“I Have No Capacities That Can Help Me”: Young Asylum Seekers in Norway and Serbia – Flight as Disturbance of Developmental Processes

Abstract

Most studies on refugee populations are organized around trauma-related issues and focus on explaining pathological factors. Few studies are anchored in general developmental psychology with the aim of exploring normal age-specific developmental tasks and how the special circumstances associated with forced migration can influence how developmental tasks are negotiated. This study is part of a larger mixed method study seeking to identify resilience-promoting and resilience-inhibiting factors, on individual and contextual levels, among asylum seekers and refugees on the move (passing through Serbia) and settled in reception centers in Norway. A strategic sample of 20 adolescent and young adult refugees/asylum seekers during flight in Serbia (10) and after arrival in Norway (10) was chosen from a sample of 178 refugees interviewed in depth in Serbia and at receptions centers in Norway. The sample reflects the focus of this paper, which is to explore adolescent and young adult refugees/asylum seekers’ psychological and social needs and resources during flight to and after arrival in the host country, including how developmental tasks are negotiated. Through qualitative analysis, experiences associated with the developmental changes the participants experienced before, during, and after flight are contextualized. Their sense of self, their relationships with their families and their perceptions of their situation as adolescents or young adults in a highly unpredictable situation are presented in the light of relevant theory and findings from similar refugee studies. All the participants have fled from dangerous and intolerable situations in their home countries. They describe extreme dangers during flight in contexts that are unpredictable and where they feel lonely and unsupported. Most have unmet psychosocial needs and have received little support or help for their mental health issues during flight or after arrival in Norway. Suggestions for interventions and resilience-promoting actions are given based on the findings of the study.

Afghan mental health and psychosocial well-being: thematic review of four decades of research and interventions

“…As expected, studies find high PTSD and depression symptoms among Afghans displaced to countries such as Iran, 87 Pakistan, 88,89 Turkey, 90 Serbia 91 and high-income countries such as Australia, 92,93 Canada, 94 Germany, 95 The Netherlands 96,97 and the USA. 98 Poor mental health lingers for long periods after resettlement, 99 given that the associations between trauma exposure and clinical symptoms are moderated through the presence of ongoing stressors and loss of coping resources.…”

“…112,113 Similarly, Afghan refugees and asylum seekers in Serbia and Norway have reported high levels of desperation and frustration, in the context of de-humanising experiences at the hands of legal systems. 91 Asylum procedures aggravate mental health conditions and recovery; this includes the experience of Afghan adults and children taking refuge in high-income countries. 102,114,115 For example, a study among unaccompanied asylum-seeking Afghan children in the UK found that PTSD symptoms were associated with pre-migration traumatic events (cumulative stress) and living arrangement (foster care versus independent living).…”

“Imagine, 7 Years Without a Future”: A Qualitative Study of Rejected Asylum Seekers' Life Conditions in Norway

“…The latter must also be seen from a developmental perspective, as suicidal ideations are not uncommon in late adolescence and can end in actual suicide (Gvion and Fachler, 2017 ), suicide being a major cause of death in late adolescence (Pelkonen and Marttunen, 2003 ). Many of the participants in our study are in this age group, and living as asylum seekers is obviously an unfavorable context for adolescent development and will probably increase the risk for self-harm and suicide (Varvin et al, 2021 ). A Norwegian study focusing on how unaccompanied minor asylum seekers cope with temporariness found that those that had received a temporary residence permit or had been rejected considered the system and the environment as hostile.…”

“…In general, it is well documented that asylum seekers and refugees have greater rates of mental health problems than host communities (Priebe et al, 2010 ; Bogic et al, 2015 ; Silove et al, 2017 ; Opaas et al, 2020 ). The upheavals associated with the refugee experience also have serious impacts on developmental paths and especially on identity development (Varvin et al, 2021 ). Psychological development is a lifelong process, and being forced to flee, often accompanied by severe traumatization, implies ruptures in development at all ages that can be difficult to heal (Arja, 2014 ; Ball and Moselle, 2016 ).…”

A cross- sectional study of refugees in Norway and Serbia: Levels of mental distress and social-demographic risk factors

“…Many experience inhumane and degrading treatment from border guards during each of these attempts. Non-European refugees in Serbia have described severe beatings, use of attack dogs, pepper spray, the pouring of water on their bodies, making them stand in the cold, and theft of money and mobile phones by border guards ( Belgrade Center for Human Rights and Macedonian Young Lawyers Association 2017 ; Humantarian Center for Integration and Tolerance, 2017 ; Varvin et al, 2022 ).…”