Asylum Seekers in Denmark: Project

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[The Institution as a Home]
Project Exam 2011/2012
1.0 Introduction to the subject

In this chapter we will outline some of the tendencies and statistics in the world migration and refugee movements. Hereby we will explain central definitions and terminology concerning the subject. We touch upon main international policies and bodies such as the United Nations and the European Union. Hereafter we will describe the Danish system and procedure regarding asylum seekers and their stay in Denmark. 1.0.1 Global tendencies and role of the United Nations The total number of international migrants has increased during the last 10 years from estimated 150 million in 2000 to 214 million in 2008. This means that 3.1 % of the world population are migrants; one out of 33 persons is an international migrant.i The reasons for migration are various and many of the people migrating are forced to leave. By the end of 2010, there were 43.7 million forcibly displaced people worldwideii. According to the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) forced migration is a general term that refers to the movements of refugees and internally displaced people (those displaced by conflicts) as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projectsiii Out of all the forcibly displaced people worldwide in 2010; 15.4 million were refugees and 837,500 were asylum-seekers.iv The terms refugee and asylum seeker are often used interchangeably, because most refugees at some point are asylum seekers. According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission Research Report 52 the term refugee is adopted for those who, having applied for and been granted asylum, have been given recognised refugee status. In addition it usually also encompasses those, who have received exceptional leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain. The term asylum seeker is usually reserved for those, who have applied for asylum and are waiting for a decision on their application and those whose application has been rejected.v The most important international organization with responsibility for refugees is the United
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Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention the UNHCR was mandated to provide protection and assistance for refugees.vi The foundation of the convention builds on the principle of non-refoulement, which means that an asylum seeker may not be send back to a country, where there are serious threats to his life or freedom.vii As an obligation the refugee is required to abide all laws, regulations and measures of his host country.viii 1.0.2 Asylum seekers within Europe and the EU policy and regulations In 2010 the 27 member states of the European Union together accounted for 87 percent of all asylum claims in Europe.ix The EU is working on a common policy for asylum seekers since the policies currently vary between the 27 member states. Concerning the asylum seekers status the European Union has with the Council Directive 2005/85/EC made an agreement of standards, which is the minimum the members of the union should apply on a daily basis.x The basic guarantees for the asylum seeker are foremost; he can stay in the host country while his application is pending and his application should be assessed individually and unbiased. The asylum seeker should be informed of the procedure, his rights and obligations and naturally of the result of his application.xi The asylum seeker should get the services of an interpreter, the opportunity to communicate with the UNHCR and a legal adviser.xii The European Union also has minimum standards regarding the conditions of the stay in the host country.xiii First of all the applicant must have freedom of movement. The movement can be limited to parts of the national territory, but outright detention is only allowed, when the authorities need to check the identity of the applicant. The applicant must be guaranteed medical and psychological care, family unity, financial allowance for clothing and food and minor children must have access to the educational system. The applicant must be provided with a room in a house, centre or hotel to have privacy. The host country may only deny asylum seekers access to the labour market or vocational training until six months after they have handed in their application. The host country though has full control over the conditions and extent of this access.xiv The host country can withdraw these conditions if the applicant disappears, fails to appear when arranged, does not cooperate with requests for information, withdraws his/her
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application, has excessively benefited from material reception conditions (meaning if the state by mistake has given an applicant to much money than supposed to, the state can stop giving the applicant money for a while), is suspected in humanity or war illegality or if the applicant is a threat to the national security of his host country.xv
1.0.3 Asylum seekers and the Danish policy and asylum procedure In 2010 the Nordic countries received 50.900 asylum seekers.xvi Denmark received 5.110 applications. This is an increase of approximately 33 percent in comparison with the year before. In 2010 the most applications came from asylum seekers with the home countries; Afghanistan (1.512), Syria (832), Iran (614), Russia (358) and Iraq (254).xvii In Denmark cases with granted asylum have almost doubled in comparison with 2009; from 1.376 in 2009 to 2.124 in 2010.xviii The number of rejected asylum seekers on the other hand varies from year to year. In Denmark there are different actors from the Danish public system involved in the cases of asylum seekers. The first actor, the asylum seeker meets, is the police. It is mostly in a police station or to a police man the word asylum is uttered. It is then the job of the police to determine the applicants identity, nationality and his travel route to Denmark. It is also the police, who will escort the applicant to the airport if the application is rejected or if it is decided that the application should be processed in another country. The police have no influence on the result of the application.xix The Danish Immigration Service is an independent civilian body under the ministry of social affairs and integration. If it is decided that the case is to be processed in Denmark the DIS will interview the applicant about his asylum motive and the DIS will be the one to make the first decisions concerning the application. This is phase 1 of the procedure.xx The Danish Refugee Board is a board with the function of a court of justice. If the Danish Immigration Service has rejected an application, the Danish Refugee Board is the next body to process the application. Here phase 2 in the process is entered.xxi If the application is rejected by the DIS and thereby has to be processed by the Danish Refugee Board the Danish state will provide the applicant with a lawyer.
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The asylum procedure will normally take a few months from the day of arrival till the day the DIS has come to a decision concerning the asylum application. To make the procedure efficient the applicant has the duty of being available to the authorities.xxii While his case is being processed by the authorities the asylum seeker stays in an accommodation centre.
1.1 Problem area Annual asylum claims in Western Europe, USA, Canada and Australia combined rose from 90,400 in 1983 and peaked at 1992 with 828,645 claims. Since then the number of asylum claims has dropped significantly.xxiii For example in 2010 the 38 countries in Europe received 269,900 asylum seekers.xxiv
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During the 1990ies and beyond there was increasing scepticism from western politicians and the media about the credibility of the claims and reasons of many asylum seekers. Labels, like economical refugees and bogus asylum seekers, came into use.xxv This caused a pressure and a need for more detailed international agreements and policies to ensure equal facilities and help for these, who are in need. In the European Union main guidelines have been established with the 1990 Dublin Convention, which later has been replaced by the Dublin II Regulation.xxvi The aim was to determine in which member state of the union an asylum application must be processed, in order to prevent so called asylum shopping. If not agreed differently the application would have to be determined in the first country of entry.xxvii As well the main guidelines on the conditions of the stay in the host country, procedures of applications and rights have been settled within certain directives.xxviii While cases of asylum claims are being processed by the authorities in Denmark, the asylum seeker stays in an accommodation centre. The operation of the Danish accommodation- and other asylum centres is carried out by the Danish Red Cross, who has 12 such centres in Denmark.xxix As our case study we will focus our investigation on Avnstrup asylum centre in Lejre commune. During the stay expenses for the asylum seekers are covered by the Danish State. The support covers: housing or accommodation inside a centre, healthcare and social services, school for children, school and other activities for adults, transport and cash allowances for food, hygiene items and extra support for children.xxx Asylum seekers are not allowed to work in Denmark unless they have a work- and residence permit. If the applicant is on the Positive List for jobs, the applicant can be allowed to work despite the lack of the permits due to the lack of skilled workers in the national workforce. This circumstance gives the asylum seeker the chance to apply for a residence permit.xxxi To keep asylum seekers motivated and active through the whole process, asylum centres, carry out job activation programmes within the centre. Every asylum seeker over the age of 18 is obligated to assist with daily tasks at the centre e.g. cleaning his room and taking care of common areas such as the kitchen, bathrooms. In addition to these responsibilities,
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asylum seekers may help with other tasks: routine office work, reparation of buildings, furnishing. Each applicant has to be activated for at least 10 hours per week. If the asylum seeker does not live up to the contract he has made with the centre, a reduction of allowances can be made equivalent to the number of days the tasks have not been performed.xxxii Danish immigration policies and the asylum system have been criticised by international partners and organizations and also by people working in the system as unfair and as not following international agreements and policies such as the United Nations Refugee Convention, EU directives and human rights.xxxiii Amnesty International criticised some of the Danish Immigration policies and practises in its Annual Report, which describes human rights conditions in 2010. For example the forced repatriation of rejected asylum seekers to unsafe countries, where asylum seekers might become victims of persecutions or serious harm is a point of critic. At least 62 Iraqis were returned to Baghdad by the Danish state in 2010 despite recommendations from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.xxxiv The determination of an asylum case is supposed to take not more than year, but because of various reasons, like the lack of supporting evidence and information from international partner organizationsxxxv it often takes up to 5 years to wait for an answer. xxxvi Helge Nrrung, a lawyer working mainly with asylum cases, claimed in an interview with New Times.dk that "because a system like ours, where you can keep people here for many years, while denying them all opportunities to a normal life, seems quite unimaginable." xxxvii On the other hand, there are Danish politicians, like Rikke Hvilshj, former minister of integration and now in the Folketinget for the Danish party Venstre, who claim that instead of changing the system to follow conventions, we should keep the old system: [...] Because I think our asylum system should be respected. If it is like this that you can get a residence permit just by ignoring a decision long enough, then our system does not make any sense [...] xxxviii The asylum policies and procedures gradually became the way they are after a shift in the political climate in 2001, when the new Liberal-Conservative alliance took power backed up from the Danish Folk Party. Through a much stricter and more difficult procedure of
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deciding whether to give asylum to an applicant or not, the length of the stay in the asylum centre tripled between 2001 and 2005. A longer stay also means bigger costs for the state. Especially since asylum seekers are not allowed to work and to provide for themselves during their stay. Hereby asylum applicants become a burden for society.xxxix It is our assumption that Avnstrup Asylum Centre is a total institution according to Erving Goffmans concept of this. Goffman states that it is not good for a persons self to stay in a total institution, because the person is forced to reorganize his self, which can be very rough for the person.xl Goffman states that, before the stay in the institution the person is settled concerning his identity and personalityxli. The self is a mixture of all thoughts, actions, feelings, ideas and relations of the person, which together form the person. The self is created by different networks and environments the person has been in/is interacting withxlii, and it is divided in different roles, which the person applies to different life situations. In a total institution the self is reorganized to satisfy the institutions interests, which make it alienated to society and therefore reintegration after a possible departure from the institution can take many years. Commenting on the situation of rejected asylum seekers Helge Nrrung claims: We have destroyed these people. Physically many of them are ailing and physiologically most of them have been crushed by our system which has been keeping them passive and stressing them. We have treated them directly contrary to the advice of the United Nations back from 2004, not to stress these people and not to put any pressure of them to return. And we did it anyway, by taking away their pocket money, taking away their food, moving them from one camp to another all the time. We even denied them an opportunity to work. So if we had listened to United Nations, or followed the Refugee Convention, we would have granted many of them asylum, or maybe some other kind of protection, including the right to work. I think this would have saved a lot of resources xliii We want to investigate, how the self is affected by living in an asylum centre like Avnstrup asylum centre. To support this investigation we will use Michel Foucaults definition of power as he applies it in his concept of discipline; Power is not seen as possessed, but as within something and produced by relations between people.xliv Also we will use
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Benthams panopticon, described by Foucault as a way to build an institution up under an all-seeing power of surveillance.xlv We want to investigate if surveillance in order to support the concept of discipline to regulate the time and space of the residents of Avnstrup Asylum centre is present in the centre.
1.2 Problem formulation From the mentioned reasons above we conclude in the following problem formulation: How does it affect the residents self to live in Avnstrup asylum centre? This problem formulation will help us investigate our research problem out of the explanatory project design and will hereby make us ask the right questions in order to answer the problem formulation in the conclusion of this project. 1.3 Research questions Out of the problem area and problem formulation we have developed the following research questions to help us unfold our problem formulation. Mainly the research
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questions deal with concepts we will use in our analysis. This means that the research questions will help us gain knowledge on these concepts, so that we will be able to apply them properly later on in the project. How is Avnstrup asylum centre organized? What is Erving Goffmans concept of the total institution? What is Michel Foucaults concept of discipline?
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1.4 Our Motivation to write this project On the last day of group formation, we decided to write about asylum seekers coming to Denmark. Within the group we had different reasons to be interested in this topic, but soon we found out that we also had a common ground. We tried to imagine, what it would be like to be forced to leave ones own country and to having to start a life from scratch in an unfamiliar place. This curiosity made us develop further thoughts on this subject. In the beginning of the working process, we conducted research on the processes and procedures of being an asylum seeker. We came across the word rejected repeatedly. This was then followed by many long discussions about, what it meant and what it must be like to be an asylum seeker, whose application has been rejected. Quickly we realised that one of the things it meant, was living in an asylum centre for a very long time. We found it difficult to understand, how someone could be set to live in the same place for up till 8 years with having little possibility of influencing ones own situation. We wanted to investigate further on this phase of not belonging anywhere being caught in a gap between two societies. Through our investigation we found a lack in information about what living in this situation is like, and how the life in these centres is organized. We could only find information that was strictly negative and condemning the Danish asylum procedure and the asylum centres. Comparing the Danish situation to the more appreciated Swedish system, it became very obvious to us that living in an asylum centre for a long time is not a good experience for the residents. Therefore we became more interested in the how the centre functions as an institution and how the residents cope in this presumably difficult situation. We started to wonder, whether their self, their mentality, would become affected in some way and wanted to focus our investigation on this. This interest towards both the centre as a living environment and its residents has been developed all through this project.
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2. Methodology
In this paragraph the structure of our project will become more visible to the reader. It will be presented both in writing and through a figure. We will introduce the reader to the methods and theories we have chosen for this investigation and we will go into depth with, why we chose them. Also we will explain, which knowledge we gain through our choices and what their limitations are. The purpose of our project is to highlight the resemblance of Avnstrup asylum centre to the total institution defined by Goffman. We will focus on getting our empirical data from applicants and workers in the centre through interviews conducted with them. The goal is to gain knowledge on how the asylum centre works, which actors make the centre work and how it affects the self to live in a centre.
Source: The groups own The figure above is supposed to help giving the reader an idea of how we have structured our project. We start broadly with a wide perspective towards the whole problem field through our research and will end with a narrower perspective, which is formed by our problem formulation and analysis and which will be fully established in the conclusion of this project. Through the conclusion we think that it can be relevant for us to consider new
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or other perspectives to our research. After this part of the project we will go back in our research trying to re-evaluate our ideas and consider the other options we could have found to perform our research. The inverted triangle in the figure illustrates that by the end of our project it will be looked upon as a whole, but we will try to consider changes we could have made and we will be open towards a new perspective of possible results by doing so. 2.1 The project design In order to investigate our research problem from a specific angle, we have chosen an explanatory research design. The explanatory research design has many aims, but we have chosen to let this investigation follow the aims: trying to recognize and explain casual relationships and to show relations behind an explanation that is always used in order to explain something.xlvi This investigations aim is it to explain how being in a total institution affects the inmates self. It is our assumption that Avnstrup asylum centre is a total institution and we want to investigate the causal effects, which make it become one and furthermore get a deeper insight into the consequences the residents of Avnstrup asylum centre have from living in the centre. 2.2 Research techniques in the working process Very early in the work process we decided to conduct an investigation on Avnstrup asylum centre and soon it was established that this centre would become our case study. A case study is a puzzle that has to be solved xlvii, meaning that a case study is a problem that you want to investigate through empirical data. In this investigation we decided to use interviews to find the data, which would help us investigate our research problem. There are three steps in a case study; the first one is the research process, the second one is the analysis and the third one is the writing process. We tried to use the structure of these three steps for the case study. First we made all the research and then we analysed the results of our research and data, and in the end we used the gained results of our analysis to form a conclusion. During this project it would become our job to make the case study exciting for others than us self by making the case study detailed so the reader will be able to develop a connection to the investigation and get an better understanding of our interviews and observations.
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We wanted to be able to conduct our own fieldwork for the investigation and therefore Avnstrup asylum centre was an obvious choice as it is very close to Roskilde and we with little inconvenience could go there to conduct our research. Furthermore two members of our group have made social activities there before, so that a connection and some contacts to the place were formed in advance. The decision to only investigate Avnstrup asylum centre and the people living there was made, because our main focus became to investigate how the total institution affects the self and how time and space is regulated in the centre. Therefore we decided to focus on one centre to be able to go into depth with our research. We have chosen to investigate our problem field by conducting qualitative semi-structured interviews with asylum seekers and Red Cross workers staying/working in the centre. The reason why we have chosen to conduct an interview with the Red Cross workers was, because it would increase our knowledge on how Avnstrup asylum centre is structured and on the relationship between the workers and the asylum seekers. We decided it would give us a better overview and a bigger perspective to get knowledge from both sides. For this task we have established an interview group within our group to conduct and transcribe the interviews. The members in this group speak different languages, so they will be able to translate for each other. While in the centre some observations were made, which later were written down to be used in the further investigation. We would have liked to take some pictures of the buildings and surroundings of the centre, because they could have strengthened some of our arguments, but we were not allowed. Qualitative interviews provide insight in peoples lives and view their personal understanding of their own life situation.xlviii Therefore we hope to gain a better insight into the life in the centre. Semi-structured qualitative interviews can offer us knowledge of the social reality we have chosen to investigate. Interviews provide us with insight in how the total institution affects the self. Before agreeing on the method of interviews we have discussed the possibility of using secondary data. We concluded to use this sort of data in our research, but that it overall would limit us in our investigation as others may not have asked the questions, we would like to ask. Also we decided to choose qualitative interviewing over questionnaires in order to collect relevant data, due to the complexity and multi-nuanced nature of our research. We wanted to get more in depth information about their life, the structure in the centre, relationships.
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During an interview we would have the possibility to question this information instead of sitting with the generalized data, we would have gained through questionnaires, where we would have been unable to find out if the respondents understood, what we meant in the questions and if they even understand the language. Also when we started choosing the methods, we would apply in this project we conducted a lot of research on the different methods. We took multiple aspects into consideration, such as, which data would be available, which theories do the methods relate to and which methods would be best suited for our research questions. We decided upon interviews, because they made it possible for us to ask precisely the questions, we want answers to.xlix Naturally we knew that this choice could be a bit risky, as it required the right respondents, so that the answers would be useful for our research. Another reason to just choose the one centre as this means the respondents live under the same roof and most presumably have the same/a similar experience of the conditions, they live under. We had a broad sample of residents in mind, but only a few men wanted to talk to us and we could not get into contact with any women, we could have used as respondents. It was not as easy as assumed to find subjects for the interviews. Even though we easily found out, who we should contact, did our contacts not always answer their emails and it took a while before one of them mentioned The Trampoline House, a cultural house for asylum seekers in Copenhagen, where some members of the group went and found our respondents. 2.3 The methodology of the project Still after choosing the method of interviews there was the question of which kind of interview, we wanted to use. After some consideration we chose a semi-structured interview over a loose or strict structured one, as we naturally had some things we wanted answers on, but apart from that were very open to let the respondents tell their story and experiences by themselves and decided to only ask some guiding questions once in a while during the interview. With qualitative interviews it must be taken into consideration that the collected information depends on the respondents ability to verbalize, remember and conceptualize. This can be limited due to language barriers or traumatizing pasts of the respondents.
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Interviews are always based on interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee. Therefore collected data can be affected by the interview situation and we have been talking a lot about how this could be prevented. We decided it most reasonable to have two people there to conduct an interview, as this would increase the observation of the situation and the possibility to keep the focus, because one of the two at least would notice if the interview went off track. This was possible in 3 interviews, but two interviews were conducted in Arabic, which only one of the interviewers can speak and understand. 2.3.1 The interview With ethical and moral consideration we agreed to make all the interviews anonymous. All respondents had the possibility to read a transcript of the interviews and to come with corrections if needed. We have chosen to use Kvales 7 steps about how to build an interview. The working process of building an interview is divided into smaller steps.l Step 1 Thematisation: What are we looking for? Which methods could be used why and why not? And what consequences do methodological choices have for the projects analysis? We were looking for knowledge upon the structure of the centre, living conditions for the applicants, their daily routines, the relationship between the asylum seekers and the workers etc. Our interview group was formed by 3 people and there were always two present for an interview. During the investigation we have interviewed 4 asylum seekers and one Red Cross worker. The transcripts of the interviews, which can be seen in this projects appendix use names, we have invented. Step 2 Design: Working out of the seven steps to make related research questions for our task. It was necessary for us to have a clear main thread, which gives our interview its structure. First we created a framework for the interview with both fixed questions and space for the interviewers to ask clarifying questions. The interview group read the theories and especially the criteria for the total institution, and tried to observe things relevant for our applied theories. After the first visit in the centre we talked about, what it could be relevant to ask. We came up with the questions by remembering our observations. As an example that can be mentioned is that we wanted to find out how Avnstrup asylum centre is organized in order to be able to compare it to Goffmans total institution.
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Step 3: Interview: Making a plan for what should be investigated.li We made two plans; the first one was; who should interview whom and how long the interview should last. We decided that each interview should take 30 minutes; we decided that because it would take us a lot of time to translate the interviews. The second plan was about the points of investigation. The second plan was made after choosing the design of our interviews that also is mentioned in step 2. We decided to investigate elements mentioned by Goffman in the total institution and thats how we made a plan with questions that we could use in our interview, but otherwise the rest of the content was up to each interviewer. The questions were made as a help to keep the interview on a relevant level for us. Step 4: Write-ups: We will make sure to have all the equipment needed for the felt work e.g. a recorder. So everything can be written down (in some cases translated) and filed for further interpretation and analyzing. We decided it to be a good idea to have two members of the group attending the interview, where one could ask the questions, while the other would observe and take notes. Also we recorded all interviews. It was therefore important to keep an eye on the valid translation from verbal to written language. When the transcript was made, in the cases where it was possible, both who had attended the interview looked it over to see if the recorded voice was consistent with the transcript. Step 5: Analysis: When an interview is analyzed it is important that questions put into the interview text are valid. The following five methods of conversation will make it possible to analyze an interview: categorization of meaning, condensation of meaning, structuring of meaning through narratives interpretation of meaning and ad hoc methods for generating meaning. lii In this project we performed an analysis based on concepts of Foucault and Goffman. Different members of our group sat and analysed our empirical data out of one of their concepts. They did that by re-reading the interviews and finding the subjects talked about. Whenever there was a sentence, which could be applied to the concept it would be written down in order to become a part of the analysis. After the two separate analyses; one based on Goffman, one on Foucault, the texts were put together for comparison and to see, where they would be able to substitute each other. Step 6: Confirmation: To describe the important information in the context of the quality of the conversation. Here it is important to make a reflective evaluation of the studies to
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note whereas the use of the interview process, dialogue and not least communication has been concrete. liii During the process and especially after the conducting of the interviews, we have been evaluating the process a lot in order to get a better insight in, what was done well and what not should be repeated. Since this was the first time for our interview group to conduct interviews, we found a lot of both and personally think, we already learned a lot. Still our interviews have turned out to be very useful for our analysis and also our respondents were very good to talk to. Step 7: Report: To be able to write academic considerations based on the results of the interview and to analyze the interview results. Which is what we did before, during and after the interviews, but it was first after the interviews we had a full overview over the whole subject and working process. During the interview we tried to establish an atmosphere, where the interviewed person would feel comfortable. In order to create as little inconvenience as possible, we visited them instead of making them go somewhere else having them to pay for transport. We did not stop our respondents, while they were talking and whenever we hit a subject that seemed to make them uncomfortable, we tried to ask other questions instead. We are aware that the interviewed persons answer might also be limited, because we made the interview in the centre instead of outside the centre. A different place could have removed this limitation and they would been able to talk and answer more freely. 2.3.2 The Observation There are both participatory observation and direct observation. We decided to visit Avnstrup asylum centre and the respondents before conducting the interview in order to form a relation and to get to know them a little better. We had heard through some of the documentaries, we had seen, that asylum seekers often like to tell their stories, so when our interview group meet them before the interview, they were able to hear all the stories our respondents wanted to tell, but which would have found no place in the interview. We performed this visit 3 days prior to making the interview and it was a good choice, as the observing helped us to get a better understanding of the centre and its surroundings. Also there were small things the interview group had noticed, they now could ask more about.
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We did try to get a spot as a volunteer in the centre to be able to see more of the life inside and to meet more people, but we did not succeed. Therefore we decided to focus on the direct observation during the stay in the centre. Our observations were loosely based on a few criteria; how many workers we could see, how the building looked inside, the colours of the walls, what furniture there was in the room, how many people shared the same room etc. After our observations inside the centre we observed the outside such as the bus plan and how often it drives, the police station, the clinic, the day care centre and other things belonging to Avnstrup asylum centre. 2.4 The theoretical Research Problem As our overall focus in this project is Erving Goffmans concept of the total Institution, naturally we are concerned with the mechanisms in society, which make the asylum centre become a total institution. To investigate these mechanisms we will use some of the concepts Michel Foucault has developed. While Foucaults concept can be applied on a macro level, Goffman more focuses on the micro level of face to face interaction. We chose to focus on Goffman, but decided to use Foucault as a substitution. From this we gain an insight both into the centre and the mechanisms behind and will therefore get a broader view upon, how the centre functions. We have chosen these two concepts, because we have the following assumptions: Avnstrup asylum centre is a total institution. Living in Avnstrup asylum centre has consequences for the residents self. The residents time and space are regulated by the centre. The residents in the centre are under surveillance in order to make these
regulations function. 2.4.1 Erving Goffman The Total Institution To unfold our problem formulation we have chosen to reflect on Erving Goffmans concept of the total Institution, introduced in his book Asylum. Goffman has stated that living in a total institution is bad for the self of the individuals, which he explains in detail through his concept of the self-mortification process. Goffman focuses on the micro level and face to face interaction, which suits the nature of our investigation, as we are interested
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in the effect of living in the Avnstrup asylum centre on the level of the individual. We assume that the centre has many of the characteristics of Goffmans concept of the total institution and therefore we find it relevant to reflect upon the asylum centre through this concept and upon which of its characteristics have an effect on the self of the centres residents. 2.4.2 Michel Foucault Discipline We chose to apply Michel Foucaults concept of discipline in this project, because we think it will give us a relevant view on our empirical data. Foucault has worked with disciplinary institutions, which is why we think it helpful to use Foucault in order to investigate, whether Avnstrup asylum centre is a total institution. Analysing our empirical data with a starting point in Foucaults concept will help us gain greater knowledge upon, how the centre is structured and what it is like to live there for the residents. As we with Goffman mostly analyse, whether Avnstrup asylum is a total institution and how this affects the self, also applying Foucault will be a good substitute in our project, precisely because we through Foucault do get a better understanding of how the residents time and space are regulated in the centre and which actor could be responsible for these regulations. 2.5 The quality of the overall methodology In an investigation like this, where you partly investigate and ask questions about other peoples lives there will always be an ethical dimension to be aware of. It was natural for us that the information we got through the interviews would have to be treated with care and anonymous. We discussed a lot how the interview group should relate to the people they meet to get the most objective and for our investigation constructive answers to the asked questions. It happens that an attachment is formed, but for our research it was important that there would be a certain form of objectivity from the interviewers as else falling into the trap of becoming very emotional would be very easy. This is something that made us change our focus a lot to avoid. Therefore we went from investigating the people to investigate the frame work of their stay and to how this is established through society. In order to investigate our data according to our theories, we chose the method of interviews. To thoroughly investigate the theories according to the asylum seekers life in the centre is not possible though. This investigation requires more knowledge, which we
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got through data we collected in books and on the internet. Mainly we used the information different authorities provide about and for asylum seekers to get an insight into the whole procedure of seeking asylum. While finding this data we also went to presentations by the Red Cross and applied some second hand data provided by others interested in the field, which is scarce but findable. As our data is mainly qualitative it does not give a very broad view, but it gives us the detailed information we need to investigate our project formulation. Another reason why we chose interviews over questionnaires as our research problem is best investigated by how the centre is experienced and not by the quantities around it. Quantitative data is only used in our introductory part to describe the overall situation as it gives us the whole picture, but our research ends so narrowly within the one centre that quantitative data would not have been useful. With the interviews we gain first hands information on the life in the centre and we are able to ask precisely the questions we want. Through the choice of Avnstrup asylum centre as our case study we, depending on the respondents, get a thorough knowledge of this centre. Through our research questions this will help us answer our problem formulation fully and without distracting information as we had a very narrow focus. 2.6 Delimitations of the chosen methodology We meet a few unforeseen events during our investigation, which hindered our research a little. We had easily managed to find out, who to contact in order to find interview respondents, but as we did not expect any trouble here, we contacted a good way in the process and were then faced with people, who did not answer our emails. If we had known this prior, finding interview subjects would have been our main aim from the very beginning. Another thing we have learned through this investigation is that we underestimated how much time conducting an interview actually takes. We would very much have liked to work much more on the questions and to interview more respondents to get even greater knowledge, but as we did not see the work load, we could not and decided to focus on what we have. For the next time we know, how much you gain from starting early with a method like interviews. The language could also have been a barrier since English is neither our or the respondents mother tongue. Two of our respondents only spoke Arabic, so we conducted the interviews in Arabic. Our group member that speaks Arabic is not an interpreter and since there are
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many different dialects in Arabic that could have affected the translation and the understanding of the questions. We are aware that the asylum seekers that come to The Trampoline House often are more active than the asylum seekers that do not leave the centre much. In addition, the active asylum seekers might have more knowledge about the society and system in Denmark because of their relationships to this house. They are used to seek outside the centre and this affects their opinion and answers to the questions in our interviews. Also the observations were a little tricky. As mentioned we would have liked to visit the centre on a regular basis, but as we never got any answers, it was first possible for us to visit the centre, when we finally had an errand to come there. We believe it would have given our research more depth, if we had had the option to see more of the centre.
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3. How is Avnstrup Asylum centre organized?

