Re-Imagining Social Work Ethics: Bordering and Resistance

Abstract

This article explores how Swedish migration reforms (2015–2018) reshaped social work with young migrants, initially defined as unaccompanied minors in policy. Based on qualitative interviews with eight professionals and four young migrants, and analysis of policy documents, the study applies critical border theory and the new sociology of childhood. These perspectives are used to explore ethical dilemmas and the evolving notion of professionalism within the context of restrictive migration policies. It finds that policy discourse shifted from portraying unaccompanied minors as vulnerable to framing them as independent or even threatening, legitimizing exclusion from housing, education, and welfare services. Social workers were expected to enforce these bordering practices but, in some cases, resisted through acts of solidarity, advocacy and the strategic use of discretion. Such resistance re-defined professionalism from bureaucratic neutrality toward engaged allyship, creating fragile spaces of belonging for excluded youth. The findings stress the political nature of social work and its ethical responsibility to challenge exclusionary policies in pursuit of justice and human rights. By re-imagining social work ethics, this study highlights the potential for social workers to advocate for vulnerable populations and challenge harmful policies through acts of solidarity and civic duty.