Migrant trust in public services: Institutional encounters and urban inclusion in Finland

Trust in public services is important for migrants to navigate institutions and participate in the societies where they live, yet less is known about how trust develops through repeated institutional encounters across different levels of public service provision. This qualitative study examines how Iranian migrant women in Finland develop, revise, and sustain trust through encounters with national and municipal public services. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 13 Iranian women living in Helsinki and Tampere, the study uses reflexive thematic analysis to trace trust trajectories across different migration pathways and institutional contexts. The findings show that trust is not a fixed attitude toward public institutions, but an evolving process shaped by institutional performance, perceived fairness, transparency, responsiveness, consistency, and the quality of everyday encounters. Participants described administrative delays and competence-related difficulties, while accounts of unfairness, opacity, and discriminatory treatment were particularly associated with erosion of trust. Frontline professionals played an important intermediary role by translating institutional rules into lived service experiences, while family, community networks, and other intermediaries helped participants interpret procedures and navigate difficulties. These relational resources could buffer negative institutional experiences and support continued engagement with public services. The findings further show that institutional encounters have implications beyond trust: respectful and responsive interactions can strengthen migrants' sense of recognition and inclusion, whereas repeated experiences of disregard or exclusion may reinforce perceptions of marginalisation. The study highlights migrant trust as relational and evolving, and public services in urban settings as important sites where trust and inclusion are experienced and negotiated.