Introduction

The structure of immigration in Aotearoa New Zealand changed significantly in the late 1980s, with a shift from limiting cultural diversity by favouring migrants from the UK to an explicit policy that valued multiculturalism and identified ‘desirable’ migrants on the basis of their human (and economic) capital (Bartley and Spoonley, 2004). This chapter draws on research about the experiences of migrant social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand, where the cultural context brings particular challenges. It highlights this population's perceptions of the status of social work as a profession and their own professional identity. The study utilised a combination of qualitative and quantitative strategies in a three-phase project. The findings provide insights into the nature of the transitional experience for migrant professionals and new vantage points on views of social work as practised in different contexts. We identify perceptions reflecting what we term ‘enduring professional dislocation’, and argue that while maintaining a broad view of social work is the foundation for understanding the profession in a new country, transnationals need support and education. The often-cited argument that social work is a global profession is of limited utility when so much of what constitutes practice is shaped by the politics, policy and practice in national or even regional and local contexts. We advocate for strategies to facilitate migrant social workers’ adjustment to a new setting, especially where some significant degree of social and cultural contextualisation in social work practice is required.

Context

Aotearoa New Zealand is a small island nation in the south-western Pacific, inhabited first by Māori most probably in the 13th century. European explorers began to visit from the mid-1600s and large-scale colonisation by the British began in the 1840s with a treaty between the joint tribes of New Zealand and the British Crown signed in 1840 (Wilson, 2009). The Treaty of Waitangi is considered to be New Zealand's founding document and is of great significance in many aspects of public policy (Belgrave et al, 2005). Its meaning is often contested: two versions exist, one in English and one in the Māori language. The Treaty provided protection and governance but does not, according to the Māori version, cede sovereignty in exchange for British citizenship (Fleras and Spoonley, 1999).