In this chapter we want to outline more knowledge about our case, Avnstrup asylum centre. There is some basic information that needs to be known in order to understand the structure of an asylum centre and some information the reader needs to have, as it will be taken for granted through the analysis. We choose to introduce the reader to the centre in this place in the project, because it will make it more understandable what an asylum centre is and why we have chosen to write about an institution like that. The chapter will present some background knowledge on the Danish Red Cross and asylum centres in Denmark and will afterwards outline what the conditions in the centres are for the centres residents and how time can be spend in the centre. 3.1 Avnstrup Asylum centre Almost all of the Danish asylum centres are operationalized by the Danish Red Cross and Avnstrup Asylum centre is one of their 12 centres. It is Red Cross personnel and some volunteers, who work at the centre and who have the most contact with the asylum seekers staying here. The Red Cross operationalizes the centres with money, they get granted from the government depending on how many asylum seekers there are. Since 1984 it has been the task of the Danish Red Cross to work in the asylum area. This task is based on the organizations principle of humanity and the Red Cross sees it as its duty to get involved in the public debate to increase the conditions for the asylum seekers stay in the asylum centres.liv When asylum seekers came to Denmark before 1984 they were housed in different hotels and hostels in and around Copenhagen. After 1984 there was a large increase in the number of asylum seekers coming to Denmark and therefore the asylum centres were opened. During the time the Red Cross has been responsible for the asylum centres there have been around 300 centres, which have been opened and closed. Today there are 6 asylum centres, while the other 6 are special asylum centres e.g. for women or children.lv Avnstrup asylum centre is both an accommodation and departure centre with around 400 residentslvi located in an old hospital complex outside of Hvals, in Lejre commune, Sjlland.
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The old hospital is still present in the architecture and design of the buildings. The centre is surrounded by forest and it takes around 20 min by bus to go there from Viby Sjlland, the nearest city with a train station and shops.lvii A departure centre is the place, where asylum seekers, who have been denied refugee status in Denmark, are supposed to wait for departure to their home country. Depending on Denmarks cooperation with the asylum seekers home country this can take anything from a month to many years. At a departure centre more special conditions than at an accommodation centre are in order: e.g. higher security demands, which means that only people, who are invited by residents or staff are allowed to enter the centre. The police are always present in a departure centre like Avnstrup to maintain order in the centre. They have their own office in one of the centres buildings.lviii 3.2 The asylum seekers conditions in Avnstrup asylum centre While the asylum seekers case is being processed, the expenses are covered by the Danish State. Rejected asylum seekers are mostly on food allowance programmes; they receive money for food or they receive free meals in the centres cafeteria and the cash allowance for children is reduced compared to what an asylum seeker in the application process gets. This is part of a motivation program implemented by the last government, whose aim it is to motivate rejected asylum seekers to cooperate with the police on their departure and to make them leave the country as fast as possible.lix In Avnstrup asylum centre residents share one or two rooms with their family or with up till 3 same gender persons from a similar ethnic origin and culture. The rooms have basic furniture. Kitchens and bathrooms are mostly shared by residents of the same corridor or the same floorlx. As we have mentioned in the introduction of this project both procedures: the waiting for an asylum case being processed and the decision on departure can take several years. The process is supposed to take less than a year, but takes usually much longer. Therefore residents often stay longer in the centre than expected, and longer than they are supposed to. 3.3 How to spend a day in Avnstrup asylum centre Since asylum seekers in Denmark are not allowed to work, they spend most their time in the centres. Residents of the centre, who are older than 18, are obligated to participate in
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certain forms of activation, often internships for 10 hours per week. Staff member Katrina Vedel emphasizes that these internships are very important. They keep the residents active and help in keeping their minds busy, while they are waiting for the result of their case. The internships are mainly work in maintenance like cleaning and some sort of office work. In the centre they are divided between a practical team, which cleans, moves furniture and prepares rooms for new arrivals and a technical team, who fixes broken furniture and helps with renovations of the centre. lxi Furthermore the centre also has workshops with tools, where the residents can go to fix their bikes or other things. For the more mind-centred residents Roskilde library provides books. From time to time the centre organizes activities like day trips to other centres or the surroundings e.g. museums in the area. Sometimes there are arranged special events for residents of the centre.lxii Also hobby and free time related activities take place in the centre e.g. Club 21, a free time club and activity house, which is ruled by youngsters of the centre with the purpose of creating a free and friendly place for 13-21 year old residents to meet friends and to hang out.lxiii Apart from that the Red Cross tries to use its volunteers to plan other activities for the asylum seekers in and around the centre.lxiv Other organizations, than the Danish Red Cross, try to make special events for the residents of the centre. For example has a school near by the centre, Skolerne i Boserup, for the last 2 years organized a summer camp for both Danish children and children from Avnstrup asylum centre.lxv Apart from these mostly free time and hobby related activities, the life in Avnstrup centre is very much up to the residents. Residents often express that there are not many meaningful things to do in the centre and in Avnstrup, as it is a very small city in the country side of Roskilde. People wake up the same place as they eat, sleep and interact with others. Since the centre is situated in a forest, there is very little interaction between Danish people and asylum seekers. This notion makes them feel separated from the rest of society.lxvi Asylum seekers have the possibility to leave the centre and to seek entertainment in other places than the centre, but since the centres location is not exactly open for a lot of opportunities of transportation, this cannot be done so often.
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3.3 Conclusion As Avnstrup asylum centre both is an accommodation and departure centre, it houses people in all of the procedures three phases. For the centre and its Red Cross workers, this means that it has not one group of residents, but three different groups of residents with different needs and backgrounds to take care of. While some are doing job activation programmes to try to get a feeling of what Denmark and the Danish society is like, others are assigned to a motivation programme, which is supposed to make the stay in the centre as hard as possible to make them want to go back to their home country. A work day in this centre is therefore filled with most of the 400 residents different expectations towards the workers and the centre and with all the small troubles living in the centre can cause the residents. The centre is situated in an old hospital, which presumably provides the right atmosphere for this motivation programme, as rejected asylum seekers in phase 3 already have stayed in the centre much longer than expected and most of them do want to leave the centre as soon as possible, but not at the price of going home to a country in war/to the country they fled from. Being a departure centre Avnstrup asylum centres security demands are higher than in other accommodation centres operated by the Red Cross, another thing to affect the atmosphere in the centre and the relations between residents and workers and residents inbetween. Furthermore since asylum seekers in Denmark are not allowed to work, the centre is responsible for most of the activities provided for them and does hereby play a big part in the everyday life of the asylum seeker.
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4. What is Erving Goffmans Concept of the Total Institution?

