Working with Immigrant and Racialized

Youth with Complex Needsn

Hieu Van Ngo, PhD, RSW

Associate Professor

hngo@ucalgary.ca

September 19, 2017

Regina

Organized by

Saskatchewan SWIS Coordination

FACULTY OF SOCIAL WORK

Overview

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Ground in lived experiences

Make sense of complex lives

Locate practice lens

Explore practical strategies to support youth

Q & A

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Grounding in Lived Experiences: In their Words

I saw lots people dead in front of me. Too much to count.

Everybody was running in the same direction, and the soldiers

were shooting at us. Once, my sister was close to being shot, but

the lady beside her got shot. It wasn’t a good thing to see, because the lady was carrying a baby on her back. The bullet

went through the baby and out of the woman’s chest. After the war, hundreds of soldiers, hundreds of mothers, hundreds of kids

lying around dead. It would take days to clean up. Every time I

went to school, I’d see pictures of ladies on the run, I would be thinking what if they were my mom, my dad, or sister laying on

the ground like that. Those memories would piss me off.

Ngo et al. (2015)

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Grounding in Lived Experiences: In their Words

We don’t get no dad, you know? My mom had other kids to take care of, and then we didn’t have enough money. I didn’t have enough clothes, my mom couldn’t buy me enough clothes, we don’t got enough money. The government gave us money, but we don’t got enough money to feed the whole family, to buy clothes for kids.

Ngo et al. (2015)

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Grounding in Lived Experiences: In their Words

My older sister told my mom about my dad’s plan to marry another lady. My mom confronted my dad about it. That night, in

this room right here, we were all sleeping. My dad came out. He

plugged in like that, and electrocuted her right in the eye. We

were all very terrified. I was only five at the time, but I still

remember it like it was yesterday. Then he beat up my mom very

badly, he broke her nose and cheek bone. I remember after that

happened, the next day I killed a kitten. Out of anger I picked up

a big rock and started smashing it. I was lashing out as a kid.

That was definitely the starting point I think for what happened

after that in my life.

Ngo et al. (2015)

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Grounding in Lived Experiences: In their Words

Whatever you need help, you can ask them after school or stay

back after school. That’s the service then - whatever you want to

ask, they were busy during day, and they didn’t have time until the end of the day…When we had a test in class and we had to hand it in right away. They knew about it [language barrier], but

it seemed like nobody care.

Just sitting there for hours straight, just listening to them talk,

writing notes that wasn’t really paying attention to, just copied it from the board, reading and doing homework… school became very less [interesting], like I didn’t even want to be any part of it any more.

Ngo et al. (2015)

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Grounding in Lived Experiences: In their Words

I was getting called racist words. I was called “terrorist”, “Paki.” I wouldn’t do nothing about it. I would try to talk to people about it and everything, telling them to stop, and what did they do

instead? They kept on doing it.

Ngo et al. (2015)

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Grounding in Lived Experiences: In their Words

You go to Tuscany, they got the clubs and different things for kids. You

go to southeast, they have not much…Why not put the same things that they put in rich communities? Why only privileged communities?

Some place where kids can go.

I was walking home at night. A car was waiting but I didn’t see nobody,

because it had tinted windows. Then I heard the door open and

someone said, “Hey Nigger.”He started chasing me. I saw a knife in his

hand, so I started running away…

Ngo et al. (2015)

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Grounding in Lived Experiences: In their Words

I was just like looking at the mirror…I just wanted to, feel like, spitting at myself, you know, spit on my skin or something. I just

hated it, you know, disliked it…I just felt like, people look at me and call me the N word, you know. That’s why I hated myself, even if I was a little bit lighter than this. You see, (gesturing

vertical hierarchy) there’s Black, and then there is light, and then there is a little bit Black, and then there is mulatto, and then all

the way down here is where tar is, you know. And I’m like there (pointing to the bottom), that’s what I feel like, you know. These kinds of light skin guys, they get away with everything. Me, I’m Black.

Ngo et al. (2015)

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Grounding in Lived Experiences: In their Words

I saw myself as an outcast, like I wasn’t wanted. Somebody that wasn’t wanted, somebody that was bullied…I didn’t feel belonging at home. I didn’t belong in school either, because people called me names so I felt bad about myself.

I don’t feel at home here. There’s no real home. What we’re going through now, I don’t think there’s such thing as home. I don’t know where I belong to tell you the truth - I still don’t know.

