involvement. By using or selling drugs, feelings of social belonging and control over one's own life could be experienced. Long, uncertain asylum processes and social exclusion exacerbate the risk of UM and former UM using or selling drugs. Policy and intervention measures must focus on providing this group with support, social inclusion, and meaningful activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Unaccompanied minors
• Sweden
• drug use
• drug selling
• social exclusion

Introduction

During the major migration years of 2015 and 2016 (cf. Namer and Razum 2018), more than 2.3 million refugees sought asylum in the EU member states (Eurostat 2023a). Of these, 140,000 were children traveling to and entering Europe on their own without the company of adult care persons (Eurostat 2023b). The specific psychological and social challenges that unaccompanied minors (UM) face upon arrival in their host countries have attracted considerable media, political, and academic attention in Europe (Menjívar and Perreira 2019).

Sweden was the European country receiving the largest number of underage migrants relative to its population size, with approximately 35,300 UM seeking international protection in 2015 (Migrationsverket 2016). Of these youths, most were of Afghan origin (23,480), boys (Migrationsverket 2021), and aged between 13 and 17 years (Seidel and James 2019). The definition of unaccompanied minor refers to a child under the age of 18 who enters Sweden without the company of parents or other adult caregivers (Länsstyrelserna 2017, 7). After the migration peak in 2015, Sweden introduced increasingly restrictive migration policies (Lind, Hansen, and Khoury 2023) including strict border controls (Skodo 2018), dramatically reducing the number of UM entering Sweden to 2199 in 2016 and 630 in 2022 (Migrationsverket 2023). Additionally, a legal shift towards temporary residence permits was intended to discourage migrants from seeking asylum (Lind, Hansen, and Khoury 2023). Between 2015 and 2020, nearly 18,000 asylum applications were approved, suggesting that about half of the children who came to Sweden in 2015 were either rejected or still awaiting a decision in 2020 (Statista 2022).

Among the Swedish cities, Malmö received the greatest number of UM relative to its population size (Malmö stad, 2021). No published information exists on the number of former, now adult UM (fUM) living in Malmö without residence permit (Migrationsinfo 2022). In recent years, experts from practice, research, and the police have pointed to the increasing involvement of UM/fUM in drug-using and drug-selling and have called for interventions (Ivert and Magnusson 2020; Kaunitz and Jakobsson 2016; Pettersson 2016). With this study, we intend to expand the hitherto very limited scientific knowledge in this area through qualitative interviews with fUM in Malmö, who have experience of using and/or selling drugs.

Psychosocial situation of unaccompanied minors in Sweden

Typically, the young migrants are exposed to high levels of risk and challenge during and after the flight from their home to their host countries (Hagström, Hollander, and Mittendorfer-Rutz 2018; Rodriguez and Dobler 2021). Since 2015/16, Swedish media, research, and policy have discussed the uncertainties and adversities UM often face when coming to Europe (De Cock, Sundin, and Mistiaen 2019; Lalander and Herz 2021; Strömbäck, Andersson, and Nedlund 2017). In line with European researchers (e.g. Höhne et al. 2022; von Werthern, Grigorakis, and Vizard 2019), Swedish authors have identified risk factors such as lack of security, social belonging, and family support (Sivertsson 2017), and experiences of racism (Herz and Lalander 2021) as majorly contributing to the youths’ psychological, physical, and social vulnerability. Specifically, the often uncertain residence situation, existential struggles during the asylum process, and low levels of support put them at an increased risk of mental health problems (Jakobson et al. 2017). These include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, somatic (co)morbidities (cf. Hollander and Dalman 2020; Ulrich et al. 2020), and psychotic states (cf. Hodes et al. 2008). The shift in recent years towards temporal border controls such as temporary residence permits (Lind, Hansen, and Khoury 2023) has exacerbated the residence uncertainty of UM and thus their psychosocial vulnerability. UM have been referred to as the most vulnerable group of refugees in Sweden (Jensen et al. 2019), often not receiving the support necessary for a psychologically and socially healthy life (Backlund et al. 2014; Ivert and Magnusson 2020; see also Höhne et al. 2022). The lack of psychosocial support has been linked to the shift toward neoliberal migration policies, reinforced by exclusionary social work practices (Elsrud and Lalander 2022). In relation to physical and mental health, perceived quality of life was found to be significantly lower in refugee minors from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria who had resettled in Sweden than in a matched European reference population (Solberg et al. 2022). Afghan youngsters scored low in all examined areas, including mental well-being, autonomy, parental relationships, and school environment, which was related to them more often than others fleeing and arriving completely without adults. Investigating levels of suicide, rates tended to be significantly higher among UM than among Swedish youths, with young Afghan males being particularly affected (cf. Mittendorfer-Rutz, Hagström, and Hollander 2020). In Malmö, Ramel et al. (2015) observed an increase in mainly Afghan male UM admitted to child and adolescent emergency psychiatry, again emphasizing the lack of access to adequate mental health care for this group. At the same time, several recent studies highlight the strengths and capacities UM/fUM can show, despite hardships and frequent traumatic experiences (Horning, Jordenö, and Savoie 2020). Çelikaksoy and Wadensjö (2019) argue that due to their specific psychosocial situation, UM and fUM can display vulnerability and simultaneously resilience and agency. Similarly, Keles et al. (2018) found both high rates of (clinical) depression in UM as well as psychosocial resilience. In one of the few studies on female UM in Europe, Hosseini and Punzi (2021) identify the capability to shape one’s own life despite vulnerable living situations in Afghan girls. Experiencing security seems to constitute one of the most pivotal needs of UM/fUM living in Sweden.

