Family bonds in the midst of adversity: Insights into refugee children’s coping ways

Abstract

This study explored refugee children’s ways of coping focusing on their strengths. The present study involved 26 students, 8 Iraqi Kurds, 6 Afghans, and 12 from Syria attending reception classes (called early morning reception zone) in the morning program of two Greek Elementary schools. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews. This study using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) explored the subjective narratives of the participating refugee children. Three superordinate themes relating to the aims of the current research emerged from the data: (1) caring relationships, (2) a place of (and for) safety and (3) new perspectives. Supportive family bonds, being securely resettled with other family members, security of housing and opportunities to study in a supportive school environment were found to be factors which either reduced significant stressors or ameliorated the effects of adverse childhood experiences as regards this study’s participants.

Allies, access and (collective) action: Young refugee women’s navigation of gendered educational constraints in Greece

“…Overall, it responds to calls for greater, more contextualised understandings of refugee women's needs when developing 'durable solutions' to displacement (Diamond, 2019;Hatoss & Huijser, 2010). Such solutions are direly needed to help refugee women enjoy the benefits of post-compulsory learning 2 : such as more employment opportunities, better health outcomes, new support networks, 'safe spaces' to rebuild aspirations and renegotiate hierarchies, increased mobility and the chance to claim ownership of otherwise maledominated space (El Jack, 2010;Iraklis, 2021;Rezaian et al, 2019;UNHCR, 2016;2020c).…”

Difficulties in emotion regulation among Syrian refugee girls: Risk and protective factors.

“…It has been postulated that family relationships affect children's emotional development (e.g., Davies & Cummings, 2010) and that these relationships set a developmental context for emotion regulation in children (Morris et al, 2007). While family support and positive family relationships have been identified as protectors from stress during the phases of the refugee experience, family conflict negatively influenced children's emotion regulation (Iraklis, 2021b;Pieloch et al, 2016). Families in the Arab world have been characterized as being collective and authoritarian (Dwairy, 1998).…”

“…The strategies refugee children use to regulate their emotions are the focus of a great deal of recent theoretical and empirical work, and a number of specific strategies have been argued to be generally adaptive or maladaptive (see reviews in Gross & Thompson, 2007;Kring & Sloan, 2010). However, these studies were qualitative in nature and had a small sample size (Iraklis, 2021a(Iraklis, , 2021bMaegusuku-Hewett et al, 2007;Ní Raghallaigh & Gilligan, 2010), hence limiting our capacity to draw general inferences from them. Refugees' psychosocial needs and ways of coping are related to cultural concepts of mental health as well as to influencing factors in host countries (Hassan et al, 2015;Silove et al, 2017), which underlines the importance of investigating the specific coping styles of Syrian refugee girls in Lebanon and Jordan.…”

Culturally responsive refugee and migrant health.

“…Despite the increased risk for mental health concerns among migrant and refugee populations, it is important to note that children of ethnic minorities in the United States are disproportionately overscreened and overreported for abuse and maltreatment, increasing further risk for trauma due to family separation (Lane et al, 2002). This is particularly notable, as family relationships and social supports have been found to mitigate the impact of trauma among these populations by fostering resilience (Iraklis, 2021).…”