This chapter of the project will be used to outline Erving Goffman's concept of the total institution, as this besides Michel Foucaults concept of discipline is the concept our investigation will be built upon. Erving Goffman (1922-1982) is most known as a symbolic interactionist and he has developed a number of theories of face-to-face interaction.lxvii One of his works of literature is called Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates and in this project we will mostly use this book to explain the conditions in a total institution. For both the writer and reader to understand the project a definition of the concepts applied in the project is necessary. The concepts will be used further in the analysis of our empirical data, which is why this chapter will end with an outlining of the aspects of Goffman's total institution we will apply in our project.
4.1 The Characteristics of the Total Institution Goffmans definition of institutions, in an everyday sense, defines them as places (rooms, suites of rooms, buildings or plants), where an activity of some kind happens regularly. Within this frame there can be a lot of variety in openness to the public, members providing services (for example a school teacher), members receiving services (for example a pupil), the institution intention and the types of activities.lxviii In a total institution defined by Goffman there will be a kind of barrier. Normally it is built on the institution ground to prevent social influence from outside of the institution. He mentions, among others, high walls, barbed wire and moors. Goffman defines the total institution as having five rough under-groups. The first is concerning institutions that provide care for people, who are incapable and harmless, for example a care home for the elderly or the orphaned. Second we have institutions providing care for people considered incapable of taking care of themselves and as a threat to the community e.g. mental hospitals. Third, there are institutions providing community protection by keeping people, who are seen as a threat to community out of society; e.g. a prison or a concentration camp. The fourth group regards institutions like boarding schools and army barracks, which are meant for pursuing work-like tasks and self-justification. Last is the institution with the purpose of retreat from society often in association with religion such as abbeys or monasteries.lxix
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Goffman outlines that none of the elements he describes in the attempt to make a general profile of his concept seem very specific to the total institution and none seem to be shared totally by all total institutions.lxx 4.2 The breakdown of the life sphere barriers As Goffman states; all citizens in the modern society have a right to basic needs. Also they tend to sleep, play (spend their free time) and work in different life spheres according to their own choice. An example of a life sphere could be the citizens homes, work places and fitness centres. Moreover, in each of these different life spheres, human beings are interacting with different participants, under different authorities and without an overall plan for all their life spheres together. The main attribute of the total institution can be characterized as a disruption of the kinds of barriers that normally separate these three spheres of life: in the first place all the different basic needs are carried out the same place and under the same authority. Secondly, each stage of the inmates daily activities is acted out in constant company from the other inmates. All the inmates are treated alike and all are imposed to do the same things together. Thirdly, all aspects of the daily activities are planned for them by the institution, with one activity continuing into another. The whole circle of activities is being determined from above through a system of accurate formal rulings. The fourth and final aspect of the merger of activity places is the fact that the activities of the inmates often are created to fulfil the institutions aims and not the individuals needs. Goffman outlines that the above-mentioned features naturally can be found in other places than the total institution, but in these other places, they often stand individually. For example in some work places there are lunch time and cafeterias, which determine, when you eat and what you eat, but the difference is that the use of these options is voluntarily, because the individuals often have the possibility to eat at another time if they bring their own lunch. Another example is housewives; the sleep, play- and work area is the same, but they are not supervised and they make their own schedule.lxxi Goffman defines the key factor of the total institution as the handling of many human needs by the bureaucratic organization of whole blocks of people.lxxii In the total institution big groups of inmates work together at the same time and place. The reason is that a big group of people working together in the same place is easy to be
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supervised. Within a group of working people it is easy to see, when a person is not working, because he would be breaking the patterns of the group. 4.3 The Division of the Inmates and the Staff The inmates and the staff do depend upon each other. Without the inmates, the staff would not have a job and without the staff, the inmates could not live in the institution. But even though the two groups are dependent upon each other, Goffman argues that there still is a big division between them. Each group has a tendency to think of the other as a mean stereotype of their kind. The inmates will think that the staff members are condescending, supercilious and mean and the staff will think that the inmates are bitter, secretive and untrustworthy. At the same time the staff and the inmates will act the way they are treated. When the inmates treat the staff as supercilious, the staff will think of themselves as highranked and righteous and when the staff treats the inmates as untrustworthy, the inmates will think that they are weak, inferior and guilty. Goffman mentions an example in a hospital; the staff here talked very loud and clear, whenever they talked to the inmates, which implements that the inmates are perceived as stupid and would not be able to understand what is said, when there is being spoken normally to them.lxxiii When there is spoken of the institutions name or buildings, it is often thought of as the staffs property. Hence when spoken of the institutions interests and values, there is also spoken of the staffs interests and values. This division of staff and inmates is a key point in the bureaucratic organisation of people in large groups. This is because the workers at the institution are the inmates constant authority; they organize every part of the inmates life and are therefore the ones, who decide everything concerning the inmates life without consulting the inmates themselves.lxxiv Another side of this relationship is shown during the work of the inmates. Normally the work place has limited authority in the individuals life. The money, which is paid the worker, is the workers to spend and to use for what he wants. In the total institution the workers are not motivated by payment like they would be outside of the institution. The work performed by the inmates can sometimes be paid with symbolic things like a yearly Christmas present.
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Other total institutions use threats of punishment as motivation. This can also lead the inmates to do immoral things. As the work the total institution provides is not motivating enough for the inmates, they might find other possibilities of work, where the motivation is a factor, even though this work will lower the moral standards of the inmate. An example of this could be that an inmate of a mental hospital is dealing cigarettes, even though he would never do such a thing in the outside world.lxxv 4.4 The Mortification Process Normally, when the inmates come to stay in a total institution, before entering they will be settled identity wise and their personality is formed by their previous home. Before being admitted to the total institution, they are used to do certain activities and to have freedom of choice, which have been so regular, that it has been taken for granted. Examples of these activities could be; being independent from others in time planning, having a right to decide and choose in particular life situations or having some sort of overview of their future. It is important to note that a new inmate is colored by his culture (implying traditions, routines and relations) and he therefore takes that part of him with him into the institution. According to Erving Goffman, it is therefore important to reflect on the inmate's culture in order to modify him. A psychiatric phrase is made, which is designed to highlight, what focus the total institution should have to make the new inmate fit into the total institution.lxxvi Goffman notes that it does not matter, how the inmates personality and identity are organized. He states that it will always have been organized with the influence of a wide supporting network that is established by the social environment the inmate was a part of before his stay in the institution. In the inmate's previous life he was living under freer conditions. Meanwhile in the institution, the inmate is suffering from unexpected limits of time and he gets imprisoned in a great uncertainty about who he is. In the outside world the individual takes on roles to make his different life spheres work together. The institution needs the individual to take on new roles and to ensure that the individual as soon as possible gets rid of his old roles. The institution helps him with this by often not letting the new inmates receive visits to ensure what Goffman describes as a deep initial break with past roles and an appreciation of roles dispossession.lxxvii The inmate must
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accept that some of his previous roles are lost, because of separation from the outside world, and that he then must create new ones.lxxviii The new inmate enters the total institution being accustomed to being supported in his way of being by his surroundings. Immediately after entering the inmates usual support from his surroundings will end, and his self will systematically be mortified and vulnerable. The inmate can be lead into a series of degradations and humiliations in the process of making him fit into his new surroundings, the institution. In other words, the beginning of the life in the total institution is filled with radical shifts in the inmate's self. In this process, the inmate's self is exposed to progressive changes and developments that will question his feelings and relations to himself and significant others.lxxix According to Goffman the stripping processes, through which the mortification of the self takes place, are normal everyday procedures in the total institution. During these processes parts of the personal identity are removed, along with other possessions through which the inmate might have had identified himself: freely expressing opinion and ideas, being able to make a choice in an everyday life situation, being an equal part of society etc. As a substitute for what has been taken away, institutional accommodation is provided, which means that the inmate is not stripped down unfounded. It is done so he can be provided for by the institution. Moreover, family, occupational and educational career lines are chopped off, and the new status of the inmate is presented. The freedom of independent decision and choice making is removed by collective scheduling of all daily activities. Many channels of communication with the outside world are restricted or have been cut completely.lxxx Goffman says that even though the institution provides substitutes, the stripping process will most likely still have consequences for the individual: Mortification or curtailment of the self is very likely to involve acute psychological stress for the individual [...]lxxxi Under the mortification process Goffman describes the contaminative exposure, which consists of five steps. First is the sharing of history exposure: the institution collects different information about the inmates social status and behaviour in the past and they are all put in a record, which the staff has access to.lxxxii Goffman outlines that it is especially less pleasant facts about the inmates, which are collected. Secondly is the bodily exposure, and examples of this could be that inmates are forced to sleep together in the same room with other inmates or that the toilets do not have doors.lxxxiii Also the fact that the inmate
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never is completely alone can make them feel bodily exposed. The third step is the bodily contamination which is present if the inmate has to empty his own potty or if he is refused to go to the toilet except for when scheduledlxxxiv. Fourth is the physical contamination, which comes to show in dirt in the food, dirty rooms, and unclean bathrooms.lxxxv Last there is forced contamination, which is experienced, when an inmate does not want to take his medicine or eat his food he is forced to do so, which makes it feel like a contamination for the inmate.lxxxvi 4.5 The Admission Procedure Goffman states that often the staff is able to tell if the new inmate will be willing to take on the new role as an institution inmate or not. They sense this through face-to-face communication and interaction. They set up some test for the inmate to see if it will be a problem making him adapt to his new surroundings or not. The first time the staff members tell the inmate about the institutions terms and obligations, they often structure the conversation to imply an obedience test and a will-breaking test. By the new inmates body language and verbal reactions, they can tell if he will be obedient or not. If an inmate shows disobedience, the will-breaking test makes sure that he will immediately receive visible punishment, which increases until he becomes obedient.lxxxvii The admission procedures and obedience tests are both part of a welcome procedure, which happens naturally, when a new inmate comes to the institution. In this phase the staff and the other inmates give the new inmate a clear concept of his current and prospective situation. Since he is the new guy, he might experience both the staff and the fellow inmates calling him nicknames like fish and swab. This is supposed to make him recognize that he is simply an inmate, and perhaps that he has especially low status compared to the other inmates.lxxxviii The individual ordinarily expects to have some control regarding his physical appearance meaning that people are used to having the freedom to decide how their body/their personal front is presented. This freedom is important to many people, because ones look is the first impression one gives when meeting new people and these signals often show something about what kind of personality a person has.
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Outside of the institution many people use what Goffman calls an identity kit consisting of cosmetics, jewellery, body-paint and clothing to express their selves and to show their identity.lxxxix Also they use their looks to fit into the roles they have made for their different life spheres. During the admission into the total institution, however, the individual is likely to be stripped of his usual appearance. Clothing, combs, cosmetics, towels, soap, shaving materials, bathing facilities materials used during rituals, which are performed to make the appearance of the individual reflect his identity, may be taken away or be denied him. They are kept in inaccessible places to be returned to the inmate if/when he leaves. Goffman states that [...] loss of a sense of personal safety is common and provides a basis for anxieties about disfigurement.xc. This could be beating, shock therapy or forced surgery. As mentioned, the institutional accommodation followed by some material necessities, which mostly are not in a good shape; they may be ill-suited, old and used by the same and large category of inmates, are provided as a substitute.xci Moreover during admission; facts and information about the inmate's social status and past behaviour particularly discreditable facts are collected and recorded in a file, which is available only for the staff. Later on, when the self of the inmate is changing, the inmate might confess psychiatric, political, military, and religious personal information, which he would never have talked about, before his stay in the institution.xcii An example of this could be that he supports a specific cult or that he killed many people during a military operation. During the admission process the loss of identity can disturb the individual to present his usual self and thereby he tries to hide that he feels attacked and vulnerable.xciii This means that even though the inmate is very hurt and confused by the new situation, he pretends that nothing is wrong, which also keeps him from getting potential help. 4.6 The Privilege system While the process of mortification is taking place, the inmates start to receive formal and informal instruction about the so-called privilege system. So far the stripping processes have shaken the inmates attachment to his civilian self, but most it is the privilege system that sets the conditions for the forced personal reorganization. The system contains three basic elements:
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First of all, there are the house rules: A relatively clear and formal set of regulations that lays out the precise behaviour the inmate should try to achieve. The admission procedures, where the new inmate is denied his previously support is one of the first steps on the way to make the inmate ready to accept and start living according to the house rules.xciv Secondly, a number of clearly defined rewards or privileges are given out in exchange for obedience towards the staff. By rewarding what the institution defines as good behaviour, the institution uses these rewards to discipline the inmates actions so they will further the efficiency of the institution. Goffman stresses that even though there are potential privileges and rewards; in the beginning the new inmate can only focus on the fact that he no longer has the freedom to make little decisions e.g. how he likes his coffee or tea and when to light a cigarette. He will spend his days thinking about the possibility of getting these needs and desires fulfilled, which also means that he is desperately trying to hold on to the part of him, he is losing by living in the total institution.xcv The inmate will later on learn that if he does not want to lose everything and become an empty shell, he must accept the rewards the institution offers as new goals in his life. The third element in the privilege system is punishment. Punishment is used as a consequence for breaking the house rules. Thereby it is enforces as a disciplining tool the institution uses to further own interests. A punishment could be to deny the inmates the possibility of receiving privileges and rewards through the privilege system. Goffman states that in conditions, where a few easily controlled privileges are so important, their withdrawal will also be of a terrible significance.xcvi The world around these minor privileges is perhaps the most important feature of the inmates culture. Moreover, it is something that cannot easily be appreciated by a person from the outside world, even by one who has previously lived in a total institution. The life around the privilege system is all about the efficiency of the institution. The privilege system is the one thing, which is given the inmates to make them act as wanted.xcvii The privilege system and the mortification process are the tools the workers use to make the inmates adapt to their new roles and to obey the rules of the institution. The inmates of the institution have different ways of dealing with these conditions and each inmate tries different ways of acting in the attempt of getting along with the privilege system and the mortification process.xcviii Goffman outlines that the main purpose of the total institution tends to be the rehabilitation, which means resetting, of the inmate's self. The institution is very different
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from the outside world so during the whole stay the inmates have to reset and re-evaluate their selves to make them fit in with their new surroundings. The staff is also expected to be properly self-regulating upon first coming to the total institution and to be positive towards guidance from members of other kinds of establishments in order to introduce and teach the procedures. Nevertheless, change is rarely carried out. Even though some permanent changes appear, usually it is not the staffs merit.xcix Besides being distressed and ending up being in even greater uncertainty then before coming to the total institution, the inmates are sometimes warned to keep quiet about activities and actions happening in the total institution.c 4.7 The Objectification of the Inmates and the Efficiency of the Institution Goffman says that total institutions often are used as a storage room for inmates, while they in the public room are displayed as a rational and highly efficient organization. There is a conflict between, what the staff expresses about the doing of the institution and what the institution actually does. Goffman finds that this is one of the main things, which make the workers daily life function. It could be said that the workers work with people. Goffman chooses to define this in another way; a worker in the service business works with people, a worker in the total institution works with inmates treated as objects or products. An example of another work, which objectifies humans, is the one of a surgeon. A surgeon would prefer operating slim bodies to operating overweight bodies, simply because surgery is easier performed on a slim body. The difference is that during surgery the patient will not know that he is being objectified. If the person ever should find out, it would be a temporary experience unlike the inmates in the total institution, who are objectified every day.ci Since the total institution is working with humans, there are some norms that must be prioritized even though they worsen the efficiency of the institution. An example being; an inmate in prison on death row tries to commit suicide. The prison workers should stop him and provide him with mental help, even though this would postpone his execution. These norms are seen as the inmates rights. An example of this could be that the inmate of a mental hospital has the right to some privacy if it does not collide with the method of treatment. Also, the institution workers have the duty to make sure that the inmates life
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outside of the institution is taken care of, while the inmate is living in the institution. An example could be that the workers have to make sure that the inmates bills are paid by either the inmate or by his relatives.cii But these rights can also prevent the inmate from having other rights fulfilled. For example if the inmate is suicidal, the workers may want to watch him at all times and this prevents the inmate from having privacy. Also inmates with different problems can prevent each other from being able to live according to their rights. Goffmans example is; if the gate at the entrance of the institution must be open to secure that inmates, who are granted to leave the institution ground, can, inmates, who are in danger of running away, must be kept inside. Even though it would be fine for them to walk outside on the institution grounds with the gate closed.ciii Total institutions do not feel good about letting inmates leave the institution, because what the inmate does outside the institution still is the institutions responsibility. Goffman describes the relationship between workers and inmates with the next sentence. The personal possessions of an individual are an important part of the materials out of which he builds a self, but as an inmate the ease with which he can be managed by staff is likely to increase with the degree to which he is dispossessed.civ According to this, the workers may want to take the inmates personal things away to make him easier to control. An example of this is that inmates subjected to the stay in a total institution, often do not get to decide, which institution they want to go to. This takes away the opportunity for them to choose a place, they feel a personal connection to. cv In his book Goffman several times mentions the problem of workers objectifying the inmates. The objectification is mainly a problem for the inmates, as it is increasing the efficiency of the institution. It prevents the workers from getting too personally involved with the inmates. For the inmates though it is mentally changing that the only human contact they have is seeing them as a product. Goffman states that this way of treating the inmate [...] necessarily ignores most of his previous bases of self-identification.cvi He also states that the workers do not want to objectify. Normally, humans are not able to objectify without their own will doing so. Workers in a total institution though often will objectify, without it being totally their own choice, because the inmates tend to be incapable of giving the workers, what they expect. For example can inmates in a mental hospital be incapable of showing kindness or gratitude or
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an inmate in an elderly home can forget you. This hurts the staff and they stop getting personally involved with the inmates. Also if a worker has to make an inmate, he has a personal relationship to, do something the inmate does not want to do; the worker has to use power. Afterwards he reflects on himself as brutal and mean towards the inmate. If the worker simply sees the inmate as an object, the worker will not have to feel bad about himself.cvii During the breakdown of the self, Goffman outlines different ways of connecting with the institution.cviii The first opportunity is for the inmate to pull back and not find interest in anything but what is directly regarding him. He will not attend any activities, which are not mandatory and will not interact with anyone he does not have to interact with. Second, we find the refusing of the institution, which is seen, when the inmate is denying cooperation with the worker and also consciously tries to challenge the way of the institution. The third case is when the inmate actually enjoys the stay and finds satisfaction in the opportunities, which are given by the institution. The fourth and last option is a total acceptance of the institutions interests and turning them into the inmates own. This is shown in him being more disciplining towards the other inmates than the actual staff and the inmate is always trying very hard to be the perfect inmate in every way.cix 4.8 Conclusion Goffman, as seen in the above standing text, describes a lot of different characteristics, which are found in different total institutions. As mentioned earlier he stresses that not all of these different characteristics cannot be found in all total institutions and that they do not necessarily imply that a certain institution is not a total institution. The feature of the breakdown of the life spheres and the time planning though are very often found in total institutions. The breakdown of the inmates self is also commonly present. These three factors are our main focuses in this investigation. In the investigation we are going to use the reorganizing of the self, which the total institution is demanding of the inmates, in an analysis of the different processes the inmate is taken through on the journey towards fitting in with the institutions way of life. Followed by this is the scheduling of the days, where the institution organizes all activities for the inmates. Last is the barrier breakdown in the way that this is an important part of how the individual should be organized.
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5. What is Michel Foucaults concept of discipline?