Research on UM and drug use in Sweden

In societal discourse, UM and fUM are often polarized as either traumatized and vulnerable or as a threatening problem group prone to drug use and crime (Scherr and Breit 2021). Very little scientific evidence exists on substance use and delinquency in this group (Ivert and Magnusson 2020). Based on an international review, Ivert and Magnusson (2020) conclude that substance use among UM/fUM has mostly been studied in relation to mental health problems and is promoted by stressful living conditions and a lack of support and control. Similarly, Kaunitz and Jakobsson (2016) interpret legal and illegal substance use among UM as a strategy to cope with psychological stressors, unmet needs, and a lack of psychosocial protection factors. Other authors cite long asylum procedures, the lack of a stable base and recreational opportunities, large communal accommodations, and associated mental disorders as major factors in the onset of drug use among UM and other refugees (Domeji 2017).

In 2017, Swedish social services suggested illicit drug use among UM amounted to 8% nationally and 10% in the province of Scania (which includes Malmö), although the number of unknown cases was estimated to be much higher (Domeji 2017). In 2016/17, reports by the police, social institutions, and the Swedish children’s ombudsperson pointed to an increasing involvement of UM in social settings where drugs were consumed and sold (Barnombudsmannen 2017; Kaunitz and Jakobsson 2016; Pettersson 2016). Given the high number of rejected or pending applications for residency in Sweden and the associated ‘social and legal ostracism’ (Elsrud 2020, 500), drug use as a coping strategy among UM and especially fUM has likely increased significantly since 2017. There is no evidence yet of substance-related behaviors among female UM/fUM (Ivert and Magnusson 2020).

Despite the indications of a trend toward problematic drug use and possibly selling (see also Manhica et al. 2016), almost no research exists in Sweden or internationally on illicit substance use in UM/fUM and there is none on their involvement in drug trading. No European investigation has qualitatively studied the young persons’ subjective experiences and perspectives in this context. Reasons for this lack of research probably lie in recruitment and language barriers and difficulty in building rapport (cf. Chase et al. 2020). This study aims to expand the scientific knowledge regarding the identified research gap by focusing on individuals who came to Sweden as UM, and by qualitatively investigating their (1) initiation of and (2) motivations for using and selling drugs.

Methodology

Research design

We employed a qualitative research design based on in-depth interviews with young men who arrived in Sweden as UM. The first author conducted the interviews in Malmö between June and October 2019 and in November 2021. Due to the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, interviews had to be paused between early 2020 and late 2021.

Participants and sampling

Inclusion criteria for participants comprised having arrived in Sweden as UM in/after 2015 and having experience of using and/or selling illicit substances. To build rapport with potential participants, the first author spent extended time at three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with UM/fUM. Participants were contacted with the assistance of key workers and peer gatekeepers. The study sample comprised 11 male Afghans aged between 20 and 22, who had come to Sweden from Afghanistan, Iran¹, and Pakistan as UM within the major migration movement of 2015 and 2016 (aged between 14 and 17).²

Participants were given aliases and all personal details that could potentially identify someone were anonymized.

Table 1 provides basic demographic and drug-related information about the participants, of whom five confirmed that they rented private rooms alone or with peers, one that he stayed in social housing, one in a residential facility for people using drugs, one with friends, one that he was homeless, and two did not provide any information about their accommodation. Ten participants stated use of illicit drugs (predominantly cannabis and the opioid tramadol but also heroin and stimulants), four used alcohol, and four smoked cigarettes. Four reported experiences of selling illicit drugs in Malmö or other Swedish cities, of whom Sohel, Edris, and Aren described heavy involvement in drug trading. Diar alluded to dealing activities without providing any explicit details. Jonis and Bari stated they had no experience with illicit substance use in Sweden. Jonis, however, stated he had used different drugs in Iran and both said they smoked cigarettes. Bari was still included in the study since he and Jonis introduced themselves as close friends and both confirmed substantial observational experience of witnessing friends and acquaintances in Malmö buying, using, and selling drugs. (U/D indicates experience of both using and dealing drugs and U solely of using drugs.)

Table 1. Participant details.

