Prepared for the future? Social work students, ontological insecurity and the turning point in Swedish refugee policies

Abstract

The year 2015 marked a rupture in the post-war development of refugee reception and integration policies in Sweden. This rupture involved both a radical change in refugee policy and practice, and a rupture in the long-held collective self-image of Sweden as a country with generous reception and integration policies (Scarpa & Schierup 2018). This article responds to the question of how social work students in Sweden understand and conceptualise these changing conditions. It draws on the concept of ontological insecurity and on two qualitative studies conducted in 2015 involving individual- and group interviews with social work students at different Swedish universities. The article discusses how the students' responses reflect this moment of rupture. On a personal level, they express confusion and uncertainty as they experience the consequences of changing narratives in the public and private spheres. The analysis shows that although the students are engaged with the current political and social refugee situation, the social work education does not provide them with tools to unpack the situation. This reveals the limitations of a conceptual apparatus learned in social work education that is not up to date in responding to contemporary challenges.