In this chapter we will outline the theoretical foundation of Michel Foucaults ideas/concept about disciplinary power and panoptism, which we will use in our investigation. The chapter will describe power and discourse concepts, which have relevance for our investigation. Michel Foucault (1926-1984) is known for his critical studies of social institutions. These institutions include the psychiatry, hospitals and prisons. Michel Foucault bases his work on key concepts such as power, knowledge and discourse.cx Technically speaking, Michel Foucault explained and underpinned definitions of executive power. In this chapter with references to Dag Heedes Det tomme Menneske and Michel Foucaults Discipline and Punish, there will be given a theoretical explanation of how we as individuals must understand power. Power plays a great role in the modern subject's objectification, mentioned already by Goffman. 5.1 Power Power, according to Michel Foucault, can be found everywhere. Power is not something you can observe or have, however, power has effects in all contexts; networks, relations between man and time, money, technology, systems etc.cxi According to Foucault power is not based on the importance of who has the most power, but rather on a network of relationships in constant power and activity. According to Heede, Foucault has the understanding that power forms the society and that the individual is controlled by programmes and techniques that seek to manage the social life of the individuals. Power according to Foucault is an intention without a face. He describes power as a control of other peoples wills and desires.cxii The power emerges in the number of interactions between individuals, such as relationships between parents and children, pupils and teachers, patients and physicians, mentally ill and psychiatrists, social workers and welfare recipients, judges and criminals, men and women.cxiii In the 80s Michel Foucault established that power instead is something existing below the self and that it is something that is used.
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5.2 Discipline The so-called panoptic modality of power is both dependent and independent of the extension of the judicial policy structure in a given society. This gives society certain significance. An institution or a device cannot characterize discipline. Discipline is a form of power that includes practices such as techniques, instruments, procedures, levels of application. It is rather an anatomy of power. The major effect of the Panopticon is to make the inmate conscious of being visible all the time. This assures that power functions automatically without anyone controlling it continuously. The Panopticon is planned architecturally to create and sustain a power relation, which does not depend on the person exercising it. In other words, the inmates are made to maintain the power situation themselves by controlling their own actions and the actual exercise of power is therefore unnecessary. cxiv Specialized institutions such as prisons and hospitals are using this power to discipline the residents by making them fit into the multiplicities living under the system existing in the certain institution. In this respect it will be possible to talk about the formation of a disciplinary society. Discipline is the separation of an infinite generalization mechanism for 'panopticism'. However, this does not mean that the disciplinary society has power and is replaced by others, but more that a singular person or group of individuals is interested in ensuring a vanishing power of relations that makes it possible to make a distribution. For example, when politicians impose new rules or legislations on citizens, it does not mean that politicians have a power over the citizens, but that power within all society is distributed with this regulation to satisfy the interests of a certain lobby group. This distribution is to create a balance that connects them all together as an intermediary between them, because it ensures the distribution of power relations.cxv When you talk about the formation of a disciplinary society, there are 4 processes: economic, legal, political and scientific. 1. to obtain the exercise of power at the lowest possible cost (economically, by the low expenditure it involves; politically, by its discretion, its low exteriorization, its relative invisibility, the little resistance it arouses).
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2. To bring the effects of this social power to their maximum intensity and to extend them as far as possible, without either failure or interval. 3. to link this 'economic' growth of power with the output of the apparatuses (educational, military, industrial or medical) within which it is exercised; in short, to increase both the docility and the utility of all the elements of the system.cxvi The three points above are known for a historical conjuncture. Under this circumstance there are two aspects. One aspect is that in the eighteenth century, when the growing population made a change of quantitative scale, it was possible to be monitored in various institutions such as schools and hospitals. The second aspect of business cycles is growth in the unit of production. This means that growth along the production becomes more complex and profitability increases. The development of disciplinary practices that address these two aspects is undoubtedly helping to adapt the new correlation. And thus it can be stated that the forms of feudal power or more precisely the structures of the administrative monarchy, in other words, the local mechanisms help to create the role.cxvii The development of discipline marks the appearance of elementary techniques belonging to an entirely different economy: mechanisms that force that, rather than going to the deduction that is embedded in the productivity of the apparatus from within, to the growth of this efficiency and into the use of what it produces. For the old principle of 'levyingviolence that led the economy into force discipline is replaced by the principle of mildness-production-profit'.cxviii These are the techniques that make it possible to adjust the many men and multiplication of units of production []and this means not only 'production' in the strict sense, but also the production of knowledge and skills in the school, production of health in the hospitals and production of destructive force in the army. cxix In the eighteenth century the dominant political class was to establish a formally equal legal framework, where it was made possible by the organization of a parliamentary representative rule. At this time there was also a trend in society, becoming disciplinary mechanisms that generalized and had a special influence. What we call the discipline was guaranteed in the system of rights, where equality in principle was supported by the daily and physical mechanisms. However, these are systems of micro-power non-equal and asymmetrical.cxx
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The formal freedoms could have been based on the physical disciplines. The actual physical disciplines constituted the basis for the formal freedoms; panopticism actually has constituted the technique of coercion. It continued to work in depth on the legal structures of society, making it effective that those mechanisms of power function in opposition to the formal framework that it gains.cxxi Discipline is helping to create a private relationship between individuals. This means that the relationships between individuals are limited to different levels and obligations, in this way creating a private link between individuals, which are relational limits and totally different from the contractual obligation, where discipline can be guaranteed in a contract. Discipline watches and records the multiplicities that are to discipline themselves. Discipline is about making individuals useful and checking them. That is why disciplining power comes along with the capitalist economy with the panoptic modalities of powers, which are not independent.cxxii 5.3 Panoptism Panoptism is a way to discipline people. In our investigation we are relating this to the residents of Avnstrup asylum centre. Panoptism works through a watchtower there is a supervisor, who overlooks the residents, but they are not aware, when exactly they are being watched, so they have to act as if they are constantly being watched. The disciplinary effect links the other "types" of powers together. It insures never-ending distribution of power relations. This ensures that power can be everywhere. This kind of surveillance increases both the utility and docility of all system elements. Discipline is used to establish groups to change them or manipulate them. Discipline arrests or regulates movements, which clear up confusion; it makes the compact grouping of individuals stop walking around in the country (in our investigation Avnstrup asylum centre) in unpredictable ways. It organizes people to fit into the system, trying to keep them from getting any revolutionary or spontaneous ideas. It uses multiplicities to discipline them. Discipline arranges people in relation to one another. Discipline in its mechanism is a counter law.cxxiii Discipline helps in the way of making changes, it arrests or regulates movements, it clears up confusion; it distracts compact groupings of individuals wandering around the country in unpredictable ways and it establishes.cxxiv
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5.4 Conclusion In this chapter we examined theories and concepts by Michael Foucault, which we use in our investigation of the life in Avnstrup asylum centre. For this we defined power according to Foucault, we outlined the historical development of panoptism and discipline. Power exists in networks and relationships and is through the panopticon used to discipline people. In our project we will apply Foucaults framework on power and especially disciplinary power; the power to discipline the individual with Panoptism as the main example. Through this concept we will analyse if Avnstrup asylum centre uses disciplinary power to regulate its residents time and space and if this is supported by a panopticon. We will use Foucaults definition of power, because he like Goffman has worked in institutions and these two therefore substitute each other very well in our investigation, where we through Foucault will find out, which actors and regulations make the centre become a total institution.
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6. Analysis
6.1 Introduction to chapter This chapter will help us answer the problem formulation by analysing the empirical data we gained through our interviews and observations. We will analyse the data on the background of Goffmans concept of the total institution in order to investigate to what extent Avnstrup asylum centre resembles the total institution. In this analysis we will include an investigation upon what the life in the centre is like and how the self of our respondents is affected by the life in the centre. In this chapter we will also analyse our data through a Foucault angle in order to investigate, if the concept of the panopticon is used on the residents in Avnstrup Asylum centre, and in what way the residents are being disciplined to fit the multiplicity in Avnstrup asylum centre. Included in this analysis part we look upon, how time and space of the asylum seekers in the centre is regulated by the centre. Shortly we will use both Foucault's framework and Goffmans concept of a total institution to understand how Avnstrup asylum centre is controlled and how the self reacts to the circumstances and procedures within the centre. 6.2 The social life in the frame work of the centre Goffman states that inmates of a total institution tend to sleep, work and have their free time in large bureaucratically organized groups. Different spheres of life are therefore not separated like they would be in the society outside of the centre.cxxv In this paragraph we will look into the relationship between the staff and the residents, the possibilities for privacy in the centre and finally how time is organized in the centre. 6.2.1 The staff and the residents It seems as if some of the respondents choose not to have too much contact with the workers and only few of them enter in any of the activities planned in and by the centre. When our interview group asked about the office the respondents became less talk-active. The office, which apparently is placed on the first floor, contains two Red Cross workers, just like the reception, but is only open for 8 hours a day.cxxvi Unlike the reception the office seems to be the place the residents go, if they have something more important on their mind, which they would like to talk or possibly even complain about.cxxvii
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Ranaa: What about your relationship to the office? Ahmed: The office... ehhmm... ehm ehmmm... the office I dont really know what to tell you. Sometimes they seem to be mad but thats just sometimes. Ranaa: Who is sitting in the office? Ahmed: There are two persons, but I dont know them. Ranaa: And the reception? Ahmed: I dont have any contact to the reception because I try to handle everything by myself. Ranaa: but if you need help are they available? Ahmed: Yes, they are; the office is open very day from 8 till 16.00. Ranaa: You seemed to be a little bit unsure when I asked you about the reception? Ahmed: "No not really, the reception is open 24 hours a day. Its just because they are not always kind. But there is a problem with the language."cxxviii
Next to the Red Cross workers, who go home after their shift, the residents live together with approximately 500 other residents. Naturally sometimes this resolves in conflicts between the residentscxxix, but the Red Cross worker interviewed by us, also sees the good sides of all these people living together, as the residents often help each other with translations etc.cxxx The social distance between the staff and the inmates in Goffmans total institution is great and each group tends to be unfriendly and suspicious towards the other. The staff often sees the inmates as poignant and untrustworthy, meanwhile inmates consider staff workers as dominant and mean.cxxxi The social roles of the staff and the residents are different due to the different life situation they are in. The staff members are free to leave the centre after a finished shift and can
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have a life and social relationships outside the centre. In the residents case the centre is the framework for their life and therefore adds restrictions to their life and self-determination. Inmates typically live in the institution and have restricted contact with the world outside the walls; the staff operate on an eight-hour day and are socially integrated to the outer world.cxxxii Jens: [...]every day I go home four o'clock and I have my life outside the centre. People, that are asylum seekers, they have to stay here all their life. Well not all their life, but all the time they are here, haha, mostly [] cxxxiii Many of our respondents choose to have limited contact with the staff members and turn to their side only when in need for help. Goffman writes that the staff tends to feel superior to the inmates.cxxxiv In the following two quotes from our interviews it is apparent that the residents feel like they are treated as inferior to the staff, when they have asked for help. She [staff member] said to me; Listen! And Listen to me good! Dedede you should hear when I say that it is closed its closed, then it is not working, and you should understand it! And she turned around tatatata, [imitating], walked[] cxxxv [] So and he [a Red Cross worker] treated us, ohh how should I explain it, in a very disrespectful way and he was very rude. He said that we were immigrants and we could accept anything and ehmm...cxxxvi Even though there is a social distance between the two groupings there are some positive encounters as well, as one of our respondents explains: "[...] there are other workers here like Jens, even if they cant help us they tell us sorry in a very respectful way. He does not talk down to you; he doesnt make you feel that he is higher/better than you. You feel that he is really a Red Cross worker. The Red Cross is a NGO and their job is to help people who need help[...]cxxxvii
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In the quote it is apparent that the residents expect the Red Cross workers to be respectful and for them to be able to communicate on an equal basis. 6.2.2. The residents Besides the Red Cross workers, who go home after their shift, the residents live together with over 500 similarly situated people. As we have mentioned before the residents share rooms. It can be all from a double to a four person room, naturally this means a certain lack of privacy. Sometimes sharing the room and the followed lack of privacy leads to conflicts between the residents as the following quotes imply. Which are both visible for the Red Cross workers, and the residents living in the centre. So the problem is that we have is that four single men have to stay in the same room. Kinda gives problems if people have different issues, but most of the time we try to solve these things and most of the time we succeed.cxxxviii When to be alone, its also too hard. If be alone, also more better, you know, many thing you can do, you know. If you have room alone you are free in your room. Now we are four here, something like this, you know, many things, you know some people, they dont agree. This light if you sleep its on and if you want to do something with light, you know, its terrible this. It is okay, what can you do? We can manage. cxxxix In Avnstrup asylum centre the residents share a room with one or up till three others. Goffman states that the practice of mixing age, ethnic and racial groups can lead the inmate to feel he is contaminated by undesirable company. In Avnstrup asylum centre the roommates are usually sharing a room with people from the same country or culture area, but the residents cannot choose themselves who to share the room with and hereby who to spend their time with.
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[...] I am forced to be friends with them, because they are my roommates [...] cxl- states our respondent Ahmed, about his roommates. Goffman states that it can violate the self if the person cannot determine how much he wants to share of himself. According to Goffman contaminative exposure could e.g. be sharing sleeping facilities or having to use bathrooms without doors. Individuals are forced to expose more of them than they are willing to do.cxli In Avnstrup asylum centre there are doors in the shared bathrooms, but still some complications can occur, as the following example proves: But everyone told us that here it was better (Avnstrup asylum centre) and when we came we saw that the bathroom and kitchen were outside of the room. Any person would get humiliated. The bathroom is outside our room and that is a huge problem for us here, especially for me. Because ehm... I.. I am Muslim and my wife wears cover and when my wife wants to visit the bathroom, it is a huge problem for her [...]cxlii 6.2.3 How to spend your time Goffman outlines that each phase of the participant's daily activity in the total institution is conducted in the immediate attendance of a large group of others, all of whom are treated similarly and required to do the same things jointly.cxliii Moreover, all phases of the daily activities are closely planned, with one activity leading into the other one at a prearranged time Therefore, any autonomy or freedom to pursue one's own interests, make one's own choices or associate with the persons of one's own choosing is denied. Based on our empirical data there are very few activities arranged by the centre and the residents are free to choose how to spend their free time. Due to the isolated location of the centre and economic restrictions, in our respondents case this leads to boredom. They all spend a lot of time sitting in their room surfing on the internet. Malik: And internet thats all. All most all internet. At the normal day when I dont have to go to Trampoline house or I dont have to fix something with someone then I am, I have free 12 hours doing nothing, I dont know where does it go its lost, because 3 hours, 4 hours we go on the way we going and
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coming, 2 hours, 2 and a half hour, we are at the school without breaks, and the rest is [] Laura: "Free time?" Malik: "Free time, just free."cxliv 6.3 Isolation and the connection to the outer world 6.3.1 Isolation As mentioned before Avnstrup asylum centre is placed around half an hour bus drive from the small city Viby Sjlland. The centre is surrounded by fields and forests. From Viby Sjlland train station it takes 45 minutes to reach Nrreport station placed in the centre of Copenhagen. The bus from Viby Sjlland to Avnstrup leaves once per hour, the same the other way around.cxlv So to get to Copenhagen and back again, the residents, from Avnstrup asylum centre, use around 3 hours on transportation. Already this fact regulates the activity of the residents a lot. This must be a practical circumstance as the centre does not need to enforce a curfew; the residents will quickly learn to take the last bus (21.15), which keeps them from staying out late.cxlvi This means that when the residents need to take care of daily duties such as shopping for dinner, it takes a lot of their time, as one of our respondents outline. [] I take the bus for 30 minutes and 30 minutes back again till Viby Sjlland. So the trip takes me one hour. Viby is the nearest city here, this is another thingehmm [...] so its very far away.cxlvii It is impossible to look away from the fact that the isolated placing of Avnstrup asylum centre is a barrier for the residents to move freely and to spend time outside the centre. As mentioned before one of Goffmans characteristics of the total institution is that it is trying to prevent influence from the outer world. He mentions that this can be prevented by building high walls around the institution.cxlviii Avnstrup asylum centre is not surrounded by high walls, but the placing of the centre and the bad opportunity of transportation to and home from the city has the same function as high walls Goffman speeks about. It isolates the residents from the outer society, because going there is both money and time taking.
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When we leave the centre here, we only do it when it is necessary. It is very expensive to go to Copenhagen so of course it is a huge difference to live in a city.cxlix And as one of our respondents claims it would be easier to integrate in a centre placed in a city, with other people in the surroundings. A place that is near a town, near other buildings so we can integrate us in society. This is isolated, the nearest ehmmcl So even though they have the opportunity of going to Copenhagen or Roskilde to spend their time and most of them even go to school or participate in events in the Trampoline House in Copenhagen, they are often intimidated by the 3 hour bus and train trip this includes. Some of the residents have a bus card, which is supplied by the government if they go to school in Copenhagen, or centres like the Trampoline House if they have an internship here.cli 6.3.2 The connection to the outer world It is the immigration service, who decides in which centre you are supposed to stay and this depends on the municipality in which your case is being processed. If the asylum seeker gets rejected, he has to stay in one of the two departure centres. The residents living in Avnstrup asylum centre are of course allowed to leave the centre, and go to Copenhagen or other places. They are not forced to stay in the centre, but at the same time the centre is their home. Our respondent, the Red Cross worker Jens explains it in the following quotation. People, that are asylum seekers, they have to stay here all their life. Well not all their life, but all the times they are here haha, mostly. They of course, they can leave but they have to stay here, its their address and its not a volunteer [...] thing. They have to stay here. Its mandatory for them to stay here.clii By this he means, that they have to be available at the centre, but no one is checking if they are. As a Red Cross worker it is not your job.