Pseudonym, age & year of interview	Year of & age at arrival in Sweden	Accommodation	Residence permit	Financing living expenses & drug use	Primary drugs of choice & using status	Primary drugs of sale & selling status
Sohel (U/D), 20 (2019)	2015, 15 or 16	Room in private flat	No decision yet, waiting for 3.5 years	Small amount from migration office; black labor (e.g. renovating work); dealing	Tramadol (approx. once/week)	Cannabis & tramadol
Aarian (U), 21 (2019)	2015, 17	Room in private flat	No	Small amount from migration office	Cannabis (3-4 joints/day)	Not applicable (n.a.)
Jonis (U), probably 20 or 21 (2019)	2015, prob. 16 or 17	Room in private flat with Bari	No information (n.i.)	n.i.	Cigarettes; before in Iran cannabis, tramadol, crystal meth & hallucinogenics	n.a.
Bari (U), prob. 20 or 21 (2019)	2015, prob. 16 or 17	Room in private flat with Jonis	n.i.	n.i.	Cigarettes	n.a.
Lorys (U), prob. 20 (2019)	2016, prob. 16 or 17	n.i.	No	n.i.	Cannabis & tramadol on 45-day migration Iran-Sweden and several times in Sweden	n.a.
Edris (U/D), 21 (2019)	2015, 17	n.i.	No	n.i.	Diff. drugs frequently before, now alcohol, tramadol & cannabis once/month-once/week	Cannabis & tramadol
Jaliel (U), 20 (2021)	2015, 15	Homeless since residence refusal 3 years earlier	No	Stealing and selling stolen goods, sex work	Heroin (smoking) since residence refusal 3 years earlier (2 g/day) & cigarettes	n.i.
Lianh (U), 22 (2021)	2015, 16	Room in private flat with two others	Yes	From social services and part-time work	Cannabis until 2 years earlier, alcohol approx. once/month & cigarettes (a lot)	n.a.
Aren (U/D), 22 (2021)	2015, 16	One-room flat paid by social services	Temporary residence permit after 5 years, still valid 1 year	Social services, attends school	Dependent use of heroin, cannabis & tramadol until 8 months earlier	Pills (tramadol etc.), cannabis, heroin, cocaine etc. (sold 2015-2019)
Diar (U/D), 22 (2021)	2012, 14	Residential facility for people using drugs	Yes	Social services, worked before	Heroin (methadone prescription), cannabis & alcohol	Indicating dealing experiences
Amir (U), 22 (2021)	2015, 16	Staying with different friends	No	n.i.	Cannabis, alcohol & cigarettes etc.	n.i.

Research instrument

Focusing on participants’ personal details, experiences, and perspectives, the semi-structured qualitative interview guide covered the following areas: (1) basic demographic details, (2) socio-economic situation, (3) experiences of drug use, (4) motivation of drug use, (5) experiences of drug selling, (6) motivation of drug selling, and (7) view and experiences of the Malmö drug scene.

Data collection and analysis

Interviews were conducted at the agencies where the participants were contacted and lasted between 16 and 96 min, with an average of 36 min. Despite language barrires and the limited duration in some cases, the interviews achieved a remarkable depth overall. The participants were interviewed privately, one-to-one (apart from Jonis and Bari, who were interviewed together) in Swedish (9), Swedish/Farsi (1, assisted by a peer translator), and in English (1). They received two gift cards worth 200 Swedish crowns as an acknowledgment of their participation. The interviews were recorded with a digital recorder. Consequently, they were transcribed by research assistants and analyzed by the first author, taking account of the principles of grounded theory (Corbin and Strauss 2015) supported by the MAXQDA analysis software. The analysis results were regularly discussed with the other two authors in order to avoid a single researcher bias. Grounded theory is based on the identification of recurrent themes and particular coding strategies including open, axial, and theoretical coding. Evolving categories were inductively derived from the first interview transcripts, deductively applied to later transcripts, and further abstracted and theoretically developed during the different stages of the analysis procedure. The resulting coding system allowed the development of a descriptive-analytic account based on the central themes of drug use patterns, financing strategies, pathways into using and selling drugs and psychosocial functions (i.e. behavioral purposes to fulfill psychosocial needs) of using and selling drugs. Not having a real life – derived as an in vivo code from two independent interviews – emerged gradually as a core category during the reiterative analysis process and was subsequently found to be centrally related to all other categories.

Ethical considerations

The study was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority. Prior to each interview, the participants gave their informed and signed consent to the voluntary, anonymous, and confidential interview conditions and the recordings. They were also told that they did not have to answer any questions that made them uncomfortable and that they could stop the interview at any time if they wished. Participants were carefully and sensitively interviewed in safe, private spaces at the respective organizations with which they were familiar and were asked during and after the interviews if they felt comfortable.

Results

Drug use patterns and financing strategies

According to the participants, the use of legal and/or illegal substances is common among young Afghans who came to Sweden as UM. Overall, the young men interviewed conveyed a picture of easy and widespread availability of illicit drugs in Malmö, as exemplified by Lorys, who confirmed that ‘here in Malmö you get anything [drugs], there’s everything, you know, everything you want’.

Regarding access to drugs and acquisition strategies, various options and practices were described, including buying drugs as a group or alone, and either from a certain known source or from strangers on the street. Baris’ account reflects not only the economic but also the social character of buying drugs together, which points to the sense of community in this joint endeavor. This can have a bonding function for youths in general and especially for young Afghans in a foreign country.

Bari:

It works like this: You can buy when we meet, all of us. We buy by ringing. Or we go round the city and then they come and say, ‘We’ve got stuff. If you want to buy, we’re here’. And so on. And then we maybe buy from them.

