Coping with Stress in the Forced Repatriation of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Refugee Children among Swedish Police Officers and Social Workers — Oak Academic Publishing
Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
Coping with Stress in the Forced Repatriation of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Refugee Children among Swedish Police Officers and Social Workers
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Epidemiology and Global Health Unit, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
,
Basic Training Programme for Police Officers, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
,
Department of Social Work, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
1 Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Epidemiology and Global Health Unit, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
2 Basic Training Programme for Police Officers, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
3 Department of Social Work, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Police officers and social workers are key actors in the forced repatriation of unaccompanied asylum-seeking refugee children. Police officers are tasked with arranging the children’s departure, whereas social workers are responsible for the children’s well-being during their stay in Sweden. To gain a better understanding of how to handle stressors and cope effectively with forced repatriation work, the current study aimed to describe and compare police officers’ and social workers’ coping strategies for forced repatriation work, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and social support. Nationally distributed surveys to social workers (n = 380) and police officers (n = 714) with and without experience of forced repatriation were used, analyzed by univariate and multivariable regression models. The police officers used more planful problem-solving and self-controlling strategies, whereas the social workers used more escape-avoidance, distancing and positive reappraisal coping. Additionally, social workers with experience in forced repatriation used more planful problem-solving than those without experience. Police officers involved in forced repatriation manage their work stress via adaptive coping strategies and control over the situation, whereas social workers use more maladaptive coping strategies. Concrete tools are needed at the individual level to strengthen key actors’ ability to support the well-being of unaccompanied asylum-seeking refugee children.
KeywordsCopingPolice OfficersSocial WorkersSwedenUnaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Refugee Children
Aaron, J. D. K. (2000). Stress and Coping in Police Officers. Police Quarterly, 3, 438-450. https://doi.org/10.1177/109861110000300405
Ahlstrom, G., & Wenneberg, S. (2002). Coping with Illness-Related Problems in Persons with Progressive Muscular Diseases: The Swedish Version of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 16, 368-375. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1471-6712.2002.00099.x
Astvik, W., & Melin, M. (2013). Coping with the Imbalance between Job Demands and Resources: A Study of Different Coping Patterns and Implications for Health and Quality in Human Service Work. Journal of Social Work, 13, 337-360. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468017311434682
Backteman-Erlanson, S., Padyab, M., & Brulin, C. (2013). Prevalence of Burnout and Associations with Psychosocial Work Environment, Physical Strain, and Stress of Conscience among Swedish Female and Male Police Personnel. Police Practice and Research, 14, 491-505. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2012.736719
Ben-Zur, H., & Michael, K. (2007). Burnout, Social Support, and Coping at Work among Social Workers, Psychologists, and Nurses: The Role of Challenge/Control Appraisals. Social Work in Health Care, 45, 63-82. https://doi.org/10.1300/J010v45n04_04
Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative Ways of Assessing Model Fit. In K. A. Bollen, & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing Structural Equation Models (pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Brunnberg, E., Borg, R., & Fridstrom, C. (2011). Ensamkommande Barn: En Forskning-soversikt [Unaccompanied Children: A Research Review]. Malmo: Studentlitteratur.
Celikaksoy, A., & Wadensjo, E. (2016). Hur harde Ensamkommande Barnen detiSverige? [How Is It for Unaccompanied Children in Sweden?]. Socialmedicinsk Tidskrift, 93, 28-36.
Chase, E. (2010). Agency and Silence: Young People Seeking Asylum Alone in the UK. British Journal of Social Work, 40, 2050-2068. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcp103
Chopko, B. A. (2010). Posttraumatic Distress and Growth: An Empirical Study of Police Officers. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 64, 55-72.
Collins, S. (2008). Statutory Social Workers: Stress, Job Satisfaction, Coping, Social Support and Individual Differences. British Journal of Social Work, 38, 1173-1193. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcm047
Coyne, J. C., & Lazarus, R. S. (1980). Cognitive Style, Stress Perception, and Coping. In I. L. Kutash, & L. B. Schlesinger (Eds.), Handbook on Stress and Anxiety: Contemporary Knowledge, Theory, and Treatment (pp. 144-158). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Directive 2008/11/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on Common Standards and Procedures in Member States for Returning Illegally Staying Third-Country Nationals (2008). Strasbourg: European Union.