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"Yes and no, haha. Officially, hm... they are obliged to live here but no one really controls that they do because it's not our job to do socliii Based upon the by the government enforced regulation to come and receive your allowance and mail every second week, the asylum seeker is forced to spend his time in the centre to some extent. But they have different barriers, which make it more difficult to move. All of our respondents have a life outside the centre. All of them go to the Trampoline house and some of them are having Danish classes in Copenhagen, but according to our respondent Malik, not all the residents have this kind of movement. Laura: How much do you come outside the centre, like to school or Trampoline House? Malik: Its five days a week, but its for me. I know person who dont go outside his room in one week, he only goes to toilet and comes back And sitting. Someone else takes his for him to eat.cliv 6.4 Surveillance and Discipline 6.4.1Panoptism and disciplinary power Foucault believes that regulating the individuals is closely connected to putting them under surveillance. Therefore we tried to ask the respondents questions, which would help us to find out if they are under put under some sort of surveillance. The weekly visits to the police are one thing that in some way proves our assumption that they are right. The asylum seeker is always present in almost any office, which works with asylum seekers; the doctors at the reception centre, the job centre in Avnstrup asylum centre, the immigration service and even the Red Cross workers all have individual files on every asylum seeker. The Red Cross workers files contain pictures, which are taken the first time the applicant arrived to an asylum centre, basic information and copies of letters concerning the asylum case the authorities send to the asylum seekerclv. There are different systems in Avnstrup asylum centre, through which the residents are being disciplined.
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The monitoring cameras in Avnstrup asylum centre are a little obscure way to see the Panopticon presented in the centre. Somewhere in the centre a man is probably sitting in a room, from where, he can watch all the cameras. The residents cannot know when he will watch a certain camera. So every time the residents in Avnstrup pass by a camera, they cannot know when he will watch a certain camera. So every time the residents in Avnstrup passes by a camera, they can be watched, but they dont know if they are being watched, therefore they have to behave, as if they are being watched always and in that way their self is disciplined. This is the how panoptism is used in Avnstrup asylum centre, but it is not the exact same kind of panoptism as Foucault is talking about. The man in the monitoring room, cannot watch the residents all the time, only when they are in front of a camera. This means that the residents arent disciplined through panoptism all the time. They can hide from it. But the question here will be who is the man in the monitoring room? and in which other ways is he disciplining the residents? This is the only way we observe panoptism used for disciplinary power in Avnstrup asylum centre. It is an interesting fact that the police, which are one of the most visible actors, in the centre, are granted most power, when you are thinking of Foucaults concept of the panopticon, where power is invisible. Instead the residents of Avnstrup asylum centre think the opposite. They believe that the actor most visible to them is the one deciding upon their asylum case. And by asking a respondent, who decides if his application for asylum will be accepted, his answer is based on who is visible to him. The first one is the police, and the judge. But from what I was I think its the police most. When I arrived to Denmark I had to explain everything to the police. clvi From this it is clear that, the first actor in the asylum system, the resident meets is the police and this is where the application process begins. The police are the first to influence the residents, and they are the first to act on the application. And the residents get the idea that if they act in respect towards the police, the police cannot give them any trouble.
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We have to respect them and follow the law. I should not enter any illegality and personally I dont like the police. I have to follow the law and if I follow the law 100% they dont have anything to do with me. clvii By the following examples, it is clear to see the police as a visible actor practicing disciplinary power on the residents, which in this example seems to work. But there are other important actors in the asylum system, which can be seen as the disciplinary agents Like the Red Cross workers, who seem to have the most influence on the asylum seekers life, from an outsiders perspective, their influence being regulated by the government, are not really granted any power by the asylum seekers. They are just present and their work to make the centre work seems to be invisible to the residents. This is seen, in our interviews, when we ask about the relations to the Red Cross workers. Umm, I dont have contact with them, you know. More, you know, just if I have something I have to go down (to the reception), But I see them, its okay, like any centre, they do their job.clviii
An actor barely talked of in our interviews is the Immigration service. One of our respondents has correctly understood that it is the Immigration service, who partly decides, whether you are granted asylum or notclix, while many of the other respondents think that the police is the only one to decide the outcome of their case. clx This is supposedly why the police are being used as a threat by Red Cross workers, who have to do with disobeying residents. "[...] First I didnt want to go, they would take it to me and said if you dont want go police will come [...]" clxi In many cases this threat works, as our respondents and presumable many other asylum seekers do have a disturbed relationship to authorities build on experiences from their home country. Most of them come from a country in war, which means that the government and the authorities are not very well functioning in their country of origin and
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therefore the level of trust towards them is very low and naturally it makes it hard for them to trust the Danish police. I still have a problem with being scared of the police, if I see a police car I start to get afraid[...]" clxii As Avnstrup asylum centre is both an accommodation and departure centre the police are always present and have their own office at the centre. The last actor in the mechanisms within and around the centre is the government. As Jens tells us, it is the government, which decides how much money the Red Cross gets to operate the asylum centres in Denmark. Most of the asylum seekers are aware of the current change in government, but none of them consider, whether this will mean something for them and they do not really seem to pay much attention to this actor. The government though also decides which regulations the residents live under. It is e.g. a government decision that the asylum seekers have to be present every second week to receive their money and mail at the reception in the centre.clxiii Since the government is making every law concerning the asylum area, it is the government who creates the basic framework of the asylum centre. The government is therefore responsible for the actors presented to control the asylum process. This means that not only one actor is watching and disciplining the residents in the centres. The disciplinary power is divided between all the actors, and the actors are all watching the residents. So the argument could be that there is not only one big tower, with one man watching and disciplining, but instead there are a lot of smaller cooperating towers, which consist of the different agents each having different areas to watch and discipline the residents in the centre. But if the government divides the power, the government must, opposite to this argument, also be the main watcher and discipliner, because it is its responsibility, to watch the whole system in the asylum centre, and to make sure it functions. Therefore we can argue that a big tower still is placed in the middle consisting of the government. 6.4.2 Programming and trimming of the individual
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As said before, the residents are not only being disciplined by monitoring cameras, there are a lot of other factors through which we can see the residents being disciplined. One factor is the files with information about the residents, which only the Red Cross workers have access to. These contain different basic information on each asylum seeker and any kind of problems they might have in the centre.clxiv Goffman states that the admission process brings the mortification. Admission procedures, such as taking a life story, photographing, weighting, taking fingerprints, assigning numbers, searching belongings, the listing of personal data and putting possessions into storage. Goffman calls this procedure trimming or programming, because the new arrived is shaped to be coded into an object that can be fit into the administrative machinery. The information collected is to identify the person and ignores most of his previous bases of self-identification. clxv In the example of Goffmans concept Trimming, below Malik, 19, tells about his first admission to Sandholm reception centre, where most of the asylum seekers go after arriving to Denmark. He took me in and he started to taking my pictures, like criminals from my eye... ear, here and face, and right, and left, and right, height and all that. And he took my finger print, and then he sent me to a building 76. the Red Cross building, and they give me an id-cardclxvi In the example it becomes clear that Malik has been, as Goffman says, shaped to be coded into an object that can be fit into the administrative machinery. Now all his basic details are known and it is decided in which centre to put him. Also Michel Foucault is arguing that disciplinary power is used to make people fit into a system. When the residents are being placed in a centre, which functions a certain way, the resident has to subordinate; he is being disciplined to fit into this centre. The residents do not have the opportunity to decide by themselves how their (temporary) home should function. They will have to live with the rules, which are already decided upon. Foucault mentions that discipline can be underwritten with a contract. processed, these papers will be like signing the disciplinary contract. respondent is telling us about the signing:
clxvii
Thats
As asylum
seeker in Denmark, you will have to sign a lot of papers, while your case is being
clxviii
Abdullah our
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Its police, its. The police, yes I hate it there is one office here for police but I never been there, I never see them. I dont know there is some people here in the centre, they signing every week something like this they have to sign, showing they are here. For these people they have to sign, showing that they are here. For these people, they have to sign. I handle.. Ive never seen this. But now, I dont think so, I also have to go for these people also because I get third negative and police ask me, Sandholm police ask me, have to sign this and to go back but I can not go back. I have a problem. Then I never sign when I come here, I dont know when they call me again. I have to sign like these people. Every week I have to sign.clxix 6.4.3 Information exposure Goffman explains that contaminative exposure is one of the forms of mortification in a total institution. In the civil world the individual can keep some object of self-feeling to himself, such as the body, actions, thoughts and some of his possessions. In the total institution these territories of the self are violated. First Goffman mentions a violation of ones informational preserve regarding ones self. During the admission to the centre, some personal information is collected, recorded and is available to the staff, but not necessary to the inmate himself.clxx Red Cross worker Jens tells about the file system in Avnstrup asylum centre: The doctor has a file of all the people coming here. When they come Denmark they get a medical scanning in Sandholm (asylum centre), which is like about if they are sick or are subjected to torture and all stuff. The clinic has a file of that. We have a social file in our system. We have a picture of all people coming here and we have like basic information. yeah... Their (?)-number, their number, their birth dates, their origin and home country, age, all this stuff. umm, and then we have a journal system where we write if they have any kind of social issues going Mostly if they have like...if they...if they come to us and tell us about a problem we write it in our journal and it's confidential, it's only us (his staff of social coordinators) who can read it And we have, and we write... on
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Every time they get a letter from the authorities we get a copy of it they are in their case."clxxi
so we know where
Foucault argues that discipline can be underwritten in a contract. When a person applies for asylum in Denmark, they of course have to write an application, which in this case is the contract to be disciplined. The applicant is placed in an asylum centre, where he will have to organize himself under the conditions in the centre. Foucault argues that disciplinary power tries to make people fit into to a system without them starting a revolution or getting spontaneous ideas. I tell you, its not more different from other camps. More is trickier, people look like.. have seen many criminal or doing something bad, something. Im sad about that. Sometime I think why the people doing this, because of they have something psychology or something like this or he get negative also and become mad and sad and start to broke everything [...] clxxii When Foucault argues that disciplinary power is used to make people fit into a system, it is necessary that the residents do not start revolutions or get the wrong spontaneous ideas. As seen in the quotation above it can be problematic to keep disciplinary order in a centre, when people living in there, often have a luggage with different inhumane experiences, which affect their selfs and give some kind of reactions from time till time. Abdullah mentions that he sees people getting mad and who then destroy everything. 6.5 The effects on the self In this analysis we have discussed different spheres of life in the institution and how the residents life is affected by them. Being in the presence of a large, similar situated group and living within the frames of the institution - surveillance, isolation and the lack of selfdetermination is an everyday reality for the Avnstrup asylum centres residents. Many of our respondents talked about difficulties concerning their living situation in the centre and about how mental illnesses are present. Like
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You dont know how the feelings are when they put a lot of people together in one place, and people are sad and mad already then they start to shout at each other because their situation makes them become like thisclxxiii I tell you, it's not more different from other camps. More is trickier, people look like... have seen many criminal or doing something bad, something. I'm sad about that. Sometime I think why the people doing this, because of they have something psychology or something like this or he get negative also and become mad and sad and start to broke everything. I cannot speak with them well. Other camps also you can find people like this but almost like this camp is, you know [...]"clxxiv Despite the apparent limitations for choosing a suitable life for oneself, many of our respondents try to see their situation as temporary and focus their energy on coping. In the same way I try to do my best to act as normal as possible with my wife and children and people around me. Sometimes you end in a situation you cannot control but it goes again. Life has to continue clxxv
According to the answers which we have received from residents of Avnstrup asylum centre, we can make the conclusion that the conditions under which asylum seekers are living are not that harsh and humiliating as those in the total institution defined by Erving Goffman. Residents of the centre are allowed to go, create and participate in activities outside the centre without any bigger restrictions. Moreover, they are not forbidden to search for contacts and meet new people. Furthermore asylum seekers do not necessarily have to participate in activities arranged by the asylum centre. They always have a limited choice to decide by themselves what they want to do. While comparing the total institution and Avnstrup Asylum centre, we inevitably explored some similarities as well. One of the biggest common denominator is a tense relationship between inmates and staff members, which normally hurries the mortification process of the asylum seeker. There is a gap between the staff workers and residents and none of them is willing to complete it.
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7.0 Conclusion
In this chapter we would like to conclude on the project work, with an answer to the problem formulation, the main tendencies in our investigation, the most interesting discoveries and on our developments during the whole project.
7.1 How does it affect the residents self to live in Avnstrup asylum centre?
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The residents self in Avnstrup centre is affected by different aspects of the total institution defined by E. Goffman. These Aspects covers different areas such as living, working, having leisure time in the same place, under the same authority and together with the same people who are also treated in the similar way. Another important factor is the other residents from the centre and the privacy issues in Avsntrup. According to Goffman, not being able to choose with whom to live and share information with is violation of the self. Moreover, a lack of privacy leads to interruptions of normal being of the self. It is an act of the total institution to put people, from different and contracting ethnic and cultural groups together, in order to reduce their selfs and individual feelings. In addition, that the asylum seekers would better include themselves in system of the total institution. The workers of Avnstrup asylum centre definitely tries to settle people as best as it is possible in the centre. But the centre does not have the opportunity to provide each single inhabitant with a single room, bathroom, etc. Families usually share the same area, but otherwise the centre tries to insure that people with the same gender and similar ethnic origins lives together. Nevertheless, these living conditions have a negative impact on the residents, as example, we can mention that one of our respondents told about how it was living together with 4 men in the same room. Issues and problems are what causes the difference in the daily plans, like where and how each resident wants to sleep, eat, waking up, and other daily priorities. While living in this completely common life, inhabitants inevitably are supposed to interact and communicate with each other. Even if in the case of free will, they wouldn't ever talk to each other. Living conditions and being dependent on each other, having limited or no chance to be on your own, harms and destroys the residents self. Goffman talks about the total institution as a place which follows a strict structure. For instance, the residents cannot plan their time on their own, because it is the institution which makes the decisions instead of them. While making the interviews in Avnstrup Asylum centre, we found out that it is only partly the truth in Avnstrup. Yes, there is a certain timetable, like mandatory practises at a certain time. Moreover, it is decided by the centre when the residents gets pocket money or meets up with the office members. We can assume that if, for instance, that a room with table tennis is open at a certain time, it is the way, the institution imposes their daily planning on the residents living in the centre. But
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on another hand, most of the time, the residents are free, and most of the activities are free to choose to participate in or not. It is a decision the residents can make by themselves, depending on what he is up to in a particular time of the day.
Respondents were mentioning that they had too much free time, and lack of activities and events inside the centre. We cannot assume it as the general conditions of the life in Avnstrup centre, as it varies from resident to resident, his own way of lifestyle, interests, activity, mental condition and family life. Some of our respondents was taking an active part as volunteers within the centre, creating different activities, as sports, educational trainings or volunteering outside the centre - for example, the Trampoline house a volunteer driven culture house for asylum seekers in Copenhagen. While others would reflect on their everyday life as boring and empty- spending time in front of the computer, in their rooms. In this way the residents who take an active part in the centre, and outside are in a better situation, as they have the feeling of controlling their life till a bigger extend. Meanwhile others, puts all the responsibility of daily life planning on the shoulders of the centre.
7.2 Other discoveries and perspectives While visiting the centre we have discovered video cameras and our respondents have mentioned them in the interviews as well. They had a feeling that somebody is sitting behind the cameras and observing them. We assumed that someone is really watching and taking videos. Later on we got an explanation from one of the Red Cross workers, that the cameras were used to work and screened to control the situation at the entrance. We got to know, that the main purpose of cameras was a safety reason. Nevertheless, because of cutbacks in the finances, the cameras are not being used anymore. Whether the cameras are working or not, they do have a great impact on the disciplining on the residents in the centre. This reflects greatly in Foucault's power theory, where power is something what we impose on someone. As if the residents believe that the police is observing them with the cameras, they impose power to the police and the workers of the centre.
