Risk work with asylum seekers and refugees in the UK

In this paper, I explore risk work undertaken by social workers volunteering to support asylum seekers and refugees. The paper draws on emerging findings from a current research project exploring issues that arise for social work practitioners working for local authorities across the United Kingdom (UK), but also volunteering their time with Social Workers Without Borders.

These practitioners face uncertainties in the work they do as this is at odds with government policy on immigration, which promotes a ‘hostile environment’ for asylum seekers and refugees. The paper shares narratives from participants in the study on how they manage the uncertainties arising from their work, and the implications for social work and care practice.

Practitioners in this study were found to make moral judgements through their risk work, for instance, by not being explicit about their volunteer work with colleagues in the local authority setting. This mirrors what Lupton (2013) and others have observed about risk as an expression of moral judgement. For these practitioners, engaging in what is an activist-social work practice has brought with it an element of risk in the work they are doing.