Résumé
For the first time in history, the number of individuals forcibly displaced worldwide exceeded 100 million in 2022, with over 1% of humanity displaced by violence, conflict, or persecution (UNHCR Mid-Year Trends Report, 2022). The Americas hosted 18.4 million or twenty percent of the global persons of concern in 2021; in 2021 alone, there were nearly 600,000 asylum seekers and refugees in Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States, originating from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras[1]. Since the U.S. is a frequent target destination for many of these displaced persons who are seeking safety or new life outside of their home country, with the most extensive refugee resettlement program in the world and over 245,200 asylum applications received in just the first half of 2022 (UNHCR Mid-Year Trends Report, 2022), social workers are increasingly engaging with them in their practice settings. Given the magnitude of the movement of people in the Americas and their specific regional geographical, cultural, socio-economic, racial, indigenous, and environmental challenges, along with the historical cross-border politics, it is critical that social work students in the U.S. become equipped with knowledge, skills, and an empathetic attitude in understanding the plight of refugees, asylees, and displaced persons from the Americas. This study proposes an educational framework that centers on an asset-based, strengths-forward, and globally-minded social justice approach to social work practice and will be piloted at the authors’ university. The implications include the development of a framework-based pilot social work course, available for any social work program with the objective of global perspective, cultural awareness, engagement, advocacy, and social and skill development to work with refugees, asylees, and displaced persons from the Americas.
Mots clés (séparés par des virgules)
refugees, asylees, displaced persons, the Americas, educational framework, social work,
