Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.
This groundbreaking volume exposes the systematic violence embedded within the UK's asylum system as experienced by unaccompanied children and young people.
Drawing on innovative participatory research methodology, the authors reveal how 'hostile environment' policies create devastating 'tipping points' that transform bureaucratic processes into acts of structural violence. Through rigorous legal analysis and compelling empirical evidence, this essential text challenges readers to confront the profound human cost of hostile immigration policy while offering concrete strategies for trauma-informed reform. It is an urgent call for systemic change that will resonate with academics, policy makers and practitioners across law, social work, migration studies and human rights.
Part 1: Understanding Violence in the UK Asylum System
1. Introduction: Insights From Theory Elaine Chase, Helen Stalford and Will
Shankley
2. Violence As Illegal: Insights From Law Helen Stalford and Edmira Bracaj
3. Violence As Protracted Uncertainty and Discontinuities: Insights From
Psychology Jana Kreppner
4. Falling Through the Cracks: Violence As Failing To Respond to Children and
Young Peoples Complex Circumstances Will Shankley
Part 2: Confronting Violence in the UK Asylum System: Practical and
Procedural Strategies
5. Developing a Trauma-Informed Approach to Asylum Processes Ingi Iusmen
6. Not a Devil With Horns: Working Constructively With the Home Office Ingi
Iusmen and Jana Kreppner
7. Conflicts in Care: Clarifying the Position of Social Workers Helen
Stalford and Elaine Chase
8. Lessons for Research Elaine Chase, Edmira Bracaj and Will Shankley
Helen Stalford is Professor of Law at Liverpool University.
Elaine Chase is Professor of Wellbeing and Education at IOE, UCLs Faculty of Education and Society.
Ingi Iusmen is Associate Professor in Governance and Policy at the University of Southampton.
Jana Kreppner is Professor in Developmental Psychology at the University of Southampton.
William Shankley is Lecturer in Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology at the University of Liverpool.
Emira Bracaj is a PhD Student at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool and was a co-researcher with lived experience on the LOHST project.
