Abstract
This study aims to describe the experiences of caregivers who provide care and protection to unaccompanied and separated migrant children (USMC). The study was born out of the observation that there is a growing body of knowledge on the experiences of unaccompanied and separated migrant children in South Africa while there remains a visible gap on the experiences of the caregivers who care for unaccompanied and separated migrant children. The objectives of the study are to describe and document the experiences of the caregivers caring for the unaccompanied and separated migrant children and the challenges the caregivers encountered in the migration process; while examining the caregivers’ experiences of working with unaccompanied and separated migrant children in the institutions of care within the national child care system. Finally, to generate recommendations for practice, based on the experiences of caregivers and literature review. The study is embedded in the field of social work practice and has critical relevance to the growing child and youth care profession as it contributes to the improvement of the protection of vulnerable unaccompanied and separated migrant children. The study utilised a descriptive qualitative research approach following an interpretivist phenomenological design focused on how participants construct and describe their reality and experiences (Nieuwenhuis, 2007). Participants in this study were drawn using a nonprobability sampling technique by using a purposive sampling method (De Vos, A. S., Strydom, H., Fouché, C. B., & Delport C. S. L. 2011). Participants sampled for data collection were caregivers from the two Child and Youth Care Centres of the participating organisation, whose names have been withheld in keeping with anonymity and ethical considerations. Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured face-to-face individual interview techniques. In this study, thematic analysis (Ritchie & Lewis, 2009; Pietkiewicz and Smith, 2012) was used to analyse the collected data. The method has nine major steps of data analysis. The steps include, planning and recording data, collecting data and conducting a preliminary analysis, organising the data, reading and writing, coding data, generating categories and themes, testing the emergent understanding, searching v for alternative explanations, interpretation and report writing. The study found out that caregivers’ experiences in caring for unaccompanied and separated migrant children are mired with the children’s trust issues, anger expressions and lack of a positive sense of attachment and belonging including complexities of cultural and language barriers. Caregivers experienced a high level of resilience among the unaccompanied and separated migrant children in their care. Activities that provide assurance to the children’s emotional and mental health care, including promoting social cohesion emerged critical for the care of the unaccompanied and separated migrant children. There are unique experiences associated with caring for migrant children, including challenges such as poor coordination among key government departments on unaccompanied and separated migrant children matters, and widespread disregard of migrant children’s rights. This is despite the Children’s Act recognition of unaccompanied and separated migrant children as children in need of care and protection. Caregivers find caring for migrant children rewarding experiences. The study also documents a variety of practice and research recommendations emanating from the findings of the study.
M.A. (Community Development)