Re-creating lives and futures in exile: A cultural psychological study of unaccompanied refugee minors and their professional caregivers in Norway

With recent experiences of war, abuse and perilous journeys, unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors seek protection, safety and sustainable futures. Omland investigated the young persons' concerns, efforts and challenges to re-create their lives in the host country, Norway, and how the professional care arrangements meet the young persons in this endeavour. A cultural psychological perspective was employed in order to elaborate a research approach that conceptualises the young persons as developing individuals and thus is sensitive to their practices and meaning-making as embedded in social, cultural, historical and material contexts. Based on the results, three ways of facilitating young persons' tasks of re-creating their lives are proposed. First, to explore and engage in young persons' developmental projects. Second, to organise living arrangements in ways that secure and support the development of peer relationships. Third, to organise daily care in ways that facilitate caregivers' coordinative function and overview of overall care. The thesis speaks not only to the research field on unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors but also to more general research about development and care