Blurred Rights, Local Practices: Social Work and Immigration in Italy Eduardo Barberis 1, * and Paolo Boccagni 2 1 DESP, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via A. Saffi 15, I-61029, Urbino (PU), Italy 2 Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Via Verdi 26, I-38122, Trento (TN), Italy * Correspondence to Eduardo Barberis, DESP, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Via A. Saffi 15, I-61029, Urbino (PU), Italy. E-mail: eduardo.barberis@uniurb.it Abstract This article analyses the role of professional social workers in managing immigrant clients’ needs in Italy, against a background of residual welfare provision, inconsistent immigrant policies and piecemeal integration. After framing the main challenges migration poses to the Italian welfare system, with particular regard to social services, we highlight the cen- trality of practitioners’ commitment and discretionary power in addressing migrants’ needs. On the one hand, the increasing diversification of the client population is still rela- tively under-debated in social work curricula and research. On the other hand, social workers’ pivotal role in formal service provision is affected by more or less effective net- works with other local actors, and often constrained by an institutional lack of vision on immigrant integration. The primacy of street-level initiative, within a poorly coordinated institutional framework, is a double-edged sword—one with potentially relevant downsides in terms of reflexivity, service equity and consistency. Overall, the Italian case provides hints for a reflection on social work theory and practice: for culturalised categorisations of clients, for the shifting boundaries of professional discretion and for conflicting professional and institutional mandates. It is also revealing of dilemmas of network building, professional training and advocacy practices that new immigration countries can face. Keywords: Immigration, Italy, clients’ needs, integration, discretion, professional mission Accepted: February 2014 # The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved. British Journal of Social Work (2014) 44, Supplement 1, i70–i87 doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcu041 Advance Access publication May 12, 2014 at Universita degli Studi di Trento on September 16, 2014 http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/ Downloaded from