Becoming Adult: Qualitative data on well-being outcomes for unaccompanied migrant young people turning 18 2016-2017

DOI

A dataset comprising the following:1) key informant interviews with national stakeholders and 4 (Case study) local authority stakeholders; transcripts of interviews where respondents agreed to be recorded. 2) In-depth interviews with young people: all anonymised with pseudonyms (comprising 3 folders, one for each country). 3) A briefing including analysis of all freedom of information requests to Local authorities in England. 4) A folder containing Data tools including topic guide, FOI request, interview schedule and consent form.Young people who migrate to the UK alone without a parent or legal guardian face a range of possible outcomes as they make the transition to 'adulthood' (as institutionally defined) at the age of 18. For many, this stage in their lives corresponds with a transition into illegality as they become no longer eligible for support services dedicated to 'children', and reach the end of their legal right to remain in the UK. Many disengage from institutions in order to decrease the risk of being forcibly removed to their countries of origin. Some may migrate on to other parts of Europe or, if returned to a country of origin, may subsequently come back to Europe. Even if they stay in the UK, being labelled an 'adult' usually means a drop in entitlements with respect to access to education, housing and other welfare services. Innovative and participatory in nature, this research addresses a significant gap in our understanding of what happens to young people subject to immigration control once they 'become adult'. It explores young people's own conceptions of their futures, how these are formed and the factors which affect their ability to realise these future plans over time. This is the first ever attempt to systematically investigate the longer term wellbeing outcomes for young people subject to immigration control in the UK once they turn 18. The research prioritises the intersection between wellbeing and futures and addresses the following questions: 1. How do young people 'becoming adult' while subject to immigration control in the UK conceptualise and seek to realise their future plans over time? 2. In what ways are young people subject to immigration control influenced in how they conceptualise and seek to realise their future plans by the cultural norms and social networks with which they interact over time and place? 3. Given the pre-established association between a well defined future and a sense of wellbeing, how do processes of immigration control impact on young people's wellbeing outcomes over time? 4. What policy implications emerge from an analysis of the synergy/ dissonance between policies governing the outcomes for young people subject to immigration control and their lived experiences of 'becoming adult'? Bringing together sociological, anthropological and social policy modes of inquiry, the study combines: in-depth longitudinal research with young people subject to immigration control from four countries (Afghanistan, Eritrea, Vietnam and Albania); a critical analysis of culturally embedded understandings of futures and wellbeing (and their associations with migration and 'adulthood') in four country contexts; an analysis of relevant immigration and asylum policies and their applications; a measure of wellbeing (using objective and subjective indicators) over time; and the building of a national profile of outcomes for young people subject to immigration control as they make the transition to adulthood. A key methodological innovation is the involvement of young people subject to immigration control as central members of the research team throughout the course of the project. By critically juxtaposing young people's lived experiences of migration and their associated cultural attachments with immigration control policies, this work examines the relevance of such policies, their likely efficacy and their impact on young people's well-being. A range of academic outputs will be supplemented by additional policy outputs including: a set of policy and practice guidelines for supporting young adults subject to immigration control of international relevance.

In-depth qualitative interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with young people. Key informant interviews with statutory and non statutory policy makers and practitioners. Freedom of information requests (from all local authorities in England). These are included in the data set as a research briefing which contains analysis of data (ie raw data are not included).

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-853313
Metadata Access https://datacatalogue.cessda.eu/oai-pmh/v0/oai?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_ddi25&identifier=db35989c10620bfc2b9d5e55608134cfa4b95725124d551303d114862a47a7c5
Provenance
Creator Chase, E, University College London; Sigona, N, University of Birmingham; Meloni , F, University of Northumbria; Humphris , R, University of Birmingham; Allsopp, J, SOAS
Publisher UK Data Service
Publication Year 2018
Funding Reference Economic and Social Research Council
Rights Elaine Chase, University College London. Nando Sigona , University of Birmingham . Dawn Chatty , University of Oxford; The Data Collection is available for download to users registered with the UK Data Service.
OpenAccess true
Representation
Resource Type Text
Discipline Social Sciences
Spatial Coverage United Kingdom