“Walls”, The Ancient Issue of Humanity: Challenge of Social Work With “The Other”

Abstract

The settled one marginalizes the newcomer and defines the existing problem through them. The first reaction against the other is to set boundaries by building a wall. In the second stage, reached after the walls are formed, there is now the inside and outside of the wall. Then, for the settled, the inside is identified with the good, and the outside with the bad. The starting point of this study is the settled society building walls between newcomers and themselves, and through this, othering them. Therefore, this study aims to show the processes and forms of othering of refugees and immigrants in Turkey. In line with the aforementioned purpose, the phenomenon of othering is examined through the (immigrant) “Natashas” and (refugee) Syrians. In this context, for a two-way practice, it is emphasized that the social worker should not only have a strong social inclusion policy for immigrants, but also raise the awareness of the settled society about othering.