Constructions of ‘the ageless’ asylum seekers: An analysis of how age is understood among professionals working within the norwegian immigration authorities
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: This article explores how professionals within the Norwegian immigration authorities conceptualise age when doing non‐medical age assessments. By using social constructivism, which challenges an ethnocentric quantifying understanding of age, we delve into how socially constructed perceptions of childhood and adulthood manifest in assessment practices and the implications of these. By examining how applicants’ physical appearance, body language and life experience are used as an assessment basis, we argue that the ways age is conceptualised relate to Western ideas and ideals while overlooking other social and cultural backgrounds in which age is embedded.
Source: Children & Society
DOI: 10.1111/chso.12415
Authors: Aurora T. Sørsveen, Marit Ursin
Institution: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $2,800
OpenAlex ID: W3081993610