When asked about types of drugs typically used by themselves and their peers, the participants named a range of legal and illegal substances, including cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis, and tramadol, followed by heroin and different stimulants (see Table 1 for individual drug use patterns).

Consumption patterns described by the participants ranged from recreational cannabis smoking to heavy heroin use. Aarian explained that the amount and frequency of his cannabis use depended on his emotional state and ability to cope with his existential situation of living in Sweden without a residence permit. Smoking cannabis helped him to suppress thoughts about the lack of access to education and other aspects of social integration and status.

I:

How much do you smoke per day?

Aarian:

Per day I smoke maybe three times, four times. I don't know, maybe one day I don't smoke anything. Why? [Because] I'm happy, I don't think like that, so I don't think about migration, I don't think about social security numbers, I don't think anything, I'm happy, my friends are also happy. Another day it might be very strange, a lot of thinking, yes, many friends sit and talk like ‘Okay, I go to school’. [I think], okay, they’re in control of everything, […] they go to school. They might be the same [in the same situation as me], friends at the accommodation now have driver's licenses and everything and go to school. I also would like driver's licenses; I don't have one. Why? I don't have a social security number. I go buy hashish, smoke, and think a little more positively.

Several others reported present or past use of heroin and other opioids by themselves or their Afghan peers. One such person was Jaliel, who also described his personal observations of drug preferences in different cultural groups. He noted that both smoking and injecting heroin were common among his peers.

Jaliel:

Yes. So I have, I know many Afghans who use with me. Many Arabs use hashish, but Afghans use heroin. And there are Afghans who use hashish as well. But heroin, which I use, it's very difficult to stop. […] And we, there’s more smoking. There’s only one who sniffs and many who shoot. […]

I:

Yes, how much do you use now?

Jaliel:

Two grams, three grams per day.

Overall, the participants’ accounts indicate a tendency toward substances with predominantly sedative or relaxing properties, which mainly include cannabis, alcohol, tramadol, heroin, and cigarettes.

Regarding financing drug use, the participants mentioned different acquisition strategies, including buying as a group, dealing, shoplifting, and sex work. Jonis and Bari described Afghan youths from their environment who used heroin and financed their consumption by shoplifting and selling stolen goods. Among Jaliel’s peer group of homeless, heroin-using young Afghan men, shoplifting appeared to be widespread as well as ‘selling one’s own body’.

Jaliel:

Yes, they sell their body to get it. It's nothing else. They are not gay from the beginning. […] They are forced. There are many who cannot steal, who don’t know how to fix money, they sell their body.

Purchasing modalities were obviously characterized by the respective setting of use. For recreational cannabis use, group purchasing represented a common acquisition strategy. Shoplifting and especially sex work, however, reflected the existential character of milieus in which dependent use of drugs such as heroin took place.

Pathways into drug use

Typically, participants stated that they were first introduced to legal and illegal drugs, mainly cannabis, by their peers. As illustrated below, the typically drug-inexperienced youths may not be aware they are being offered a drug upon first contact with it.

Edris:

In the beginning here we were 17 years old and another friend, it was not my friend, my friend’s friend, had a party. And we were going to go to him and we were there and he fixed a cigarette and I did not know it was hash. And we tested and it was the first start there. Yes, it was fun too.

Like most participants, Jaliel stated he tried illicit drugs for the first time in Sweden and asserted, ‘I don’t know anyone, who used [drugs] in Iran or Afghanistan, they all started in Sweden’.

Lianh as well as Jonis and Bari spoke about having started to smoke cigarettes before arriving in Sweden. Only Jonis stated he had experience of illegal substance use while still living in Iran, including use of cannabis, tramadol, and presumably methamphetamine. He only continued to smoke cigarettes. Lorys explained that his peers gave him cannabis and tramadol to cope with the arduous and dangerous migration from Iran to Sweden.

Lorys:

I used several times because I could not keep up on the road and it was difficult, but when I arrived, I let go of everything. Because when we were on the road, we used to not eat much, we had a lot of stress and stuff like that. We thought maybe we wouldn't make it, or we'd die on the way. Because sometimes I saw a lot of people who died. After that, I did not use it so much anymore. So, I didn't become addicted to drugs.

With the change of setting upon arrival in Sweden, drug use no longer served an existential function for him. He reported on avoiding dependency by only using sporadically thereafter in particularly challenging situations such as when his residence application was refused. While elaborating on his perception of his own resilience, also in comparison to his peers, he stated that he focused on sports rather than drugs and nowadays limited his substance use to occasional drinking.

Lorys:

[…] But here [in Sweden] I left everything [drugs] because when I arrived, I started training and stuff like that. But when I was rejected by the Migration Agency then, I wanted to forget all about the situation, then I had to use two or three times, but I don't have that much use. […] But now, I, no, so, I work out in the gym and I sometimes play football and stuff like that. […] Sometimes I drink […] when I'm at a party or something. Sometimes I think, it helps but if all the time, I think no, you will forget everything, you will miss everything, like school, friends like this. […] I know many people who take it [hashish or tramadol]. But I think it's not good.

