Defining Adjustment to Address the Missing Link between Refugees and Their Resettlement Communities

Abstract

Background: data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) show that, in 2020, among 82.4 million refugees, only 251,000 returned to their home countries, indicating the desire for refugees to stay, for the long-term, in their new homelands. The paper contributes to the scientific–psychological debate on the social representation of refugee populations, by studying this population, not simply as “foreigners”, traumatized and resourceless people, but rather focusing on the factors that lead to their positive adjustments within local communities. Method: a scoping review was carried out to explore the phenomenon of adjustment (RQ1) and to identify the factors that foster adjustment among refugees and their resettlement communities (RQ2). A research protocol and eligibility criteria were defined prior to conducting the literature research through the Scopus database. Afterwards, data charting and items were conducted to organize the results. Results: a process of data mapping outlined three dimensions of adjustment—psychological, social, and scholastic. In addition, six macro factors emerged that ease refugee adjustments—context characteristics, time, social integration markers, acculturation, social support, and psychological capital. Results show that adjustment is the result of the inter-relations among sociological and psychological factors. Conclusions: the lack of studies addressing the inner resources of refugees and community participation confirms that research in this field needs a change of paradigm, to identify the resources that refugees use to adjust to their new communities and promote their development.

The Resettlement Journey: Understanding The Role of Social Connectedness on Well-being and Life Satisfaction among (Im)migrants and Refugees: A Systematic Review

“…Studies demonstrate social support provides a buffer against psychological distress and various disorders [48,49]. In addition to social support, 28.3% of the studies in the review noted building and strengthening community networks was beneficial for psychological wellbeing, life satisfaction, and resettlement [20,27,34,45,47,50,51]. Notably, Remennick's work [52,53] and Tippens et al [24] demonstrate how support from co-ethnic communities significantly boosts the psychological well-being and health of older women.…”

“…One of the eligible studies analysed differences between migrant and non-migrant groups. Across 40 studies, the sample sizes ranged from 2 to 5678 participants (N = 80,265), with the exclusion of three studies [20][21][22] as they reported only the number of articles, not participant counts. The sample sizes of the quantitative studies ranged from 50 to 5678 participants, with a total of 16,189 participants.…”

“Too Many Jobs and Not Enough Hands”: Immigrant and Refugee Community Health Workers at the Frontlines of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Applications of sense of community theory to health research have become more prominent in studies examining the roles of social capital, social networks, and social cohesion on health and healthcare delivery (e.g., Carpiano & Hystad, 2011; Hystad & Carpiano, 2010; Mahmoudi Farahani, 2016). Sense of community theory has also been used by researchers exploring immigrant and refugee postmigration adjustment (Badali et al, 2017; Keel & Drew, 2004; Modesti & Talamo, 2021; Weng & Lee, 2016). Weng and Lee (2016) noted the importance of ethnic community in cultural maintenance and in extending familial and fictive kin networks.…”

Evaluating a Social-Emotional Training Program for Refugee Families and Service Providers: Pilot Study

“…Although such adversities present true risks, they do not necessarily predestine refugees to adverse outcomes. In fact, many refugees show signs of positive adjustment and some even show signs of flourishing following resettlement, which may indicate the presence of resilience or protective factors [5][6][7]. Although much research in this area adopts a lens of risk, there are growing calls to better understand and nurture the unique strengths of refugees [8,9].…”