Alessio D'Angelo

Health challenges in refugee reception: dateline Europe 2016

The arrival of more than one million migrants, many of them refugees, has proved a major test for the European Union. Although international relief and monitoring agencies have been critical of makeshift camps in Calais and Eidomeni where infectious disease and overcrowding present major health risks, few have examined the nature of the official reception system and its impact on health delivery. Drawing upon research findings from an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project, this article considers the physical and mental health of asylum–seekers in transit and analyses how the closure of borders has engendered health risks for populations in recognised reception centres in Sicily and in Greece. Data gathered by means of a survey administered in Greece (300) and in Sicily (400), and complemented by in-depth interviews with migrants (45) and key informants (50) including representatives of government offices, humanitarian and relief agencies, NGOs and activist organisations, are presented to offer an analysis of the reception systems in the two frontline states. We note that medical provision varies significantly from one centre to another and that centre managers play a critical role in the transmission of vital information. A key finding is that, given such disparity, the criteria used by the UNHCR to grade health services reception do not address the substantive issue that prevent refugees from accessing health services, even when provided on site. Health provision is not as recorded in UNHCR reporting but rather there are critical gaps between provision, awareness, and access for refugees in reception systems in Sicily and in Greece. This article concludes that there is a great need for more information campaigns to direct refugees to essential services.

The Visual Sociogram in Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Research

The paper investigates the place of visual tools in mixed-methods research on social networks, arguing that they can not only improve the communicability of results, but also support research at the data gathering and analysis stages. Three examples from the authors’ own research experience illustrate how sociograms can be integrated in multiple ways with other analytical tools, both quantitative and qualitative, positioning visualization at the intersection of varied methods and channelling substantive ideas as well as network insight in a coherent way. Visualization also facilitates the participation of a broad range of stakeholders, including among others, study participants and non-specialist researchers. It can support the capacity of qualitative and mixed-methods research to reach out to areas of the social that are difficult to circumscribe, such as hidden populations and informal organisations. On this basis, visualization appears as a unique opportunity for mixing methods in the study of social networks, emphasizing both structure and process at the same time.

From Mobile Workers to Fellow Citizens and Back Again? The Future Status of EU Citizens in the UK

Growing concerns and hostility towards continuing large-scale flows of immigrants following the two rounds of EU enlargement and high levels of net migration played a major part in the Brexit referendum result for the UK to leave the EU. So too had welfare chauvinism, or the belief that welfare benefits should be restricted to citizens, come to the fore in negative attitudes to EU immigration, reflecting a rejection of EU migrants as fellow citizens. As the article shows, proposals as of summer 2017 for the status of current EU citizens in the UK indicate a desire by the UK government to incorporate current EU citizens within the far more restrictive British immigration rules, thereby curtailing some of their basic free movement rights, especially in relation to future family members. Leaked proposals for future EU citizens post-Brexit are to bring them within a single overall immigration system covering EU and non-EU migrants and applying differential rights of residence to skilled and less skilled, thereby stratifying EU migrants according to educational level and labour market sector. This would represent a return to the status of mobile workers with conditional rights of residence and social entitlements similar to those faced by non-EU migrants.

Outsourcing the State’s responsibilities? Third Sector Organizations supporting migrant families’ participation in schools in Catalonia and London

Abstract Based on two case studies of Third Sector Organizations (TSOs) working with schools and parents in Catalonia and London, this paper aims to discuss some of the implications of ‘participative’ programmes aimed at involving those migrant families seen by schools as ‘hard to reach’. First, we describe how an ambiguous notion of participation can shift responsibilities to families and leave internal school practices free from critical gaze. Second, we focus on the complexities and tensions involved in the process of partnering TSOs with schools because of the bureaucratic nature of educational institutions and unresolved conflicts of interests and responsibilities. Finally, we argue that the potential of these initiatives were limited and diluted by being stand-alone and time-limited. Our analysis suggests that, in spite of their apparent success, they ended up being part of powerful authorising narratives that justify the outsourcing of public services and the abdication of the State’s responsibilities.

Visualization in Mixed-Methods Research on Social Networks

This is the introduction to a special section on Visualization in Mixed-Methods Research on Social Networks.

Industrial Relations and the Management of Whistleblowing after the Francis Report: What Can Be Learned from the Evidence?

This article focuses on the results obtained from the quantitative surveys conducted for the independent review into creating an open and honest report culture in the NHS. It examines the management of whistleblowing and discusses the research findings in the light of the recommendations made by Sir Robert Francis QC in his ‘Freedom to Speak Up’ report published in February 2015. The authors believe that the principles and actions set out in this report and the detailed Annexe describing various aspects of good practice are generally applicable in both the public and private sectors. In so far as it provides evidence that those who follow their employers procedure when raising a concern have better outcomes than others, the authors conclude that the quantitative research for Francis is consistent with other findings that power resources and institutional arrangements can be critical to the whistleblowing process.

Laicità e differenze religiose

In un mondo sempre piu secolarizzato si tende a pensare che la diversa appartenenza religiosa sia destinata a giocare un ruolo residuale. Ultimamente, invece, sia a seguito dei drammatici fatti di terrorismo che per effetto della consistente presenza multireligiosa connessa con i flussi migratori, si sta concentrando una maggiore attenzione sul fattore relioso. In questo articolo, presentati i risultati della stima che Caritas/Migrantes fanno delle religioni degli immigrati, si traccia un percorso che aiuti le religioni a incontrarsi e a dialogare, anziche a scontrarsi. Il tema centrale del ragionamento consiste nel proporre la societa laica come un contenitore nello stesso tempo neutro e rispettoso, in grado di attribuire uguale dignita a ogni religione senza alcun tono di ostilita, che solitamente si attribuisce all’aggettivo laico. Viene sottolineato, peraltro, che anche negli stessi ambienti religiosi dei paesi di accoglienza vi possono essere atteggiamenti da modificare perche superati dalla situazione multireligiosa che si e determinata.