Immigration is a MESS!
After reading Joseph Bentley and Michael Toth, Exploring Wicked Problems: I realize that our country no longer has an immigration problem; our country has an immigration mess. In this post I will define tame and wicked problems, define a mess (it may or may not be my son’s bedroom), show why immigration is a mess, and discuss how to tame a problem.
A problem according to Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber can be categorized as either being tame or wicked.[1]. “Problems that lent themselves to straightforward solutions they called ‘tame problems.’ Those that were inherently too difficult to solve they named ‘wicked problems.’”[2] Keep in mind that the use of the term wicked doesn’t mean evil. Its like Bostonians using the term more as an intensifier like Thomas Porter did in 1663 “’ Yesterday was a hot day, a wicked hot day.’”[3] Bentley and Toth state that wicked describes problems that are “complex, messy, and unpredictable.”[4]
Messes on the other hand were identified by Russell Ackoff as being a “’complex systems of [many] changing problems that interact with each other.’”[5] Toth and Bentley expand on this description saying messes are ongoing, interrelated, dynamic, fuzzy, complicated, confusing, complex, chaotic situations. They exist in our societies and in our lives. They are incubators of wicked problems.”[6]
Ackoff “explained that people ‘do not solve problems; they manage messes.’ So when we think we are talking about problems, what we are usually referring to are messes. And by not acknowledging the difference, we end up setting the stage for new problems; misunderstandings that too often lead to premature conclusions, blaming and fault finding, increased frustration and unhelpful conflict.”[7]
So why is Immigration a mess? Because it involves a series of complex chaotic situations that we can only hope to manage.
Do you remember doing The 5 Whys as part of your Exploration Workshop? This activity is “about understanding the root cause of a problem so that people can get the greatest leverage out of solving it.”[8] Let’s conduct the activity with Immigration and see one possible understanding of the immigration mess.
- Why do people, specifically from Central and South America Immigrate to the United States? Many immigrate because they do not feel safe in their own country.[9]
- Why do they not feel safe? Because of the violence associated with the drug cartels that are taking over the country.[10]
- Why are drug cartels taking over the country? Because manufacturing and selling drugs is a very lucrative business and the cartels do anything they can to stay in business and in power.[11]
- Why are drugs a lucrative business? Because the United States is the biggest consumer of drugs manufactured in Central and South America. Of the 29-30 million people chronically addicted to drugs, the 2017 World Drug Report estimates at least 24 million of those live in the United States.[12]
- Why are people in the United States Using Drugs? Because it is easier to temporarily escape your issue (mental health, domestic violence, abuse, poverty, etc.) through drug use than to deal with present reality.[13]
The reality is that we could go way beyond the 5 Whys and your answer to the first why may take us down a completely different trail. In the end though we find that each answer reveals an interrelated, complicated, complex, chaotic problem, thus making this a big mess. The question is where does one begin to manage the mess? Is deporting people, building a wall, or attempting to eradicate the cartels the solution?
Bentley and Toth describe a process to tame the problem that involves nine steps[14]
- Embrace the Mess – this basically means to not deny that the mess exists.
- Find the Problem – this involves researching the mess and identifying things that resembles a problem(s).
- Own the Problem – this involves making the problem a priority and ensuring that something gets done about it.
- Create the Problem – This is deciding what part of the mess you want to work on addressing.[15]
- Define the Problem – this involves locating the gap from where things are currently to where you want things to be in the future and setting goals.
- Name the Problem – without a name there is no consensus on what you are talking about and therefore cannot make plans to address it.
- Identifying the Obstacles – this is identifying and naming what will block your progress in obtaining your future goals
- Recruit, Enlist, and Engage Others – this involves finding stakeholders that share a common interest/concern.
- Create and Implement an Action Plan – this involves creating a plan to overcome the obstacles and developing a method to monitor your progress.
I feel like these are the steps that we have been taking as we work on our doctoral project. I wish I had read this book prior to starting the program to give me a better understanding of where I have been heading. This is a great process, and I can envision incorporating this into the classroom, especially the Social Work for Organizations and Communities and Social Justice and Advocacy courses. However, I wonder if anyone in the legislative and executive branches of local, state, and federal government engage in this process to confront out messes and problems? I hope that each of you have a wicked good week!
[1] Joseph Bentley and Michael Toth, Exploring Wicked Problems: What They Are and Why They Are Important, (Bloomington, IN: Archway Publishing, 2020)., xii-xiv.
[2] Bentley and Toth, xiv.
[3] Molly Farrar, “Wickedpedia: When did people in Boston start saying ‘wicked’?” Boston.com, July 29, 2024, https://www.boston.com/news/wickedpedia/2024/07/29/wickedpedia-when-did-people-in-boston-start-saying-wicked/
[4] Bentley and Toth, xiv.
[5] Bentley and Toth, 63.
[6] Bentley and Toth, 63.
[7] Bentley and Toth, 75-76.
[8] David Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo. Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers. (Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, 2010), 143..
[9] Sarah Bermeo, “Violence drives immigration from Central America,” Brookings Institution, June 26, 2018, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/violence-drives-immigration-from-central-america/.
[10] Bermeo.
