Sackett, Blair and Annette Lareau. 2023. We Thought It Would Be Heaven: Refugees in an Unequal America. University of California Press.

We Thought It Would Be Heaven: Refugees in an Unequal America reveals how organizational obstacles block access to valuable resources for recently resettled refugee families in the United States. This vibrant ethnography brings into focus the many complex organizations that refugee families (like all families) juggle in their day-to-day lives—workplaces, schools, financial institutions, and social service programs. These organizations are interconnected but not coordinated and are rife with hurdles and errors. Seemingly small organizational errors—missing a deadline, mistaking a rule, or misplacing a form—can tangle processes into “knots.” These minor mistakes grind systems to a halt, creating catastrophes as food stamps are cut off, educational opportunities are missed, and benefits are not accessed. Echoing Charles Perrow’s work on “normal accidents” in high-risk technology organizations, Sackett and Lareau find that the complexity, scrutiny, and necessity of proving deservedness increase the likelihood of errors and snags in procedures. Moreover, as refugee families navigate a complex web of social service organizations, problems in one arena can reverberate, creating new challenges in other institutions. By revealing the organizational obstacle course these newcomer families faced, We Thought It Would Be Heaven illuminates key mechanisms of inequality in America.