Refugees and Transformative Services

The drastic increase in the number of refugees in recent years has posed new challenges for the state and society. Particularly since the so-called "refugee crisis" in 2015, the question of how integration can be developed successfully has considerable political and social relevance. Against this background, this research project focuses on the needs, expectations, and experiences of refugees with regard to processes and services that are designed to enable participation in relevant areas of society. The overall goal is to improve the integration of refugees in Germany.

The project is located at the interface of service and nonprofit management research. In the tradition of "Transformative Service Research" (TSR), it deals with services that can "transform" the lives of service recipients. For example, services in the fields of education or health care can bring about a decisive improvement in the quality of life beyond the direct benefit of the actual service content. TSR represents a relatively young and interdisciplinary branch of research which, in contrast to other service-related research, focuses on this potential effect and is directed towards the solution of complex social problems.

Two already realized sub-projects focus on services in the field of higher education. Among other things, they look for factors that make access more difficult as well as for strategies to overcome these barriers. Using the example of an initiative in which nonprofit organizations, state, and university cooperate to facilitate access to higher education, the potential of such transformative service offerings is examined. A further examination of the experiences of refugees in the integration process emerged as a joint project of the TSR network of the Transformative Consumer Research Conference in Tallahassee (Florida, USA; 19-22 May 2019). Among the internationally renowned researchers are Raymond Fisk, Sertan Kabadayi, Linda Alkire, Lilliemay Cheung, Canan Corus, Marcos Ferreira Santos, Jörg Finsterwalder, Nadina Luca, Mansour Omeira, Pallab Paul and Nina Smidt.

In view of the still very low research density within this topic area, this contribution is intended to take a first, relevant step and thus initiate further important research.

Publications:

• Boenigk, S., Kreimer, A. A., Becker, A., Alkire, L., Fisk, R. P., Kabadayi, S. (2021). Transformative Service Initiatives: Enabling Access and Overcoming Barriers for People Experiencing Vulnerability. Journal of Service Research, 24(4), 542-562. DOI: 0.1177/10946705211013386.
• Finsterwalder, J., Kabadayi, S, Fisk, R., and Boenigk, S. (2021). Creating Hospitable Service Systems for Refugees During a Pandemic: Leveraging Resources for Service Inclusion. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 31(2), 247-263. DOI: 10.1108/JSTP-07-2020-0175.
• Boenigk, S., Fisk, R., Kabadayi, S., Alkire, L., Cheung, L., Corus, C., Finsterwalder, J., Kreimer, A., Luca, N., Omeira, M., Paul, P., Santos, M. F., Smidt, N. (2021). Rethinking Service Systems and Public Policy: A Transformative Refugee Service Experience Framework. Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 40(2), 165-183. DOI: 10.1177/0743915620962815.
• Kreimer, A. & Boenigk, S. (2019). Widening Refugee Participation and Access to Higher Education through Collective Impact Initiatives – Insights from Germany, Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 21(2), 141–167. DOI: 10.5456/WPLL.21.2.141