Introduction When a child, like nine-year-old Ibrahim, shares his story, it is difficult to relate or comprehend. It is hard to not feel any sadness or heartbreak with such desperate words being voiced by a young child’s lips. Destruction and violence of this sort is far from what western populations generally have experience with, so it is terribly difficult to process or understand. Each and every child refugee around the world has his or her own story that is only theirs, yet they are treated as one lump sum: refugee children. Instead, these children need to be seen as the individuals that they are. They need to be recognized as human beings who have similarities to others, but additionally, are just as different. All non-refugee children …show more content…
Though they have experienced similar trauma through their time, it does not mean that they are all the same. This is additionally true for child refugees who are not a “homogeneous population and can vary along a number of dimensions,” (Sourander 719). Child refugees need to be assessed and treated as the unique individuals that they are. Child refugees as a group have many mental health issues, but these issues are not all the same, since these children have not had the same life experiences. The encounters that child refugees have pre-migration, during migration, and post-migration, along with their risk factors and protective factors all affect their mental health and …show more content…
Firstly, refugee children also have to adjust to living in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar culture (Fazel and Stein 367). Culture shock is challenging for many people when they are travelling for pleasure, but for refugee children there is a drastic level of adjustment since they are not only coming from somewhere else where they knew the norms and language, but it is where their history is. Added to that is the reality that they may never be able to go back. Secondly, according to Beiser, “[p]overty is one of the most potent of all factors that place children’s mental health at risk,” (104). Child refugees generally arrive in the country where they are seeking asylum with nothing, so the probability of them living in poverty for at least a period of time is high, which causes an increased risk for mental health
Currently “first and second generation immigrant children are the fastest growing segment of the U.S population, and there are currently 40 million immigrants living in the United States.” (Stephenson, 2008) According to Sirin, Ryce, Gupta authors of The Role of Acculturative Stress of Mental Health Symptoms for Immigrant Adolescents: A longitudinal Study; a first generation immigrant is someone who was born in another country and then moved to a host country, while a second generation immigrant is someone who was born in the host country but has at least one parent who was born abroad (2013). The goal of this paper is to look at the mental health of second generation immigrants, and how (or if) cultural identity, acculturation, undocumented vs documented status of parents, education and language barriers protect or negatively affect the mental health of this growing popul...
Rothe, Eugenio M. "A Psychotherapy Model For Treating Refugee Children Caught In The Midst Of Catastrophic Situations." Journal Of The American Academy Of Psychoanalysis & Dynamic Psychiatry 36.4 (2008): 625-642. Academic Search Premier. Web. 2 May 2014.
My essay focuses on discrimination as one of the main challenges that refugees face. I discuss some instances of discrimination that occurred in the book, whether based on race or culture,
Living without loved ones and their precious belongings will make refugees face the point of turning “inside out”. All refugees have lost loved ones and their precious belongings. For many refugees they lose their parent’s or siblings. Some don’t have family there anymore so they lose their belongings that remind them of their home, family, and country.
Migration has been found to have negative effects on mental health because of circumstances surrounding the move, circumstances of the actual passage, trouble adapting to the new culture, breaks in the migrant’s support system of friends and family, and disappointed expectations of social and economic acquisition.
We Are Being Swamped: Less than 16,000 (15,800) people claim asylum in Australia each year. While this may seem like a lot, Australia receives less than two percent of the total asylum claims made globally.
They have been found to have detrimental psychological effects, as they leave refugees in a state of limbo, fearing their imminent forced return, where they are unable to integrate into society. This emotional distress is often compounded by the fact that refugees on TPVs in Australia are not able to apply for family reunification nor are they able to leave the country. Family reunification is a well-established right in Sweden, as well as most western countries. Moreover, it is a human right protected under the ICCPR whereby refugees have the right to family (Article 23) and the right to freedom from arbitrary interference with family life (Article 17). As a result of living in a state of uncertainty and heartache caused by family separation, refugees on TPVs face a “700 percent increased risk of developing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in comparison with PPV (permanent protection visa) refugees (Mansouri et al. 2009, pp. 145). Denial of family reunification under TPVs is likely to cause more asylum seekers to engage in illegal means to arrive in
“War torn nations left bullet-ridden ruins, native people forced to flee and find new homes in foreign places-this is the reality of the refugees.” First of all what is a refugee? Refugees are normal everyday people who are forced to flee their homes because they are afraid to stay in their home country. And when they do flee, they may be obliged to leave behind family members, friends, a home, a job, and other special possessions. One of these refugees is a war-torn child who suffered the harsh realities of the 1975 Vietnam war.
