ABSTRACT
Local refugee managers control access to welfare and their prevailing sentiment is that refugees should be discouraged from receiving it. As a result, conflict is inherent to refugee resettlement in the United States (US) Refugees' social networks intervene in this struggle between clients and caseworkers over the goals of the incorporation process. The confrontation between Indochinese families and the American social welfare system also occurs because their kin ties are fluid while the system expects permanency. Refugees' socialization to ethnic community norms regarding public assistance continues in the US Upon arrival, most refugees are immediately placed by their caseworkers or relatives in buildings where other refugees live. At the local level, voluntary agencies support community formation through residential clustering, and by encouraging respected community members to become involved in the community's social welfare. Social welfare is supplied through social networks: kin solve family problems through seniority and mediation; friends share information about jobs and prospective spouses.