Dorling, K. (2008). Seeking Change: Reforms to the Protection of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children. ChildRight, 245, 14-17.
Dwyer, S. (2007). The Emotional Impact of Social Work Practice. Journal of Social Work Practice, 21, 49-60. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650530601173607
Ehntholt, K. A., & Yule, W. (2006). Practitioner Review: Assessment and Treatment of Refugee Children and Adolescents Who Have Experienced War-Related Trauma. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 1197-1210. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01638.x
Evans, B. J., Coman, G. J., Stanley, R. O., & Burrows, G. D. (1993). Police Officers’ Coping Strategies: An Australian Police Survey. Stress Medicine, 9, 237-246. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2460090406
Evans, S., Huxley, P., Webber, M., Katona, C., Gately, C., Mears, A., Kendall, T. et al. (2005). The Impact of “Statutory Duties” on Mental Health Social Workers in the UK. Health and Social Care in the Community, 13, 145-154. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2524.2005.00540.x
Folkman, S. (1984). Personal Control and Stress and Coping Processes: A Theoretical Analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 839-852. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.46.4.839
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1980). An Analysis of Coping in a Middle-Aged Community Sample. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 21, 219-239. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136617
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1988a). Coping as a Mediator of Emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 466-475. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.54.3.466
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1988b). Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Palo Alto, CA: Mind Garden.
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Coping and Emotion. In A. Monat, & R. S. Lazarus (Eds.), Stress and Coping: An Anthology (pp. 207-227). New York: Columbia University Press.
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R. S., Dunkel-Schetter, C., DeLongis, A., & Gruen, R. J. (1986). Dynamics of a Stressful Encounter: Cognitive Appraisal, Coping, and Encounter Outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 992-1003. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.5.992
Gellis, Z. D. (2002). Coping with Occupational Stress in Healthcare. Administration in Social Work, 26, 37-52. https://doi.org/10.1300/J147v26n03_03
Ghazinour, M., Hansson, J., Lauritz, L. E., Mojgan, P., Sundqvist, J., Wimelius, M. E., & Ogren, K. (2014). Avvisningar och utvisningar av ensamkommande flyktingbarn: Om effektivitet, vardighet och barnens basta fran tjanstemans och gode mans perspektiv [Deportations of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Refugee Children: Effectiveness, Dignity and Children’s Best Interests by Officials and Legal Guardians’ Perspective]. Umea: Umea Univeristy.
Ghazinour, M., Hansson, J., Lauritz, L. E., Mojgan, P., Sundqvist, J., Wimelius, M. E., & Ogren, K. (2015). En resa medtvang: Erfarenheter av avvisningar och utvisningar av ensamkommande asylsokande flyktingbarn [A Travel by Force: Experience of Deportations of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Refugee Children]. Umea: Umea University.
Hansson, J., Hurtig, A.-K., Lauritz, L.-E., & Padyab, M. (2016). Swedish Police Officers’ Job Strain, Work-Related Social Support and General Mental Health. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-016-9202-0
Hayton, J. C., Allen, D. G., & Scarpello, V. (2004). Factor Retention Decisions in Exploratory Factor Analysis: A Tutorial on Parallel Analysis. Organizational Research Methods, 7, 191-205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428104263675
Henderson, S., Duncan-Jones, P., Byrne, D. G., & Scott, R. (1980). Measuring Social Relationships the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction. Psychological Medicine, 10, 723-734. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003329170005501X
Johnson, S., Cooper, C., Cartwright, S., Donald, I., Taylor, P., & Millet, C. (2005). The Experience of Work-Related Stress across Occupations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 20, 178-187. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940510579803
Karasek, R., & Theorell, T. (1990).Healthy Work: Stress, Productivity, and the Reconstruction of Working Life. New York: Basic Books.
Larsson, G., Kempe, C., & Starrin, B. (1988). Appraisal and Coping Processes in Acute Time-Limited Stressful Situations: A Study of Police Officers. European Journal of Personality, 2, 259-276. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2410020404
Lazarus, R. S. (1966). Psychological Stress and the Coping Process. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Lazarus, R. S. (1981). The Stress and Coping Paradigm. In C. Eisdorfer, D. Cohen, A. Kleinman, & P. Maxim (Eds.), Models for Clinical Psychopathology (pp. 177-214). New York: Spectrum.