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One of the discoveries was what kind of power the police possess in the eyes of the asylum seeker. Despite information campaigns and facts, that police has nothing to with the decision making in the asylum cases, most of respondents would assume that the police are one of the main decision making actors in their cases. Asylum seekers were sure that their good behaviour towards the police, could speed up the asylum process and to make the inhabitants to look innocent in front of them. We can assume that it might be related with a negative image of policy which many asylum applicants brings from their countries of origin. As well, the police are the first actors that the asylum applicants get in touch with in Denmark, and that the uniforms as well contribute to possessing power to police. Our discoveries shows, that there might be a problem with the behaviour of the police, as some stories are found, about the police workers being disrespectful, aggressive without any need and ignorant towards simple human rights and cultural differences was present. Possibly more policemen working in civil outfits would improve attitudes and decline fears.
7.3 Motivation choice and conclusion on the project work During the process of the project work we have gained more knowledge on the topic and in this way more objectivity, when talking about the process. As many who start to work on such a societal sensitive topic, we had a great temptation to become very emotional and see things in black/white manner, with white asylum seekers and a black system. Even if we have not completely got rid of our emotional attitudes in the project, we have made a great way towards objectivity. The best we gained from the project is that our assumption on Avnstrup as a total institution was right, just in a lesser extends, than we thought in the beginning. It gives place for another theories and individual residents with their own humanistic characteristics in an institution like Avnstrup. As well as discoveries beside the answer to our problem formulation, have opened new possible areas of research.
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8. Afterthoughts
After writing the final conclusion to this project, it finally becomes possible for us to let go and to take a look at the whole project. In doing that it becomes clear that the project has taken many turns from the beginning of the work process till now. 3 months ago we started this project wanting to investigate the effect of how waiting process affected residents of an asylum centre. During the work process several angles and approaches have been on the table and have later been thrown out and therefore we ended
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up with investigating the regulation of the self in Avnstrup asylum centre. All through this work process many arguments were made, fought for and lost. But still, when looking upon this investigation, every group member can find a part of this project, she wanted to do in the beginning of this semester. Now just after finishing it is the natural plan to put the project away for a while. But somehow that is not quite possible. There is so much more we could have investigated; so many more interviews, we could have made and visits to the centre we could have done. More empirical data could have given our project even more perspective and results to our analysis. If we should do this project differently, clearly this is what we would plan to do inclusive of certain structural timing issues, we would try to prevent in this plan. Writing the last sentence of this project does not only make it possible to form certain regrets, but also to be inspired once or many times more. The different approaches to our subject, which have been on the table before and even though they should have been thrown away during the work process, become visible again. Turns out they have never left our minds and give us a new perspective to our problem field. We wanted to investigate one centre in order to get an in depth case study. In some of the interviews though, our respondents said that there were other centres in Denmark better than Avnstrup asylum centre. This notion makes us want to start new field work in order to start an investigation upon a different centre. All asylum centres are operationalized by the Danish Red Cross and should therefore be uniform. They all work under the same laws and follow the same Red Cross principles. Therefore it could be interesting to investigate whether theory differs from practice and they, even though they should be the same, work differently. The interviews were a very good method to gain empirical data and this method is something that will be developed further in different research, we might perform. Still it is interesting to view the different opinions from our respondents. They do live the same place in almost the same circumstances and they do experience some of the things happening the same way. On the other hand they differ a lot. Through our interviews we barely touched upon the full personality of each individual.
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When we started this investigation we wanted it to revolve around humans. Our final project also does revolve around the individuals self, but the humans are only really present in the interviews and we are very pleased that we had the possibility to perform our own fieldwork and to learn to see reality through the eyes of the different individuals. There is a different perspective to the interviews the group had long discussions about, but which has not been included in the project. At some point doing the making of the transcript and the analysis we noticed that there must be a difference between the words centre and camp. The Red Cross workers, the one we talked to and those we saw in several documentaries, kept saying centre, while the respondents and even persons we met in the Trampoline house kept saying camp. A dictionary was found to determine the difference, but it was too late to ask our respondents if they were aware of a difference, when they used these two words and also this discussion had no place in our project. Still it is an interesting phenomenon that 2 groups of people, who are talking about the same thing, each use there own word for this thing. If it would be a synonym it would not matter, but the words used even differ in meaning. We think that this discovery of a difference in the view upon the whole accommodation system would be worth investigating. To summarize we realized all through the work process and even clearer now, where we have ended our project work that, even though we are done with this investigation, it would only take a small turn to start all over from a different approach. We see our subject and even our problem field in a new perspective now and know that it opens up to several other projects of our interest.
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i9. Endnotes 9
International Organization for Migration: [online] available: http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/about-migration/facts-andfigures/lang/en [date accessed 08-12-2011] ii UNHRC, Global Trends 2010: [online] (available): http://www.unhcr.org/4dfa11499.html page 2-3 [date accessed 0812-2011] iii Forced Migration Online: [online] (available): http://www.forcedmigration.org/about/whatisfm [date accessed: 1311-2011] iv UNHRC, Global Trends 2010: [online] (available): http://www.unhcr.org/4dfa11499.html page 2-3 [date accessed 08-12-2011] v Peter Aspinall and Charles Watters University of Kent: Refugees and asylum seekers: A review from an equality and human rights perspective: [online] (available): http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/research/refugees_and_asylum_seekers_research_report.pdf page 5, [date accessed 08-12-2011] vi Forced Migration Online: [online] (available): http://www.forcedmigration.org/about/whatisfm , [date accessed: 1311-2011] vii UNHRC: The 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees and its 1967 protocol (2011): [online] (available): http://www.unhcr.org/4ec262df9.html page 4, [date accessed: 05-12-2011] viii UNHRC: The 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees and its 1967 protocol (2011). [online] (available): http://www.unhcr.org/4ec262df9.html page 4, [date accessed: 05-12-2011] ix UNHCR: Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries 2010: [online] (available): http://www.unhcr.org/4d8c5b109.html page 3, [date accessed: 05-12-2011] x The European Union: Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status: [online] (available): http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32005L0085:EN:NOT [date accessed: 28-11-2011] xi The European Union: Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status. [online] (available): http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32005L0085:EN:NOT [date accessed: 28-11-2011] xii The European Union: Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status. [online] (available): http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32005L0085:EN:NOT [date accessed: 28-11-2011] xiii The European Union: Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers: [online] (available): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do? uri=CELEX:32003L0009:EN:NOT [date accessed: 28-11-2011] xiv The European Union: Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers: [online] (available): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do? uri=CELEX:32003L0009:EN:NOT [date accessed: 28-11-2011] xv The European Union: Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers: [online] (available): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do? uri=CELEX:32003L0009:EN:NOT [date accessed: 28-11-2011] xvi UNHCR: Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries 2010: [online] (available): http://www.unhcr.org/4d8c5b109.html page 6 [date accessed: 05-12-2011]
xvii The Danish Immigration Service: Statistical Overview Migration and Asylum 2010, (2011). [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/NR/rdonlyres/7304E7E6-022A-4F83-916A3FEFD2CD9505/0/extract_statistical_overview_migration_asylum_2010.pdf page 3 [date accessed: 08-12-2011] xviii The Danish Immigration Service: Statistical Overview Migration and Asylum 2010, (2011) [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/NR/rdonlyres/7304E7E6-022A-4F83-916A3FEFD2CD9505/0/extract_statistical_overview_migration_asylum_2010.pdf page 3 [date accessed: 08-12-2011] xix The Danish Immigration service, Introduction: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/application_for_asylum/asylum-info-film.htm [date accessed: 01-12-2011] xx The Danish Immigration service, Introduction: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/application_for_asylum/asylum-info-film.htm [date accessed: 01-12-2011] xxi The Danish Immigration service, Introduction: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/application_for_asylum/asylum-info-film.htm [date accessed: 01-12-2011] xxii The Danish Immigration service, Introduction: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/application_for_asylum/asylum-info-film.htm [date accessed: 01-12-2011] xxiii Forced Migration Online: [online] (available): http://www.forcedmigration.org/about/whatisfm [date accessed: 1311-2011] xxiv UNHCR: Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries 2010: [online] (available): http://www.unhcr.org/4d8c5b109.html page 3, [date accessed: 05-12-2011] xxv Forced Migration Online: [online] (available): http://www.forcedmigration.org/about/whatisfm [date accessed: 1311-2011] xxvi The European Union: Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national: [online] (available): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do? uri=CELEX:32003R0343:EN:NOT [date accessed: 05-12-2011] xxvii The European Union: Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national: [online] (available): http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do? uri=CELEX:32003R0343:EN:NOT [date accessed: 05-12-2011] xxviii The European Union: Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status: [online] (available): http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32005L0085:EN:NOT [date accessed: 28-11-2011] xxix The Danish Immigration Service: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/accomodation_centres/accomodation_centres.htm [date accessed: 08-12-2011] xxx The Danish Immigration service, Introduction: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/conditions_for_asylum_applicants/conditions_for_asylum_applicants.htm [date accessed: 1012-2011] xxxi The Danish Immigration service, Introduction: [online] available: http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/conditions_for_asylum_applicants/conditions_for_asylum_applicants.htm [date accessed: 1012-2011] xxxii The Danish Immigration service, Introduction: [online] available: http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/conditions_for_asylum_applicants/conditions_for_asylum_applicants.htm [date accessed: 1012-2011]
xxxiii New Times: Fault Lines in System: [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php? mode=show&id=91 [date accessed: 10-12-2011] xxxiv Politiken: Amnesty in heavy criticism of Denmark: [online] (available): http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/ECE1281321/amnesty-in-heavy-criticism-of-denmark/ [date accessed: 19-12-2011] xxxv New Times: After The Positive- Part I: [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php? mode=show&id=189 [date accessed: 10-12-2011] xxxvi New Times: Another Happy Ending: [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php? mode=show&id=15 [date accessed: 10-12-2011] xxxvii New Times: Fault Lines in System: [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php? mode=show&id=91 [date accessed: 10-12-2011] xxxviii Information: Det danske asylsystem er ikke for brn (2007): [online] (available): http://www.information.dk/131895 [date accessed 17-12-2011] xxxix Humanity In action: A Litmus Test for Danish Society: the Case of the Iraqi Asylum Seekers: An Approaching Expiration Date: [online] (available): http://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledgebase/55-a-litmus-test-for-danishsociety-the-case-of-the-iraqi-asylum-seekers-an-approaching-expiration-date [date accessed 19-12-2011] xl Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 19, Jrgen Paludans forlag xli Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 18, Jrgen Paludans forlag xlii Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 18, Jrgen Paludans forlag xliii New Times: Fault Lines in System: [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php? mode=show&id=91 [date accessed: 10-12-2011] xliv Andersen, H (ed.) & Kaspersen, L.B (ed.) (2007): Classical and Modern Social Theory, page 302, 5th edition, Blackwell Publishing xlv Foucault, M (1991): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, page 200-201, Penguin Books London xlvi Olsen, P.B. & Pedersen, K (2008): Problem-Oriented Project Work, page 188, 2nd edition, Roskilde University Press xlvii The global travel and tourism partnership: [online] (available): http://www.gttp.org/docs/HowToWriteAGoodCase.pdf [date accessed: 19.12.2011]
xlviii Brinkmann, Svend and Tanggaard, Lene (2010): Kvalitative metoder, en grundbog p. 31, Hans Reizels Forlag,
Viborg xlix Appendix 11 & 12 Interview guides for both residents and staff l Kvale, Steiner (2004): Interview, en introduktion til det kvalitative forskningsinterview p. 244, Hans Reitzels forlag, Kbenhavn li Kvale, Steiner (2004): Interview, en introduktion til det kvalitative forskningsinterview p. 232, Hans Reitzels forlag, Kbenhavn lii Kvale, Steiner (1996): Interviews An introduction to qualitative research interviewing p. 187 Sage Publications London liii Kvale, Steiner (2004): Interview, en introduktion til det kvalitative forskningsinterview p. 232, Hans Reitzels forlag, Kbenhavn liv Rde Kors: [online] (available): http://www.rodekors.dk/det+g%c3%b8r+vi/asyl [date accessed: 19-12-2011]
lv Dansk Rde Kors: [online] (available): http://web.drk.dk/sw89800.asp [date accessed: 19-12-2011] lvi Red Barnet Ungdom: [online] (available): http://www.redbarnetungdom.dk/default.aspx?ID=9868 [date accessed: 30-10-2011] lvii Rde Kors: [online] (available): http://www.rodekors.dk/det+g%C3%B8r+vi/asylcentrene [date accessed:11-122011] lviii The Danish Immigration service: Introduction: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/accomodation_centres/departure_centres.htm [date accessed: 10-12-2011] lix The Danish Immigration service: Introduction: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/conditions_for_asylum_applicants/conditions_for_asylum_applicants.htm [date accessed: 1012-2011] lx Dansk Rde Kors: [online] (available): http://web.drk.dk/sw89802.asp [date accessed: 19-12-2011] lxi New Times: First Impressions of Avnstrup (2010): [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php? mode=show&id=199 [date accessed: 19-12-2011] lxii New Times: First Impressions of Avnstrup (2010): [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php? mode=show&id=199 [date accessed: 19-12-2011] lxiii New Times: Happy Clubbin (2010): [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php? mode=show&id=200 [date accessed: 10-12-2011] lxiv Dansk Rde Kors: [online] (available): http://www.rodekors.dk/det+g %c3%b8r+vi/dagligdagen+som+asylansoeger [date accessed: 14-12-2011] lxv Skolerne I Boserup, Sommerlejr 2011: [online] (available): http://www.skolerneiboserup.dk/sommerlejrefteraarslejrvinterlejrpaaskelejr.asp [date accessed: 19-12-2011] lxvi Vis Avis. We need you, but I think you also need us: [online] (available): http://www.visavis.dk/archives/840 [date accessed: 19-12-2011] lxvii Andersen, H. and Kaspersen, L.B. (2000): Classical and Modern Social Theory p. 189, Blackwell Publishing lxviii Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 11, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxix Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 12, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxx Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set pp. 12-13, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxxi Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 13, Jrgen Paludans forlag
lxxii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 18,
Anchor Books lxxiii Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set pp. 14-15, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxxiv Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 13, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxxv Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 17, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxxvi Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 23, Anchor Books lxxvii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 24, Anchor Books
lxxviii Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 20, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxxix Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 23, Anchor Books lxxx Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. , Anchor Books lxxxi Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 50, Anchor Books lxxxii Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 25, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxxxiii Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 26, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxxxiv Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 26, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxxxv Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 27, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxxxvi Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 28, Jrgen Paludans forlag lxxxvii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 26, Anchor Books lxxxviii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 27, Anchor Books lxxxix Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 23, Jrgen Paludans forlag xc Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 30, Anchor Books xci Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 29, Anchor Books xcii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 32, Anchor Books xciii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 32, Anchor Books xciv Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 51, Anchor Books xcv Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates pp. 51-52, Anchor Books xcvi Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 53, Anchor Books xcvii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 52, Anchor Books xcviii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 61, Anchor Books xcix Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 69, Anchor Books
Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 69, Anchor Books
ci Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set pp. 60-61, Jrgen Paludans forlag cii Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 62, Jrgen Paludans forlag ciii Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 62, Jrgen Paludans forlag civ Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 76, Anchor Books cv Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 65, Jrgen Paludans forlag cvi Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 26, Anchor Books cvii Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 66, Jrgen Paludans forlag cviii Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set pp. 50-52, Jrgen Paludans forlag cix Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set p. 52, Jrgen Paludans forlag cx Andersen Heine & Kaspersen Lars Bo (2000): Classical and Modern Social Theory, p.295, Blackwell Publishing Oxford cxi Heede, Dag (2010): Det tomme menneske - introduktion til Michel Foucault, p. 38, Kbenhavns Universitet cxii Heede, Dag (2010): Det tomme menneske - introduktion til Michel Foucault, p. 39, Kbenhavns Universitet cxiii Heede, Dag (2010): Det tomme menneske - introduktion til Michel Foucault, p. 39, Kbenhavns Universitet cxiv Foucault, Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, p. 201, Penguin Books London cxv Foucault, Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, p. 216, Penguin Books London cxvi Foucault, Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, p. 218, Penguin Books London cxvii Foucault Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, pp. 218-219, Penguin Books London cxviii Foucault, Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, p. 219, Penguin Books London cxix Foucault, Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, p.219, Penguin Books London cxx Foucault, Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, p. 222, Penguin Books London cxxi Foucault, Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, pp. 221-222, Penguin Books London cxxii Foucault, Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, pp. 221-222, Penguin Books London cxxiii Foucault, Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, p. 198, Penguin Books London cxxiv Foucault, Michel (1977): Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison, pp. 221-222, Penguin Books London
cxxv Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 17,
Anchor Books
cxxvi Appendix 2, page 4: Respondent Ahmed cxxvii Appendix 5, page 3: Respondent Malik cxxviii Appendix 2, page 3: Respondent Ahmed cxxix Appendix 4, page 1: Respondent Jens
cxxx Appendix 4, page 3: Respondent Jens