[11] Sanchez, “Why Are The Cartels So Powerful In Mexico? A Historical And In-Depth Analysis,” Scientific Origin, September 19, 2024, https://scientificorigin.com/why-are-the-cartels-so-powerful-in-mexico-a-historical-and-in-depth-analysis; Hernández, “How Drug Trafficking Has Kept Its Hold on Latin America,” Havard International Review, June 26, 2024, https://hir.harvard.edu/knowledge-soil-politics-and-poverty-how-drug-trafficking-has-kept-its-hold-on-latin-america/
[12] Rehab America, “How the U.S. Drug Problem Compares to Other Countries,” October 5, 2018, https://www.rehabsamerica.org/blog/how-the-u-s–drug-problem-compares-to-other-countries-137
[13] National Institute on Drug Abuse, “The Science of Drug Abuse: A Resource for the Justice Sector, November 23, 2022, https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/criminal-justice/science-drug-use-resource-justice-sector; N, Estrellado, “Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence: National Statistics,” Addiction Group, July 16, 2024, https://www.addictiongroup.org/resources/domestic-violence-statistics/; United Nations, “Voices: Maria Melchoir,” accessed on January 24, 2025, https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/listen-first/voices/maria-melchior.html
[14] Unless other wise noted, the nine steps and their descriptions come from Bentley and Toth, 80-82.
[15] Bentley and Toth, 105.
About the Author
Jeff Styer
Jeff Styer lives in Northeast Ohio's Amish Country. He has degrees in Social Work and Psychology and currently works as a professor of social work at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Jeff is married to his wife, Veronica, 25+ years. Together they have 4 beautiful children (to be honest, Jeff has 4 kids, Veronica says she is raising 5). Jeff loves the outdoors, including biking, hiking, camping, birding, and recently picked up disc golf.12 responses to “Immigration is a MESS!”
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Jeff, it’s great to see your incorporation of the five whys. You are spot on. And I concur, the problem taming steps would have been helpful earlier in our research continuum.
How might you utilize this insightful info in your classroom?
Jennifer,
Using this in the classroom will involve first getting students to recognize messes over problems. As social workers seek to work with others to address problems it is important for them to realize that there are multiple complex problems that first need to be identified and named and that you cannot solve them all at the same time.
When I teach Social Justice and Advocacy class next spring, I am considering starting off each topic (immigration, poverty, mental health, etc.) with having students do the 5 Whys exercise. This way they can see the various problems in each topic and the interrelatedness of the various problems.
Thanks so much Jeff. Given that managing messes requires ongoing engagement and acknowledging complexity, how can we encourage or create systems within local, state, or federal government that prioritise long-term management of such messes over short-term, politically driven solutions?
Glyn,
I was just thinking about this earlier today. In Ohio one of our legislators just introduced a piece of legislation to make the school year longer because test scores are down. I would love to conduct the 5 whys with that legislator and their staff and have them provide supporting evidence for each of their answers to the 5 whys. I think they would see that the number of hours in a school year is not the problem.
To answer your question maybe we create a system where policy makers are forced to consider Bentley and Toth’s nine steps to taming problems before they can introduce a policy. Not perfect but it might get them to understand that quick fixes do not really exist.
Jeff,
I love the 5 why’s as it does help get to the heart of the issue. Yet, on this issue there are so many more why’s that we can dig into. But also we can ask questions with “how.” How did these countries become such a supplier of drugs? How did America contribute to the development of these drugs as an issue? How does our system allow for immigrants to enter a safe place legally? How should our government respond to other countries problems? How should our government respond to other countries problems that we caused or had a significant role in causing? How should Christians view the immigration mess? Truly, it is a mess.
Adam,
I agree lots more whys and lots of hows to be answered. I really hope that our legislators begin to ask these why and how questions as they seek to address this mess.
Hey Jeff! Way to go with the 5 Why’s! I agree this would be a helpful resource earlier in the journey. As you unpacked taming the problem you outlined the nine steps. Did any one of those nine really resonate with you?
Daren,
I think Naming the Problem is one that resonates with me. I think giving it a name further defines it and takes away some of its power. Un-named things tend to thrive in the mystery and fear they present. Once something is named you now know what it is and what to expect from it.
Jeff, thank you for this cogent analysis of problems and messes, especially the immigration mess. I appreciate all the work you are doing!
How do you envision incorporating the concept of managing messes and wicked problems into your Social Work courses? What specific activities or discussions do you think would be most beneficial for students?
Debbie,
I think incorporating something like the 5 whys would be a starting point to demonstrate how everyone sees problems and messes differently. In my social justice and advocacy class each week I spend one class discussing the process of advocacy, the other class I typically discuss a problem such as immigration, poverty, mental health, etc. At this point I would plan to have the students do an exercise like the 5 whys to help show them the complexity of the problem and begin to brainstorm ways to tame the problem.
In my organizations and communities class, the important thing is to help students recognize the various viewpoints of the problem and realize the importance of working WITH the community or organization to define and work to tame the problem.
Hi Jeff, immigration is a mess and indeed a wicked problem to tame. If you could have the ear of the president, in what ways would you encourage him to tame the wicked problems around immigration?
Christy,
If I could get him to listen and not talk over me, I would encourage him to slow down and identify the various problems that make up this mess and their interconnectedness to other messes. I would encourage him to put together the best teams that can begin to research viable solutions to these problems. The options need to be realistic and things that we as a nation can do. Starting with addressing mental health needs would be a great starting point.