Many others also identified denial of residence status as a key factor in starting or resuming drug use, exemplified by Amir, explaining how he left the shelter for UM when becoming undocumented. In Malmö he found accommodation with people who used drugs, from whom he learned how to use licit and illicit substances, counteracting his fears of how to continue his life in Sweden with an illegal residence status.

Amir

: I got a rejection from the Swedish Migration Agency regarding my case. Then I became undocumented and was completely rejected. So I left the accommodation and came to Malmö and started living as undocumented, without papers. Then, when I got rejected, I started smoking a lot of cigarettes and other stuff, hashish and a lot of shit […] Yes, so because we had a very bad situation, I was very worried, I was scared and then had to live with people addicted to drugs and alcohol. I lived with them and then I learned from them [how to use alcohol and drugs] and started drinking alcohol and then I started smoking, using drugs.

In the narratives about the beginning of their drug use, which usually started first in Sweden, occasions such as attending parties or social events involving drugs and social learning through drug-using peers were repeatedly mentioned. When explaining why they started or resumed legal and illegal drug use, many participants described coping with difficult situations such as the adversities of migrating from their previous country of residence to Sweden and the refusal of residence, the latter figuring as a central and recurring theme. Some said they used drugs only as a temporary coping strategy, whereas others experienced enduring hopelessness and anxiety that they continued to compensate for with drug use, as is further illuminated in the following.

Psychosocial functions of drug use

The interviewed young men indicated a variety of different needs motivating them to continue using psychoactive substances. Like several others, Edris talked about experiencing pleasure and relaxation when smoking cannabis with his friends.

Edris:

When I used before, when I used hashish, it was like that, you use hashish, you laugh at something, or you sit somewhere and time goes by very slowly, not fast. It's great fun for you.

Although he claimed not to like drugs, Aarian smoked cannabis with his friends, partly out of a need for social belonging and boredom, and partly to counter the general hopelessness of his situation. Without a job, school, or family, and waiting for the court decision over his residence permit he described himself as very stressed and lonely.

Aarian:

[…] I’ve got many friends who also take drugs. […] Friends who say to me, ‘Okay, come on, we’ll smoke [cannabis] together’. I think, ‘Okay, what shall I do? I’ve got to go together with them and smoke’. I’ve got it hard. […] I just take marijuana and hash. […] I’m very bored. I think, I don’t like drugs much. I’m waiting for my court decision, where they’ll say what I shall do. I’ve got no job, I’ve not gone to school […]. I can’t sleep much. Maybe 3-4 hours per night, maybe till 6 I sleep and at 8 they open and I come here [NGO with drop-in center]. I’ve got nothing, no family, nothing. Just by myself in Sweden for four years, that’s very sad.

Also, in the reports of others, the striving for a sense of social belonging was presented as a crucial psychosocial function of drug and especially cannabis use. Furthermore, self-medication was pictured as a widespread function of particularly cannabis, alcohol, tramadol, heroin, and cigarette use. Concrete examples provided by participants include alleviating stress, insomnia, and pain from migraines and an untreated broken arm, and counteracting the cold when sleeping outside.

Not having a real life

Furthermore, psychoactive substances were also used as a more complex coping strategy. As shown in numerous interviews, the denial of official right of residence in Sweden can be decisive not only for the initiation but also for the continuation of drug use. Jonis explained that many young Afghans consumed drugs – in this case, cannabis – to cope with life in Malmö without a residence permit:

Those who use drugs, they think, if they don’t have a residence permit, they think like, ‘Okay, I’ll smoke some and then I don’t give a shit about the residence permit’.

The following participant described his intense and challenging struggles of moving from Sweden to France and back again while futilely trying to get a residence permit. He explained that his desperation led him to start and continue using drugs – first alcohol and cannabis, later also tramadol – which he saw as a way to cope with the fact that he could not have a real life.

Edris:

When I was first there in North Sweden, I was refused a residence permit, three times refused from the migration office. Then I decided to go to France. I went there, and there I began using because I didn’t have a real life. I started with alcohol and marijuana. […] Yes, and then I got three refusals from France also. I was in a really bad state because I didn’t know what would happen then. From there they sent me back to Sweden. And when they were gonna send me to Afghanistan, […] I came to Malmö. I didn’t want to go to my country. I’ve got nothing there, my family lives in Iran and I didn’t want to go.

The understanding of what real life can entail becomes evident from Jaliel's narrative and is further elaborated later by Sohel in relation to the psychosocial functions of dealing. Jaliel explained how he had built a life for himself over a two-year period – going to school, finding friends, and ‘almost coming into society’. This life and his future dreams collapsed and dissolved when, at the age of 17, he received a deportation order because the official age determination set his age at 18 or older. No longer permitted to stay at the shelter for UM, he started living on the street two years before the interview together with other young Afghans in comparable situations. From his peers, he learned to deal with sleeping outside by using heroin, which also helped him to feel at home ‘under the bridge’.

