Integration Through Trust

In the course of the multidisciplinary research project “Integration through Trust”, we aim to examine how refugee parents of young children in Germany build trust in childcare arrangements. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) plays a crucial role in the integration of refugee families with young children, as it contributes to the education, upbringing and care of young children. However, in order for these children to benefit from ECEC, their parents need to build trust in the providers. While it was pointed out in previous research that trust plays a crucial role in the context of accessing ECEC services (Baisch et al. 2017; Omar et al. 2009), it has not yet been analysed how refugee families in Germany build it. It is probable that this process is more demanding for refugee parents than for native Germans, e.g. because of language barriers, a lack of experience with Germany’s ECEC system, or stress related to the flight and asylum procedures. The project contributes to the academic discussion on the local implementation of integration policy and the subjective experiences of those involved.