Cultural diversity in community sport: an ethnographic inquiry of Somali Australians' experiences

Background. Refugee children might have experienced violent and traumatic events before settling into a new country. In the United Kingdom, the number of refugee children is increasing; however, little is known about their psycho-social and physical well-being. 

Aim. This study aims to investigate the psychological well-being and behaviour of refugee children compared to British-born children on a number of psychological, social, behavioural, and health-related issues and to investigate the role of friendship as a protective factor. 

Samples. This study utilized a sample of 149 refugee children recruited from two charities, 79 of which are children aged 6–10 years and 70 older refugee children aged 11– 16 years. The study also included 120 non-refugee children recruited from primary schools aged 6–10 years. 

Methods. This is a cross-sectional study that investigates the psycho-social well-being of refugee children compared to non-refugee British-born children. The study explored symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, emotional and behavioural problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), self-esteem, friendships and popularity, bullying and victimization, physical health, and psychosomatic problems. 

Results. Young refugee children reported more peer problems, functional impairment, physical health, and psychosomatic problems compared to the control children and older refugee children groups. On the other hand, older refugee children had lower self-esteem (academic and social self-peers) compared to the younger refugee children group. The differences between the groups were explained by friendship quality, number of friends, peer bullying/victimization, or sibling bullying/victimization except for physical health and psychosomatic problems. 

Conclusions. While refugee children were found to be at risk on various levels, the findings also point to the fact that social relationships including friendship quality and number of friends played an essential protective role. Conversely, bullying was a risk factor that explained many of the refugees’ problems. These findings pave the way for future research to further probe into the well-being of refugee children in the United Kingdom while also targeting relevant intervention schemes specifically tailored to address their needs.

/pdf/examining-the-psychological-well-being-of-refugee-children-3pwuh070mi.pdf

Examining the psychological well-being of refugee children and the role of friendship and bullying

Since the end of the Second World War, Australia has resettled over 750,000 refugees. Australia s resettlement efforts were most pronounced in the late 1940s and early 1950s when it accommodated hundreds of thousands of European Displaced Persons (DPs) who were brought to Australia under the auspices of the International Refugee Organization (IRO), the immediate predecessor of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 1949 alone, Australia resettled 75,486 DPs sponsored by the IRO. In 2012/13, Australia accepted 20,019 people under its humanitarian program, including 12,012 refugees selected off-shore.

The resettlement of refugees in Australia: a bibliography (8th rev. ed.)

Given the backdrop of a global influx of refugees and high numbers of youth under the age of 18 among counts of forcibly displaced persons, this chapter examines the literature on educational experiences among resettled refugees in Western countries. Young refugees typically face a complex set of unique challenges and adversities including disruptions in their schooling, displacement, exposure to potentially traumatic events, and resettlement stressors. Youth and parent interactions with schools are influenced by linguistic and cultural differences, which can make it difficult to communicate and advocate for young refugees' educational needs. The chapter provides a review of educational literature on resettled refugee youth. We use a socioecological framework and offer a protective and promotive lens, including psychosocial issues, to consider for school-based prevention and intervention programs. The chapter builds upon Pastoor (2015), who advocated a holistic approach with refugee students in school-based settings.

Psychosocial and Academic Adjustment among Resettled Refugee Youth

There have been changes in the conceptual frames and research approaches that consider the development of children in relation to culture, the cultural, or to (our preference) cultural contexts. The chapter begins with an analysis of conceptual frames and the splits and dichotomies that have regarded change as unidirectional and unidimensional, neglecting the intertwining of the personal with the social and the cultural. We examine shifts in conceptual frames and research approaches in five lines of analysis, noting the changes that have occurred, the questions raised, and the changes that may take analyses in new directions. Cutting across these lines of analysis are proposals about the nature of context, the nature of development, and their interconnections. In any situation, children experience more than one, often competing cultural contexts, and more than one way of thinking, feeling and acting. We propose moving beyond separations, beyond seeing contexts as one-dimensional and individuals as solo, moving instead to analyses of the two as intertwined.


Keywords:

acculturation;
bicultural identity;
cultural contexts;
culture;
continuity and change;
interconnections;
separations and dichotomies;
units of analysis

Children and Cultural Context

We examined self-descriptions of children of Somali refugee families in Australian primary schools, focusing on how children’s school-related skills and needs relate to the interpretive frames of mainstream and ethnic cultures. Three groups of Grade 5 and 6 children (Somali, Disadvantaged, Advantaged) made choices among school-related skills, and rated feelings and needs for the transition to high school. Findings indicate a general goodness of fit between emphases of the mainstream culture and Somali children’s choices (sport, maths), while reflecting some values of their ethnic interpretive frames (rejecting art, music). Gender stereotypic differences did not interact with culture. Children’s computer-based choices provide a basis for bringing together studies of development and acculturation, and for differentiating between refugee status and socio-economic disadvantage.

Children of Somali refugees in Australian schools: Self-descriptions of school-related skills and needs:

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Children of Somali refugees in Australian schools: Self-descriptions of school-related skills and needs: