Intercultural Communication, the Influence of Trauma, and the Pursuit of Asylum in the United States

Abstract

This project analyzes the roles of communication and culture in credible fear interviews and asylum hearings in the United States to elucidate how autobiographical testimonies enable and restrain asylum seekers in their efforts to establish themselves as deserving of protection. This work shows how trauma influences one’s ability to narrate their past and argues that culturally-bound storytelling norms negatively and unevenly threaten the outcomes of some asylum cases. I support this claim with evidence from oral history interviews with asylum seekers, immigration officers, judges, and attorneys.

The Rohingya Diaspora: A Narrative Inquiry into Identity

“…Failure to understand the culture of a population prevents the detection of disorders in refugees who show no signs of clinical symptoms defined by Western practice (Bishop, 2021;Eisenbruch, 1991). Expressions of mental distress cannot, for example, translate well between Rohingya culture and Western definitions of mental disorder.…”

“…The second area of ethical consideration was in understanding the power dynamics and the pressuring nature of the interview process, particularly with regard to existing institutioncommunity relationships. In order to prevent participants from feeling forced to share stories and information, interviews were conducted by those who had worked with and had existing relationships with the community (Bishop, 2021).…”