cxxxi Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 18, Anchor Books
cxxxii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 18,
Anchor Books
cxxxiii Appendix 4, page 5: Respondent Jens cxxxiv Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 18,
Anchor Books
cxxxv Appendix 5, page 3: Respondent Malik cxxxvi Appendix 3, page 5: Respondent Ibrahim cxxxvii Appendix 3, page 5: Respondent Ibrahim cxxxviii Appendix 4, page 2: Respondent: Jens cxxxix Appendix 1, page 4: Respondent: Abdullah cxl Appendix 2, page 4: Respondent Ahmed
cxli Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 32, Anchor Books
cxlii Appendix 3, page 4: Respondent: Ibrahim

cxliii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 17, Anchor Books
cxliv Appendix 5, page 1: Respondent Malik cxlv Appendix 11: Bus plan cxlvi Appendix 2, page 2: Respondent Ahmed cxlvii Appendix 3, page 4: Respondent Ibrahim
cxlviii Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 15, Anchor Books
cxlix Appendix 3, page 2: Respondent Ibrahim cl Appendix 2, page 2: Respondent Ahmed cli Appendix 10: Outline on how much money an asylum seeker gets clii Appendix 4, page 5: Respondent Jens cliii Appendix 4, page 5: Respondent Jen cliv Appendix 5, page 5: Respondent Malik clv Appendix 4 page 5-6: Respondent Jens clvi Appendix 3, page 6: Respondent Ibrahim clvii Appendix 3, page 6: Respondent Ibrahim clviii Appendix 1, page 3: Respondent Abdullah clix Appendix 2, page 5: Respondent Ahmed clx Appendix 3, page 6: Respondent Ibrahim
clxi Appendix 5, page 5: Respondent Malik clxii Appendix 2, page 4: Respondent Ahmed clxiii Appendix 4, page 5: Respondent Jens
clxiv Appendix 4, page 4: Respondent Jens
clxv Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 26,
Anchor Books
clxvi Appendix 5, page 4: Respondent Malik clxvii Rabinow, Paul (1984): The Foucault Reader, pp. 206-213, Penguin Group, England clxviii The Danish Refugee Council: [online] (available): http://www.drc.dk/about-drc/asylum-in-denmark/aboutasylum-and-procedure/the-asylum-seekers-way-through-the-system/ [date accessed: 20-12-2011]
clxix Appendix 1; page 3: Respondent Abdullah

