Compassion as a Social Emotion in Ethnographic Research with Unaccompanied Refugee Minors

In this article, I explore compassion both as a social emotion and as a practice of encounter in ethnographic research. I argue that compassion is not a plain emotion but instead a socially relational one that prompts cognitive processes, leading to a desire to help. My focus is on how compassion deepens our understanding of vulnerability, exposure and the ethics of care in migration research. Empirically, this article draws on fieldwork conducted with unaccompanied refugee minors in Finland. I examine how emotionally challenging moments of (be)longing manifest in the lives of these young people and how compassion can be used to interpret their experiences. I propose that compassion comprises three interrelated dimensions: practical, ethical and analytical. I conclude that taking compassion seriously offers a pathway towards more ethically sustainable and caring research practices, particularly when working with vulnerable subjects and communities.