Does the Norwegian Introduction Program Empower Individual Refugees?

Abstract

This qualitative study investigates the Norwegian introduction program for refugees to identify whether or not it empowers its individual participants. Moreover, it examines the extent to which this program might be considered as disempowering or even oppressive. Through snowball sampling, five refugees who have participated in the introduction program were recruited. Semi-structured interviewing was used to obtain an insight into the interviewees’ experiences of their participation in the introduction program. To analyse my data, I refer to theories dealing with empowerment and oppression in social work. Both empowerment and oppression as concepts are complex. Therefore, I abstain from referring to singular interpretation of these concepts. The main theories upon which this study builds are Dominelli’s Anti-Oppressive Social Work Theory and Practice and Portes and Zhou’s Segmented Assimilation. The findings in the present research indicate that the introduction program has the potential to both empower and disempower individual refugees. The extent to which it might be considered disempowering or even oppressive is linked to the level of individualization of the program and the extent to which the advisors in the program practice user involvement, as well as their knowledge and expertise. The findings in this study show that the program hasn’t been individualised to meet the needs of all the interviewees. Further, three of the interviewees reported that their advisors hadn’t practiced user involvement. For these interviewees their participation in the introduction program has not resulted in their upward mobility. For two of the interviewees the introduction program had been individualised and their advisors had practiced user involvement. Consequently, their participation in the program has resulted in their upward mobility. The findings in this study show that participation in the introduction program does not contribute to uniform incorporation of all its participants into the Norwegian society. To the contrary, it contributes to their ‘segmented assimilation’. In other words, some of the participants of this program became integrated into the middle-class segment of the society and experienced upward mobility while others became integrated into the underclass segment of the society and experienced downward mobility.

This qualitative study investigates the Norwegian introduction program for refugees to identify whether or not it empowers its individual participants. Moreover, it examines the extent to which this program might be considered as disempowering or even oppressive. Through snowball sampling, five refugees who have participated in the introduction program were recruited. Semi-structured interviewing was used to obtain an insight into the interviewees’ experiences of their participation in the introduction program. To analyse my data, I refer to theories dealing with empowerment and oppression in social work. Both empowerment and oppression as concepts are complex. Therefore, I abstain from referring to singular interpretation of these concepts. The main theories upon which this study builds are Dominelli’s Anti-Oppressive Social Work Theory and Practice and Portes and Zhou’s Segmented Assimilation. The findings in the present research indicate that the introduction program has the potential to both empower and disempower individual refugees. The extent to which it might be considered disempowering or even oppressive is linked to the level of individualization of the program and the extent to which the advisors in the program practice user involvement, as well as their knowledge and expertise. The findings in this study show that the program hasn’t been individualised to meet the needs of all the interviewees. Further, three of the interviewees reported that their advisors hadn’t practiced user involvement. For these interviewees their participation in the introduction program has not resulted in their upward mobility. For two of the interviewees the introduction program had been individualised and their advisors had practiced user involvement. Consequently, their participation in the program has resulted in their upward mobility. The findings in this study show that participation in the introduction program does not contribute to uniform incorporation of all its participants into the Norwegian society. To the contrary, it contributes to their ‘segmented assimilation’. In other words, some of the participants of this program became integrated into the middle-class segment of the society and experienced upward mobility while others became integrated into the underclass segment of the society and experienced downward mobility.