Ngo et al. (2015)

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Making Sense- An Interactive Framework

Ngo & Schleifer (2005)

Making Sense: Complexities in Migration,

Settlement & Integration

PRE-MIGRATION EXPERIENCES

War & trauma

Relocation

Losses

Refugee camp

Level of education

Financial resources

POST-MIGRATION INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGES

Skills and Knowledge (English proficiency, understanding

Canadian systems, awareness of community resources)

Adaptation (cultural, environmental, social, health,

educational…)

WELLBEING/ SETTLEMENT OUTCOMES

(psychological, social, financial, spiritual, health,

education, civic engagement…)

POST-MIGRATION STRUCTURAL/SYSTEMIIC

CHALLENGES

Access to resources (services, support, income)

Responsiveness of institutions and services (Cultural competence, coordination)

Access to opportunities (education, employment, volunteer...)

Access to decision making (position of leadership)

ENABLING/HINDERING FACTORS

Personal qualities - Economic climate- Luck…

Making Sense: Determinants of Health

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Source: https://nacchocommunique.com/tag/social-determinants-of-health/

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Making Sense: Complex Needs

Multiplicity of needs/ issues in all facets of their lives

Severity of needs/ issues

Interplay of personal choice, individual capacity, a lack of

responsive support, and systemic/structural/ barriers

Interplay of personal choice, individual capacity, a lack of

responsive support, and systemic/structural/ barriers

Prolonged exposure to negative experiences

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Impact of Unaddressed Needs

Inequitable academic performance and educational outcomes

Inequitable health outcomes

Compromised identity development

Disempowering self-concept- The victim/oppressed, the

deprived/underprivileged, the unwanted, the incapable, the follower,

the frustrated/ disillusioned, and the delinquent

Under-developed sense of citizenship

Lack of empowering ethnic identity

Under-developed sense of belonging

Lack of civic engagement

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Understanding Human Capacities

Emotional

Relational

Physical

Rational

Intuitive

Spiritual

Griffin, V. (2001)

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Through the Human Rights Lens

Social Rights

Economic Rights

Civil and Political Rights

Cultural RightsEnvironmental

Rights

Spiritual Rights

Survival Rights

Ife, J. (2010)

Human Rights/ Social Justice Informed

Practice Principles

Promote human rights as everyone’s business and in all facets of life

Facilitate access of youth to resources- Address multiple

needs with multiple interventions

Ensure access of youth to decision making processes- service

development, service coordination, culturally responsive

services, civic engagement/leadership development

Promote human rights = Promote positive identity

development & human capabilities

Honour youth’s voices in public dialogue

Integrated Intervention

HUMANIST

Promote individual choice and improve systems

STRUCTURALIST

Address societal structures that are often inequitable on the basis of race, gender, ability,

age…

EXISTENTIALIST

Promote individual choice

FUNCTIONALIST

Strengthen one’s capacity to adapt and to function

Community-based Wraparound Intervention

Engagement: getting to know youth

Assessment- Identifying Strengths, Needs & Culture Discovery of individual youth and family

Team Planning: Youth chooses people to be on a Wrap team (professionals and natural supports)

Implementation: Youth and the team set and work towards goals together

Transition: Youth is capable of managing personal goals

Bruns & Walker (2008)

Identity-Focused Intervention

Support youth to develop critical consciousness of identities

and identity development at various social locations (i.e.

race, gender, religion, class, age, etc.)

Support youth to deconstruct, repair, reconstruct and

extend identities

— Self concept

— Citizenship

— Ethic identity

— Belonging

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REFERENCES

Griffin, V. (2001). Holistic Learning/Teaching in Adult Education: Would you play a one-string guitar? In Barer-Stein, T., & Kompf, M. (eds.), The Craft of Teaching Adults (3rd edition). Toronto: Irwin.

Ife, J. (2010). Human rights from below: Achieving rights through community development. Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press.

Ngo, V. H., Calhoun, A., Worthington, C., Pyrch, T., & Este, D. (2017). The unravelling of identities and belonging: Criminal gang involvement of youth from immigrant families. International Journal of Immigration and Integration, 18, 63-84.

Ngo, V. H., & Schleifer, B. (2005). Immigrant children in focus. Canadian Issues, Spring, 29-33.

Walker, J. S., Bruns, E. J., & The National Wraparound Ini- tiative Advisory Group. (2008). Phases and activities of the wraparound process. In E. J. Bruns & J. S. Walker (Eds.), The resource guide to wraparound. Portland, OR: National Wrap- around Initiative, Research and Training Center for Family Support and Children’s Mental Health.Available at http://www.nwi.pdx.edu/NWI-book/Chapters/Walker-4a.1-(phases-and-activities).pdf