Jaliel:

[…] When I came to Sweden my dream was […] I will go to school, I study and then fight and fight and fight to be a good person. Help other people. Go to school, become a writer, be able to write a book. Write a book about my life when I came to Europe, those things that happened, the difference between Afghanistan and Iran and Sweden, Europe and Asia. Things like that. […] But when I was expelled from Sweden and I had nowhere to sleep I went under the bridge. There are many, many who do drugs and when I was there, I sat there and they said ‘Take a drag and you'll be warm, so you won't feel cold’. Then I took a drag and then … I started the next day as well.

I:

Heroin?

Jaliel:

Yes, heroin. And then they said, ‘If you smoke it you can sleep well and you don't feel you’re here under the bridge, you feel at home’.

From Jaliel’s estimation, at least a hundred other young Afghan men lived under similar circumstances in Malmö and another hundred in a neighboring city – sleeping outside, using heroin, and shoplifting to finance their drug consumption and living expenses.

I:

Would you say, how, if you guess, how many are in such a situation as you described?

Jaliel:

Mm, maybe 100 people. […] In Malmö only. […] In Lund and stuff there are many. But here in Malmö almost a hundred sleep outside, more than a hundred maybe.

Later in the interview, Jaliel explained that while a residence permit was central to participating in Swedish society, life as a young Afghan immigrant could be very difficult, even with a Swedish passport. Lianh gave a personal example of how he struggled with stress and sleep problems despite having a residence permit.

Lianh:

[…] I have only three hours, four hours of sleep. Sometimes two hours of sleep, not sleeping much. […] I do not know here. Thinking about life here, what should I do later, how should I manage school. It is very difficult for me here. […] I only passed primary school. And now the studying is very hard for me here. That's why I have a lot of stress here.

The pressure to master studies and school can pose great challenges for young people who were not able to achieve a level of schooling in their home country that provides a stable foundation for their further education. Even with an official residence permit for Sweden, social exclusion can be experienced.

Drug use could fulfill diverse psychosocial functions for the young Afghans interviewed, including enjoyment and relaxation, a sense of social belonging, and self-medication. It could also represent a coping strategy to deal with the complex challenges of not having a real life as a consequence of not having a residence permit or of experiencing social exclusion despite having an official right of residence in Sweden. While cannabis, alcohol, and cigarettes seemed to be frequently used in connection with all the functions mentioned, the use of opioids such as tramadol and heroin was mainly related to the existential situation of not having a real life, and especially to homelessness.

Psychosocial functions of drug dealing

Sohel, Edris and Aren spoke openly and explicitly about their personal experiences of selling drugs (in significant quantities) in Sweden, while Diar repeatedly implied that he had been involved in various criminal activities, which probably included dealing. As in the context of drug use, the participants described different pathways into and psychosocial functions of drug selling. Edris pictured his existential situation when first arriving in Malmö without a residence permit or a place to live and having to find a way to finance his living expenses. He described how he met and befriended other young Afghan men, with whom he could live and who introduced him to both using and selling cannabis and tramadol; selling to earn a living.

Edris:

In the beginning when I came to Malmö I had no friends, no one could help me find a place or food or anything and I didn’t get money from the Swedish Migration Board. But I found some friends, they sold and used, and I have also only started using since they said, ‘Okay, you can also sell, you can make money like us’. From the beginning, I started with them and became friends, selling and smoking. […] I found an apartment myself, but in that apartment there also live the guys who sell and use. […] I sold and used hashish and tramadol.

Edris explained how he obtained the drugs he sold until recently from different groups in the Malmö drug market and describes the circles he moved in when selling drugs, where basically everyone needed a gun to defend themselves.

Also, Sohel stated that he gained access to selling considerable amounts of drugs through peers. He sketched how he organized his monthly supplies of cannabis (half a kilo) and tramadol (2000 pills) through a pal who functioned as a middleman. (Edris reported selling similar amounts of cannabis and twice as many tramadol tablets per month.) Sohel explained that he and his pals take the risk of being caught selling drugs due to a lack of economic alternatives. When speaking about his motivation to sell drugs, he used the same expression as Edris when he explained why he started using drugs – not having a real life. This means socio-economic stagnation without the opportunity to go to school, find a job, engage in healthy leisure activities, etc. After four years of not having a real life, he pictured himself as hopeless, fatalistic, and despairing over the lack of a legal future perspective:

Sohel:

[…] It’s a little difficult to buy and to sell, both are difficult. All is a risk. But we do it because we don’t have a real life. You never know if those who sell will be sent back. The response from the migration office - no, no, no three times. And we used to say, okay, but we can try to earn as much money as possible. […] But now I’m tired of it all. They kill me, I kill myself or I kill someone, it doesn’t matter. For I don’t have a real life. I came to Sweden and waited for four years, couldn’t go to school, couldn’t exercise, couldn’t do anything. […] I’m here, yes, I can just go out, do this, same thing every day, nothing special. If you can go to school, it means you can try and go on.

In contrast to Edris and Sohel, who seemed to have seized the opportunity to earn money through dealing, Aren described how he and other newly arrived UM boys were recruited by a gang and pressurized into drug selling. He explained how, in order to cope with his situation, he also started taking drugs, on which he later became dependent.