Lazarus, R. S. (1993). Coping Theory and Research: Past, Present, and Future. Psychosomatic Medicine, 55, 234-247. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-199305000-00002
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984a). Coping and Adaptation. In W. D. Gentry (Ed.), The Handbook of Behavioral Medicine (pp. 282-325). New York: Guilford.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984b). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Springer.
Lundqvist, L.-O., & Ahlstrom, G. (2006). Psychometric Evaluation of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire as Applied to Clinical and Nonclinical Groups. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 60, 485-493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2005.08.019
Lustig, S. L., Kia-Keating, M., Knight, W. G., Geltman, P., Ellis, H., Kinzie, J. D., Saxe, G. N. et al. (2004). Review of Child and Adolescent Refugee Mental Health. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 43, 24-36. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200401000-00012
Morash, M., Haarr, R., & Kwak, D. H. (2006). Multilevel Influences on Police Stress. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 22, 26-43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986205285055
Nygren, L., Hyvonen, U., & Khoo, E. (2009). The Travelling Idea of Looking after Children: Conditions for Moulding a Systematic Approach in Child Welfare into Three National Contexts—Australia, Canada and Sweden. Australian Social Work, 62, 491-506. https://doi.org/10.1080/03124070903281135
Padyab, M., Ghazinour, M., & Richter, J. (2013). Coping and Mental Health of Iranian Social Workers: The Impact of Client Violence. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 41, 805-814. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2013.41.5.805
Patterson, G. T. (2003). Examining the Effects of Coping and Social Support on Work and Life Stress among Police Officers. Journal of Criminal Justice, 31, 215-226. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2352(03)00003-5
Penley, J. A., Tomaka, J., & Wiebe, J. S. (2002). The Association of Coping to Physical and Psychological Health Outcomes: A Meta-Analytic Review. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 25, 551-603. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020641400589
Peterson, U., Demerouti, E., Bergstrom, G., Samuelsson, M., Asberg, M., & Nygren, A. (2008). Burnout and Physical and Mental Health among Swedish Healthcare Workers. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 62, 84-95. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04580.x
SFS (1984). Police Act (p. 387). Stockholm: Department of Justice.
SFS (2001). Social Services Act (p. 453). Stockholm: Department of Justice.
SFS (2005). Aliens Act (p. 716). Stockholm: Department of Justice.
Stinchcomb, J. B. (2004). Searching for Stress in All the Wrong Places: Combating Chronic Organizational Stressors in Policing. Police Practice and Research, 5, 259-277. https://doi.org/10.1080/156142604200227594
Sundqvist, J., Hansson, J., Ghazinour, M., Ogren, K., & Padyab, M. (2015). Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Refugee Children’s Forced Repatriation: Social Workers’ and Police Officers’ Health and Job Characteristics. Global Journal of Health Science, 7, 215-225. https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v7n6p215
Sundqvist, J., Ogren, K., Padyab, M., & Ghazinour, M. (2015). Collaboration Patterns among Swedish Professionals in the Repatriation of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Refugee Children: An Explorative Study. European Journal of Social Work, 19, 901-916. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2015.1082981
Sundqvist, J., Padyab, M., Hurtig, A., & Ghazinour, M. (2016). The Association between Social Support and Mental Health of Social Workers and Police Officers in Work with Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Refugee Children’s Forced Repatriation: A Swedish Experience. Manuscript in Press.
Swedish Migration Board (2015). Avgjorda asylarenden beslutade av Migrationsverket. http://www.migrationsverket.se/download/18.7c00d8e6143101d166d1aad/1451894587413/ Avgjorda+asyl%C3%A4renden+2015+-+Asylum+desicions+2015.pdf
Swedish Migration Board (2016). Nyheter om ensamkommande barn och ungdomar. http://www.migrationsverket.se/download/18.2d998ffc151ac387159a280/ 1463059120621/05+Aktuellt+om+maj+2016.pdf
Tamres, L. K., Janicki, D., & Helgeson, V. S. (2002). Sex Differences in Coping Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review and an Examination of Relative Coping. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 2-30. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0601_1
Undén, A.-L., & Orth-Gomér, K. (1989). Development of a Social Support Instrument for Use in Population Surveys. Social Science & Medicine, 29, 1387-1392. https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(89)90240-2
Wright, F. (2014). Social Work Practice with Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Young People Facing Removal. British Journal of Social Work, 44, 1027-1044. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcs175