Religious Responses to Bereavement, Grief, and Loss Among Refugees

McLellan, Janet

doi:10.1080/15325024.2013.833807

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…At the individual level, religiosity and spirituality are related to and may promote mental well-being, as has been found in other research with migrants (Berzengi et al, 2017; McLellan, 2015; McMichael, 2002; Schweitzer et al, 2007) and among nonmigrant samples (AbdAleati, Zaharim, & Mydin, 2016). Participants emphasized the importance of private practices, particularly prayer and reading the Quran.…”

Section: Discussion: Religious Identity and Religious Influence On Wesupporting

confidence: 65%

“…Religion and spirituality are situated within social and cultural contexts that include environmental changes for forced migrants (Benson et al, 2012; McLellan, 2015). People who have been displaced often draw upon religious and community supports to cope with challenges (Schweitzer, Greenslade, & Kagee, 2007) and may find support in religion that they would otherwise lack in their new environment (McMichael, 2002).…”

Section: Literature Review: Religion Among Forced Migrant Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Religious Coping and Challenges Among Displaced Muslim Female Refugees

Shaw

Peacock

Ali

et al. 2019

Affilia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With millions of women experiencing forced displacement, attention is needed toward migrant women’s lived experiences. Religion is an understudied but central component of coping for many migrant women. Through the use of qualitative and quantitative methods, an exploratory study was conducted with 36 forced migrant Shia Muslim women residing in a predominantly Sunni Muslim country of first asylum. Using the brief Multidimensional Measure of Religiousness/Spirituality and drawing from feminist theory, intersectionality, and the ecological framework, we describe women’s experience with religion and spirituality across a variety of domains. Open-ended semistructured interviews were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Participants were highly religious across all domains measured. Key themes emerged related to how religion helps women manage stress, including: (1) trusting God to solve problems and (2) relying on prayer and other religious practices to cope. Despite these strengths, women also described major challenges to religious practice, where the third identified theme emphasized that fear and persecution limit religious practice. This article builds understanding of forced migrant women’s experiences, with implications for social work practice and immigration policy. Service organizations can recognize and support religious coping, particularly among religious minority refugee women. Additionally, practitioners and policy makers can promote religious tolerance and understanding within diverse host communities.

show abstract

Section: Discussion: Religious Identity and Religious Influence On Wesupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Literature Review: Religion Among Forced Migrant Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious Coping and Challenges Among Displaced Muslim Female Refugees

Shaw

Peacock

Ali

et al. 2019

Affilia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ultimately, the results of this study lay the foundations for further research on bereavement in the context of migration and open up avenues for clinical reflection on the role and scope of the parent–child relationship and cultural ties in providing support for migrants and refugees suffering from CG (Craig et al, 2008; McLellan, 2015). Whereas the “Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder,” a new nosographic category in the DSM-5 , requires additional research (APA, 2013; Shear et al, 2011), the psycho-cultural aspects of the grief reactions observed and discussed in this study modestly contribute to comprehensive heuristic analysis with the practical aim of preventing and treating them (Glass, 2005) in the context of migration.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

A Cross-Cultural Approach to Complicated Grief Reactions Among Togo–Western African Immigrants in Europe

Kokou-Kpolou

Menick

Moukouta

et al. 2017

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Many researchers have noted that bereavement is a major stress factor associated with the etiopathogeny of psychological disorders among immigrants, but until now, the grief reactions of these ethnic minorities have not been analyzed. This study aims to examine the impact of the migration trajectory (immigration status and duration) as well as the use of ritual support to cope with grief reactions in the context of migration. Fifty-four migrants and 20 refugees (N = 74) in France and Belgium were surveyed regarding their experience of mourning a family member. The results showed that complicated grief is associated with the status and duration of immigration. A majority of refugees reported a deterioration of their social life when the duration of their immigration exceeded 10 years. Feeling guilty, dazed or stunned, loneliness, bitterness, numbness, and emptiness made up the spectrum of severe and persistent guilt reactions. Those who took part in bereavement rituals suffered less from feelings of guilt and despondency. Eldest siblings presented a very high rate of complicated grief. These findings were discussed using a psycho-cultural approach; they demonstrated that in the context of migration, grief reactions develop around the principle of debt, based on the parent–child relationship inextricably associated with a feeling of belonging to the ethnic group and collective memory.

show abstract

“…For refugee young people as opposed to their non-refugee migrant peers, daily material stress furthermore corresponded to higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavioral difficulties. The fact that in refugees but not in non-refugee migrants, daily material stress was found to be associated with higher mental health vulnerability in addition to a lower well-being, could perhaps be understood in light of the numerous, complex losses that characterize the refugee experience (McLellan, 2015). Stressful post-flight living conditions, including the experience of material strain, may echo broader personal, familial, social and cultural bereavement following collective violence and forced displacement and compound their impact (e.g., Cissé et al, 2020).…”

Section: Daily Materials Stressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Health of Refugee and Non-refugee Migrant Young People in European Secondary Education: The Role of Family Separation, Daily Material Stress and Perceived Discrimination in Resettlement

Spaas

Verelst

Devlieger

et al. 2021

J Youth Adolescence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While scholarly literature indicates that both refugee and non-refugee migrant young people display increased levels of psychosocial vulnerability, studies comparing the mental health of the two groups remain scarce. This study aims to further the existing evidence by examining refugee and non-refugee migrants' mental health, in relation to their migration history and resettlement conditions. The mental health of 883 refugee and 483 non-refugee migrants (mean age 15.41, range 11-24, 45.9% girls, average length of stay in the host country 3.75 years) in five European countries was studied in their relation to family separation, daily material stress and perceived discrimination in resettlement. All participants reported high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Family separation predicted post-trauma and internalizing behavioral difficulties only in refugees. Daily material stress related to lower levels of overall well-being in all participants, and higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavioral difficulties in refugees. Perceived discrimination was associated with increased levels of mental health problems for refugees and non-refugee migrants. The relationship between perceived discrimination and post-traumatic stress symptoms in non-refugee migrants, together with the high levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms in this subsample, raises important questions on the nature of trauma exposure in non-refugee migrants, as well as the ways in which experiences of discrimination may interact with other traumatic stressors in predicting mental health.

show abstract

Religious Responses to Bereavement, Grief, and Loss Among Refugees

Cited by 14 publications

References 21 publications

Religious Coping and Challenges Among Displaced Muslim Female Refugees

Religious Coping and Challenges Among Displaced Muslim Female Refugees

A Cross-Cultural Approach to Complicated Grief Reactions Among Togo–Western African Immigrants in Europe

Mental Health of Refugee and Non-refugee Migrant Young People in European Secondary Education: The Role of Family Separation, Daily Material Stress and Perceived Discrimination in Resettlement

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About