Aren:

[…] Then after a few days, a car with two people in it, inside the car came to our accommodation, to where we lived. And they walked around, they walked into the accommodation, do you understand? […] We had no residence permit nothing, no income, nothing. Then they told us, ‘Come work with us’, like with drugs, selling and stuff. Then, so first I was a little scared then, I didn’t know who they were. But I started, it was 2016 the first time, until 2020. […] So I started selling for those I worked for. Then later I also became addicted to drugs.

Later, Aren described how after about four years he received a temporary residence permit and decided to ‘take the right path’, i.e. to live a legal life and go to school. When he left the gang, he was severely beaten up by gang members, breaking his arm and injuring his foot and face. After he stopped selling drugs, he moved to Malmö to start a new life, and a few months before the interview he also managed to overcome his heroin and cannabis addiction.

The dealing activities described by participants fulfilled diverse functions including financing living expenses on the one hand and experiencing a sense of social belonging by participating in wider social contexts on the other. As can be interpreted from the interviews, crucial psychosocial functions also include the creation of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and agency in the sense of the ability to shape and control one's own life, to find a way to create a real life for oneself.

Discussion

The young Afghan men interviewed describe a variety of substance-using patterns ranging from occasional recreational alcohol or cannabis use to heavy, dependent heroin consumption. The most common substances reported include cannabis, alcohol, and cigarettes, followed by tramadol and heroin and to a lesser extent cocaine and other stimulants, indicating an overall tendency toward substances with predominantly sedative or relaxing properties. These findings broadly mirror those of a drug treatment database analysis conducted by the Swedish public health authority in 2017 (Dahlberg and Anderberg 2017), according to which benzodiazepines were also common among substance-using UM. Except for tramadol, a study on professionals working with UM in Germany found the same substances were used by this group (Zurhold and Kuhn 2020). Consistent with this research, almost all interviewed fUM in the present study stated that, apart from cigarettes, they had only started using psychoactive substances in their destination country, i.e. Sweden. The data in the two publications mentioned above concern exclusively UM and were collected in 2016 and 2017, hence during and shortly after the years of major migration. In contrast, the interviews in this study were conducted in 2019 and late 2021 with fUM who may be prone to heavier and more problematic drug use due to increasingly difficult living situations, particularly if they were undocumented. However, further research is needed to reliably confirm the trend of increasing heroin use within this group suggested by Magnusson and Ivert (2019). While cannabis, alcohol, and cigarettes tended to be associated with recreational, social, and sometimes party situations, opioids such as tramadol and heroin were typically used in milieus characterized by desperation and hopelessness. Strategies for financing drug acquisition as described by the participants were shaped by the respective using patterns, settings, and social networks, and included buying drugs as a group, dealing, stealing and selling stolen goods, and sex work. The majority reported having been introduced to substance use by peers in Sweden, from whom they acquired consumption practices. The acquisition of drug use behaviors and associated positive perceptions and attitudes through social learning from peers is well documented in the literature (e.g. Akers 2009; Becker 1953).

Similar to drug use, entry into drug selling was described as being influenced primarily by peers and additionally by recruitment and pressure from criminal gangs. Peer-based social learning has also been identified as a central factor in the initiation of juvenile criminal behavior, including drug trafficking (e.g. Bellair and McNulty 2009). Hardly any scientific knowledge exists about young persons with UM backgrounds being recruited/pressurized into drug dealing. Danish researchers mention UM/fUM being exploited by criminal gangs to sell and/or prepare drugs and transport them through Denmark or to other countries such as Sweden (Friis Søgaard 2021).

As becomes apparent from the data, using and selling drugs can serve various psychosocial functions for UM/fUM. On the one hand, functions of drug use include ‘youth-typical’ aspects such as having fun, relaxing, socializing with peers, and compensating for stress (e.g. Silbereisen and Reese 2001). ‘Study group-specific’ functions, on the other hand, include self-medicating to cope with existential fears and despondency, anxiety, insomnia, and pain as well as experiencing social belonging in the face of social exclusion.

