What does the literature say about resilience in refugee people? Implications for practice

Abstract

Refugee people experience many trials prior to arriving in Australia and face ongoing challenges associated with re-settlement. Despite facing such difficulties many refugee people demonstrate enormous strength and resilience that facilitates their re-settlement process. The authors' experience however suggests that professionals working with refugee people tend to focus on the trauma story to the neglect of their strengths. At times this means resilience is overshadowed by a dominant Western deficits model that defines refugee people as traumatised victims. Pathologising the trauma story of refugee people may further alienate refugee people from full inclusion into Australian life by denying their inherent resilience in the face of extraordinary life experiences. This article reviews Australian and International literature to explore factors that contribute to refugee resilience such as personal qualities, support and religion. The review also identifies elements that may impede resilience including; language barriers, racism, discrimination, and labelling the trauma story. The literature suggests refugee resilience moves beyond the Western individualised notion of resilience to a more communal construction of resilience that includes refugee people's broader social context. The literature highlights important practice implications and the authors respond to the findings by reflecting on their own practice Journal of Social Inclusion, 3(2), 2012 56 experience and considering implications for a more inclusive anti-oppressive strengthsbased approach to work with refugee people.

Stranger in a strange land; enabling information resilience in resettlement landscapes

“…Early work in resilience research and still much of the focus today, centres on the negative effects of adversity and the psychology of individual responses to adverse situations or conditions (Hutchinson and Dorsett, 2012;Luthar et al, 2000;Masten and Wright, 2010). The locus of this research is primarily focused on risk factors in relation to chronic illnesses in adults, and vulnerability in relation to children (Pooley and Cohen, 2010, p. 30).…”

“…When resilience is viewed as a personal quality or trait, a number of factors emerge that emphasise the affective aspects of personal character, focusing on the optimism, personal strength, adaptability and perseverance (Ahern et al, 2008;Hutchinson and Dorsett, 2012;Pooley and Cohen, 2010). As a process, resilience has been defined more holistically to include the psychological, and the interaction between the "ecological context" and the person (Curtis and Cicchetti, 2007, p. 811).…”

“…Hutchinson and Dorsett (2012) have explored the literature specifically related to refugees and resilience in Australia, but also drew from international studies in order to supplement the paucity of literature in this area. These authors identified themes, which contribute to a view of resilience, relating to: personal qualities, support, religion and spirituality.…”

Exploring physical activity engagement and barriers for asylum seekers in Australia coping with prolonged uncertainty and no right to work

“…Drawing on religious and spiritual beliefs to regain control and meaning in one's life has also been found to be a useful coping strategy for refugees post‐migration (Khawaja et al . , Hutchingson & Dorsett ). Furthermore, a study of Somali and Oromo refugee youth in the United States found that the most frequent strategies used to combat sadness and stress were praying (55.3%), sleeping (39.9%), reading (32.2%), talking to friends (27.8%) and physical activity (10%) (Halcón et al .…”

“…At the same time, research also highlights the considerable levels of personal resilience that many people from a refugee background have and a range of coping strategies that may be utilised during their transition to the host society (Correa-Velez et al 2010, Fozdar & Hartley, 2013Hutchinson & Dorsett 2012, Goodman 2004, Pittaway et al 2009, Schweitzer et al 2007, Silove 2001. This research predominately focuses on refugees' post-migration experiences (that is, those who have been granted refugee status), which raises important questions as to how asylum seekers cope with ongoing uncertainty while they wait for their refugee claim to be finalised, and the types of coping strategies they may engage in.…”