Refugees are a vulnerable and marginalized population who have high rates of emotional distress that are often unidentified and untreated by the current mental health system. In 2013, nearly 2,500 refugees displaced from their home countries by persecution and armed conflict were resettled in North Carolina. Using the standardized Refugee Health Screener-15 as a mental health assessment tool, two research questions were studied: (1) What percentage of refugees resettled by Church World Service in Durham and Orange Counties in North Carolina show clinically significant levels of mental health distress? and (2) To what degree does level of mental health distress among refugees vary by length of time since resettlement? Screenings were completed …show more content…
refugee program began in 1975 to accommodate refugees from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon (National Child Traumatic Stress Network [NCTSN], 2005). At the end of 2012, 45.2 million people around the world were displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, and violence (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], 2013). In fiscal year 2013, almost 70,000 (69,926) refugees arrived in the United States; 2,419 of them were resettled in North Carolina (UNHCR, 2013). A refugee is a person who has left his or her native country and cannot or will not return due to war, violence, or persecution (United Nations, 1951). The refugee must have a rational fear of persecution for membership in a specific social group, nationality, political opinion, race or religion. In 2012, the primary reasons for refugees fleeing their home country were ethnic and tribal conflict, religious persecution, and war violence (UNHRC, …show more content…
As such, it is relevant to review previous methods of needs assessments utilized with refugee populations. In many states, mental health screenings are not formally conducted during the resettlement process. In North Carolina, providers and resettlement agencies have been reluctant to administer mental health screenings because there are few - if any - mental health services available to refugees if a need were to be identified. Time constraints, costs, lack of available interpreters, and an inability to follow-up with newly arrived individuals also contribute to the scarcity of available screenings (Pathways to Wellness, 2011). A number of mental health screening tools have been developed to assess the magnitude of this gap in services for refugees but none have proved comprehensive yet brief enough to ascertain the immediate mental health needs of refugees (The New Mexico Refugee Symptoms Checklist-121; The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25; The Posttraumatic Symptom Scale-Self Report). Most recently, however, the Pathways to Wellness Project (2011) developed the Refugee Health Screener – 15 (RHS-15) for refugee resettlement agencies and has conducted multiple studies to ensure its reliability and validity. Due to the brevity, cost-effectiveness, and reliability of this measure, the
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.
A Refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country because of the war or the
Refugee is someone who fled his/her country because of conflict or for fear of been prosecuted for reason of race, nationality, religion, sexuality, and political opinion (UNHCR, 1 February, 2002). An asylum seeker is someone who fled his/her country of origin and applies for recognition as a refugee in another country, and
The life of a refugee is not just a life of trials and ordeals, but also has rewards for those who pushed through the pain.
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
The term refugee refers to persons fleeing their country due to religious persecution, war or violence. In the history of refugees there have been many instances in which thousands of refugees had to flee, or were forcefully evicted from their country. Among these instances include the Armenian Genocide, the expulsion of Germans from and the Syrian
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.
Migrating from one country to another may happen for many reasons. Immigration is the process that occurs when an individual goes to live permanently in a foreign country (Oxford Dictionary, 2016). However, there are different types of migration that occur, and it is vital to distinguish the differences between an immigrant and a refugee for the purpose of understanding the two terms. Other titles such as asylum seeker is applicable here, however this study will not be looking at asylum seekers. Legally, an Asylum seeker is recognised in the UK as an individual who has applied for refugee status in the UK and is still waiting for a decision on his or her claim, once an individual has received a positive decision on his or her claim they own
Refugees by definition are victims of human rights violations. According to the 1951 Refugee Convention the term ‘refugee’ applies to “any persons who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is
Refugees are people who have left their own countries or nationality because they feel threat to their lives in their own country on the basis of cast, religion, culture. They experience and witness traumatic events such as wars and conflicts. There has been significant increase in the number of refugees from Afghanistan in Australia with evidences showing mental illness among them is quite high (Maroney, Potter, & Thacore, 2014). There is a lack of literature on the subject of rehabilitation of Afghan clients in the Australian context. Set of data was collected when Refugees health status was checked. Out of 186 refugees 60% were found to be female. The most common diagnosis confirmed by testing were vitamin D deficiency (23%), hepatitis
Many places in world natural disasters and other things have made people have to leave their home country and become a refugee.
A refugee is defined as an individual who has been forced to leave their country due to political or religious reasons, or due to a threat of war or violence. There were 19.5 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2014, 14.4 million under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around 2.9 million more than in 2013. The other 5.1 million Palestinian refugees are registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). With the displacement of so many people, it is difficult to find countries willing to accept all the refugees. There are over 125 different countries that currently host refugees, and with this commitment comes the responsibility of ensuring these refugees have access to the basic requirements of life: a place to live, food to eat, and a form of employment or access to education.