‘We Are Not Freeloaders:’ Harmful Welfare Narratives and Counter-Narratives Among Resettled Iraqi Refugees in the United States

Abstract

At a moment of dramatic retreat from refugee resettlement, accompanied by anti-immigrant political discourse that criminalizes migrants, this study examines how Iraqi resettled refugees who came to the United States with Special Immigrant Visa status following the 2003 war in Iraq navigate stigmatizing welfare dependency tropes and narrate their identities. Using the lens of narrative criminology and based on interviews with Iraqi resettled refugees and social service staff, this study asks how resettled Iraqi refugees construct narratives of self and identity in relation to the organizational narratives they encounter at social services offices, and what these narratives reveal about welfare administration as a site of social harm. Findings show that while resettled refugees construct counter-narratives, these are limited in their emancipatory potential and reproduce harmful narratives of welfare. The study contributes to narrative criminology’s engagement with welfare settings as sites of social harm.

Plain Language Summary

How Iraqi refugees in Michigan navigate welfare, and how the stories of caseworkers and social services staff shape their experiences

Iraqi refugee families in the United States require government assistance while undergoing resettlement and search for employment. The families interact with staff at welfare offices and nonprofit organizations who help them with assistance and resettlement. Their experiences of assistance are usually explained as part of their resettlement journey. However, there is more to understand about how these families see themselves specifically as welfare recipients and how stories about welfare told by their caseworkers and case managers affect them. To understand the connections between the way refugees are described in stories about welfare and how refugees see themselves, I interviewed Iraqi refugees, and staff members who worked at an organization helping refugee families in Michigan. I asked Iraqi families about their experiences of resettlement and receiving assistance. I asked the staff about their role in helping refugees with resettlement and assistance. Then, I looked for patterns in what people said about welfare, unemployment, and refugee resettlement. The staff at the organization often described unemployed refugees as lacking motivation or having the wrong attitude about employment. By contrast, refugees described themselves as professional, motivated to find work, and compliant with all welfare requirements. They described the experience of receiving welfare as humiliating and emphasized to me that they were different from other people who abuse welfare. These are important findings that tell us that people experience harm in these places through humiliating interactions that attack their sense of self-worth. Refugees push back against these negative experiences. Yet, they do so in ways that reinforce negative views about other people receiving welfare. Understanding how stories operate in social services offices can help us understand how welfare stereotypes amplify social harm against welfare recipients.