Self-medicating functions of substance use in UM/fUM have also been acknowledged in other studies (e.g. Ivert and Magnusson 2020; Kaunitz and Jakobsson 2016; Vasic et al. 2021; Zurhold and Kuhn 2020). However, the diverse and complex psychosocial functions of drug use and selling we identified in our results are absent or underdeveloped in the already very sparse relevant literature. As described by participants, fUM who do not have residence permits can obtain financial resources through selling drugs. Additionally, dealing (like drug use) offers the youths a way to experience social belonging as well as self-efficacy and agency, which often cannot be achieved satisfactorily through legal or socially acceptable means due to refusal of residence and a general lack of social integration. In line with our results, Jessor argues in relation to his theory of adolescent problem behavior, that all conduct, including delinquency, is ‘functional, purposive, and instrumental toward the attainment of goals’ (1987, 331) ‘that are blocked or that seem otherwise unattainable’ (334). As Lind, Hansen, and Khoury (2023) point out, the lack of a permanent residence permit, i.e. no permit or only a temporary permit, increases the vulnerability of unaccompanied youth and hinders their opportunities and abilities to build a life in Sweden and become ‘integrated’ (3). Slow asylum processes and temporary permits imply long periods of waiting, stasis, and indeterminacy (McNevin and Missbach 2018), which hamper future planning (Moberg Stephenson and Herz 2022), control, and belongingness (Elsrud 2020). With respect to our findings, both using and selling drugs can fulfill the functions of compensating for social exclusion in general and for the complex experience of not having a real life in terms of not having access to education, employment, and many social and leisure activities – a situation designated as ‘social death’ by Elsrud (2020). The youths can create feelings of social affiliation, inclusion, and status and a sense of meaningfulness and control over their own life by participating in a purpose-oriented subculture. Using and selling drugs can thus be interpreted as a manufacturing process through which young Afghan men symbolically construct a real life. Similarly, Lalander (2017) found that young Chilean men who experienced severe marginalization in Sweden created a street culture characterized by drug dealing and other illegal activities, which enabled them to find an identity and feel a sense of belonging and some power. Mai (2015) argues that UM may seek agency, empowerment, and compensation for their unmet needs and the expression and management of their transition to adulthood in marginal or illicit settings, including the sex trade (see also Burgio 2017). At the same time, by engaging in illegal pursuits the young persons move even further away from mainstream society and into marginalization (Fast, Shoveller, and Kerr 2017), intersectional stigmatization, and social exclusion (see Lalander 2008).

Our findings, as well as those of other research, suggest that the phenomenon of drug use and, to a lesser extent, drug selling is relatively common among UM/fUM who arrived in Sweden in 2015 or later. However, no reliable information exists on the extent. When comparing the reported trajectories of persons such as Lorys and Jaliel, the question arises of why some take the route into using and/or dealing drugs, while others find more ‘psychosocially constructive’ ways to cope with their difficult life situation. Great differences exist in UM/fUM with respect to their individual and social resources in terms of psychosocial resilience (e.g. Keles et al. 2018) supportive social contacts (e.g. Honkasalo 2017), and legal and structural properties such as residence status and affiliations with social services (Unterhitzenberger et al. 2019).

Implications for intervention and policy

The importance of residence status became evident throughout the data analysis. It has even been suggested as a prerequisite for fUM’s health (Roberts et al. 2017). In general, the presence or absence of resources on the one hand, and risk factors and stressors on the other have a decisive impact on fUM’s psychosocial development, coping skills, and socio-economic opportunities and possibilities. Regarding the youths’ psychosocial well-being and development, the way they are received in their destination country has been highlighted as essential (Çelikaksoy and Wadensjö 2019), as well as the length of the asylum and residence procedure (Honkasalo 2017; see also Dupont et al. 2005). As pointed out by Çelikaksoy and Wadensjö (2019), many UM turned 18 while waiting for their residence files to be assessed, meaning they could suddenly lose access to housing and general support from social services. At the same time, the much more restrictive course of Swedish migration policy after 2015 caused residence refusals and deportation orders for a large proportion of (new) fUM (Horning, Jordenö, and Savoie 2020). Hosseini and Punzi (2021) identified the importance of social networks and support, education, employment, and leisure activities for fUM's social integration. When rejected but not deported, the young persons can end up living illegally in their host country without being able to access these resources and integrate into society (see also Garvik and Valenta 2021). The multiple intersectional marginalization of fUM can be significantly exacerbated by Sweden's restrictive asylum policy, but also by its drug policy, which is characterized by a zero-tolerance approach (Nordgren, Richert, and Stallwitz 2022). To prevent the young people from trying to build a real life for themselves through drug use and selling, sex work, or other illicit behaviors, they need to be provided with legal options and resources. More stringent and shorter asylum processes and an expansion of the psychosocial support provided by NGOs can be helpful starting points. Peer-involved interventions, meaningful activities, and the offer of close relationships can have a supportive as well as empowering effect on both documented and undocumented fUM. Finally, more humanitarian migration and drug policy approaches are necessary to allow real social integration for the young persons.

Strengths & limitations

Due to the risk of deportation when arrested by the police, UM/fUM engaging in criminal behaviors such as drug use and selling constitute a very hard-to-reach group. Through close cooperation with NGOs, we managed to recruit 11 fUM. The relatively small study sample limits the generalizability of our results. At the same time, this is one of few studies involving undocumented fUM and the first on the subjective experience of drug use and drug selling among UM/fUM. Thus, our findings make an important contribution to understanding drug use and selling in this group. Our study exclusively involves male fUM. Relatively few female UM have arrived in Sweden since 2015 and we did not come across drug-using female UM/fUM.

Acknowledgements

We thank the organizations that helped us contact people who came to Sweden as unaccompanied minors. We especially thank the young Afghan men who participated in our study for sharing their often painful experiences and stories with us.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

We would like to thank Riksbankens Jubileumsfond for funding our research.

Notes

1 Many Afghan UM have lived in Iran, often without papers, before coming to Sweden.

2 Although Diar had come to Sweden already in 2012, he was included, as he fitted the age group and apparently had extensive experience of using and selling drugs in Sweden.