clxx Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates p. 32, Anchor Books
clxxi Appendix 4, page 5-6: Respondent Jens clxxii Appendix1, page 2: Respondent Abdullah clxxiii Appendix 2, page 5-6: Respondent Ahmed clxxiv Appendix 1, page 2: Respondent Abdullah clxxv Appendix 3, page 7: Respondent Ibrahim
10. List of Literature Books: Andersen, Heine (ed.) & Kaspersen, Lars Bo (ed.) (2007): Classical and Modern Social Theory, 5th edition, Blackwell Publishing Oxford Brinkmann, Svend and Tanggaard, Lene (2010): Kvalitative metoder en grundbog, Hans reizels forlag 1st edition, Viborg Foucault, Michel (1991): Discipline and Punish the birth of the Prison, Penguin Books London Goffman, Erving (1967): Anstalt og Menneske: Den Totale Institution Socialt Set, Jrgen Paludans forlag Goffman, Erving (1961): Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates, Anchor Books Heede, Dag (2010): Det tomme menneske - introduktion til Michel Foucault, Kbenhavns universitet Kvale, Steiner (1996): Interviews An introduction to qualitative research interviewing, Sage Publications London Kvale, Steiner (2004): Interview, en introduktion til det kvalitative forskningsinterview, Hans Reitzels forlag, Kbenhavn Mason, Jennifer (2006): Qualitative researching, sage publications London
Olsen, Poul Bitsch & Pedersen, Kaare (2008): Problem-Oriented Project Work, Roskilde University Press Kbenhavn Rabinow, Paul (1991): The Foucault reader an introduction to Foucault's thought, Penguin Books England Internet pages: Dansk Rde Kors: [online] (available): http://web.drk.dk/sw89800.asp [date accessed: 19-12-2011] Dansk Rde Kors: [online] (available): http://web.drk.dk/sw89802.asp [date accessed: 19-12-2011] Forced Migration Online: [online] (available): http://www.forcedmigration.org/about/whatisfm [date accessed: 13-11-2011] Humanity In action: A Litmus Test for Danish Society: the Case of the Iraqi Asylum Seekers: An Approaching Expiration Date: [online] (available): http://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledgebase/55-alitmus-test-for-danish-society-the-case-of-the-iraqi-asylum-seekers-an-approaching-expiration-date
[date accessed
19-12-2011] International Organization for Migration: [online] available: http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/aboutmigration/facts-and-figures/lang/en
[date accessed 08-12-2011]
Information: Det danske asylsystem er ikke for brn (2007): [online] (available)
http://www.information.dk/131895
[date accessed 17-12-2011]
Michael Foucault (2010): [online] (available) http://www.michel-foucault.com/concepts/index.html [date accessed 17-12-2011] New Times.dk: After the Positive- Part I: [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php?
mode=show&id=189
[date accessed: 10-12-2011]
New Times.dk: Another Happy Ending: [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php?

mode=show&id=15
New Times.dk: Fault Lines in System: [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php?

mode=show&id=91
New Times: First Impressions of Avnstrup (2010): [online] (available):

http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php?mode=show&id=199
New Times: Happy Clubbin, (2010): [online] (available): http://www.newtimes.dk/showarticle.php?

mode=show&id=200
Peter Aspinall and Charles Watters University of Kent: Refugees and asylum seekers: A review from an equality and human rights perspective: [online] (available):
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/research/refugees_and_asylum_seekers_research_report.pdf
[date
accessed 08-12-2011] Politiken: Amnesty in heavy criticism of Denmark: [online] (available):

http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/ECE1281321/amnesty-in-heavy-criticism-of-denmark/
[date accessed: 19-12-
2011] Red Barnet Ungdom: [online] (available): http://www.redbarnetungdom.dk/default.aspx?ID=9868, [date accessed: 30-10-2011] Rde Kors: [online] (available): http://www.rodekors.dk/det+g%c3%b8r+vi/asyl [date accessed: 19-12-2011] Rde Kors: [online] (available): http://www.rodekors.dk/det+g%C3%B8r+vi/asylcentrene , [date accessed: 1112-2011] Rde Kors: [online] (available): http://www.rodekors.dk/det+g%c3%b8r+vi/dagligdagen+som+asylansoeger [date accessed: 14-12-2011] Skolerne I Boserup, Sommerlejr 2011: [online] (available):
http://www.skolerneiboserup.dk/sommerlejrefteraarslejrvinterlejrpaaskelejr.asp
The Danish Immigration service: Introduction: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/conditions_for_asylum_applicants/conditions_for_asylum_applicants.htm
[date accessed:
10-12-2011]
The Danish Immigration Service: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/accomodation_centres/accomodation_centres.htm
The Danish Immigration Service: Statistical Overview Migration and Asylum 2010 (2011): [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/NR/rdonlyres/7304E7E6-022A-4F83-916A3FEFD2CD9505/0/extract_statistical_overview_migration_asylum_2010.pdf
The Danish Immigration service: Introduction: [online] (available): http://www.nyidanmark.dk/enus/coming_to_dk/asylum/application_for_asylum/asylum-info-film.htm
The European Union: Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status: [online] (available):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32005L0085:EN:NOT [date accessed:
28-11-2011] The European Union: Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status: [online] available:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32005L0085:EN:NOT
2011] The European Union: Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers: [online] (available): http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32003L0009:EN:NOT
The European Union: Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national: [online] (available):
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32003R0343:EN:NOT
2011] The Global Travel and tourism partnership: [online] (available):

http://www.gttp.org/docs/HowToWriteAGoodCase.pdf [19.12.2011]
UNHCR: Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries (2010): [online] (available):
http://www.unhcr.org/4d8c5b109.html
UNHRC: Global Trends (2010): [online] (available): http://www.unhcr.org/4dfa11499.html [date accessed 08-12-2011] UNHRC: The 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees and its 1967 protocol (2011): [online] (available): http://www.unhcr.org/4ec262df9.html [date accessed: 05-12-2011] Vis Avis: We need you, but I think you also need us: [online] (available):
http://www.visavis.dk/archives/840
Cover page picture: Berlingske: Egen bolig har hjulpet asylbrnene (2009), [online] (available):
http://www.b.dk/politik/egen-bolig-har-hjulpet-asylboernene [date accessed 17-12-2011]

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Group 1

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

1.0 Introduction to the subject

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

3. How is Avnstrup Asylum centre organized?

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

4. What is Erving Goffmans Concept of the Total Institution?

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012

[The Institution as a Home]

Project Exam 2011/2012