There should therefore be emphasis placed on assessing the mental health of these kids because of the adverse experiences in their home countries and the distress experienced in an alien country or culture in which they find themselves. Weaver and Burns (2001) thus argue that social workers need a greater understanding of the impact of trauma to be effective with asylum seekers in general and UASC. However, many people who are exposed to traumatic experiences do not necessarily develop mental issues so social workers should be cautious about making assumptions as studies shows that most asylum seekers point to social and economic factors as important rather than psychological
These issues also include poverty and limited or no access to education, training, mental health and health care resources. Refugees also face persecution and are unable to return to their home in their native country (Villalba, 2009). Mental health counselors need to understand the impact of trauma on their refugee clientele, as they may include physical torture and mental abuse in nature. According to Sue and Sue (2013) counselors will need to address the most salient concerns of refugees, which include safety and loss. The possibility of being, or having been, mentally abused and physically tortured has an impact on their ability to stay in the hosting country. Counselors will be dealing with post-traumatic stress from their client. Equally important is for the counselor to assist the refugee in understanding issues of confidentiality. For Muslim immigrants and refugees, counselors should consider national policies during the counseling process. For example, the two Sudanese sisters’ were able to resolve their religious practice of wearing the hijab and securing employment in a beneficial way. As an advocate for the sisters and other Muslim refugees, it would be helpful to provide them access to resources that educate them in antidiscrimination policies that can protect them against hate crimes and legal resources that can help them seek asylum. In essence, culturally competent practices for counselors working with immigrants and refugees begin with understanding their worldviews, as well the national and international legal issues that confront their
In prior researches (Kataoka et al., 2003; Beehler et al, 2011), there are significant problems among immigrant children, especially mental health problems. Immigrant children could have pre-migration trauma, being undocumented, and most importantly language problems. So, developing strategies to help immigrant children acculturate effectively would be necessary. There is also a study which suggests that unstable immigrant status increases a child’s risk for psychological and behavioral problems, such as anxiety disorders, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and eating disorders (Pumariega et al. 2005). Moreover, most of literature mentioned that lots of immigrant children experience various problems as learning a new
According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugee is a term applied to anyone who is outside his/her own country and cannot return due to the fear of being persecuted on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership of a group or political opinion. Many “refugees” that the media and the general public refer to today are known as internally displaced persons, which are people forced to flee their homes to avoid things such as armed conflict, generalized violations of human rights or natural and non-natural disasters. These two groups are distinctly different but fall ...
The social problem we have chosen to address is the mental health status of refugees. Refugees are exposed to a significant amount of trauma due to fear, war, persecution, torture, and relocating. The mental health illnesses that can affect refugees due to exposure to traumas include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Research indicated that refugees relocating from war-torn countries are particularly vulnerable to mental health concerns because many have experienced early traumas and face further post-traumas after relocation (Cummings, et al., 2011). However, despite the prevalence of mental health issues concerning refugees, mental health needs often go unrecognized and untreated.
All around the world, people are being forced to leave their homes due to war, persecution, and unequal treatment; these people are called refugees. When they flee, refugees leave behind their homes, family, friends, and personal possessions. They make risky escapes and their lives could be easily taken from them. Refugees often become distant and depressed as they experience these traumatic events. In the novel Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, ten year-old Hà and her family live in South Vietnam: a war torn country. Hà was like any ten year-old; she liked to stay close to her mother and got jealous when things didn’t go her way. She loves her home and wanted to stay, even when the war between the North and South got closer to home.
Jordan has witnessed many waves of refugees since its inception in 1946, with some waves coming even before independence. Despite its very limited natural and financial resources, Jordan has hosted refugees from the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, and Sudan. The status of various ethnic groups that have settled in Jordan range from full integration into Jordanian society to no or very little integration. For example, Circassian and Chechens are full members of Jordanian society while Sudanese and Somali refugees are widely treated as outcasts. Therefore, it is imperative that NGOs focus their limited financial resources on those refugees who have very little integration in society and who are therefore more vulnerable. In addition, it is important these organizations are aware of the demographics of the refugee population in Jordan and what services are most needed.