This PhD project examines how parenthood is negotiated and constructed by parents with migrant backgrounds from Muslim-majority countries through strategies of respectability in their encounters with Swedish welfare institutions, particularly family centres. Family centres in Sweden are often framed as key sites for supporting families with foreign backgrounds in their integration into Swedish society. However, existing research shows that families with migrant backgrounds—especially those who are racialised as Muslim—frequently experience marginalisation in their access to and interactions with welfare services, despite significant variation both within and across these groups.
Common explanations for such marginalisation include language barriers and socio-economic vulnerability. Yet, research also highlights the role of discrimination, stereotyping, and stigmatising discourses targeting families with foreign backgrounds within welfare institutions. In this context, performing migrant respectability can function as a strategy for parents to resist or mitigate stigmatisation and negative stereotyping when engaging with welfare services such as family centres.
An intersectional analytical framework is central to this study, enabling an exploration of how experiences of welfare institutions are shaped by intersecting dimensions of gender, ethnicity, religion, class, and migration status. These intersections influence not only how discrimination is experienced, but also how respectability is performed and negotiated in encounters with family centres.
The study employs qualitative methods, primarily in-depth interviews with both welfare professionals working at family centres and parents with backgrounds from Muslim-majority countries.
Common explanations for such marginalisation include language barriers and socio-economic vulnerability. Yet, research also highlights the role of discrimination, stereotyping, and stigmatising discourses targeting families with foreign backgrounds within welfare institutions. In this context, performing migrant respectability can function as a strategy for parents to resist or mitigate stigmatisation and negative stereotyping when engaging with welfare services such as family centres.
An intersectional analytical framework is central to this study, enabling an exploration of how experiences of welfare institutions are shaped by intersecting dimensions of gender, ethnicity, religion, class, and migration status. These intersections influence not only how discrimination is experienced, but also how respectability is performed and negotiated in encounters with family centres.
The study employs qualitative methods, primarily in-depth interviews with both welfare professionals working at family centres and parents with backgrounds from Muslim-majority countries.