Masks of Achievement: An Experiential Study of Bosnian Female Refugees in New York City Schools

Resettlement Struggles of Burmese Refugee Students in U.S. High Schools: A Qualitative Study

“…Schooling of resettled refugees occurs within a framework of power, racism and linguicism (Croce, 2013) where school and district policies contribute to exclusion of refugee students within the school culture (Block, Cross, Riggs & Gibbs, 2014;Dooley, 2009;Dooley & Thangaperumal, 2011;Gitlin, Buendía, Crosland, & Doumbia, 2003). For refugee students, education is crucial in restoring a sense of hope and possibilities for the future (Mosselson, 2007) and schooling can provide vital opportunities to begin a new life. Paradoxically, schools are also places where refugees become highly aware of being different than other students, experience exclusion from grade level content, become marginalized and segregated as English language learners or learners with significantly interrupted schooling, and experience a disjuncture between their ideas, beliefs, values, cultures and those of the dominant group (Sinclair, 2001).…”

Crossing International and Research Boundaries: From Subject to Author for an Authentic Refugee Portrait

“…However, she often did not feel self-assured, and she intimated her insecurities and fears. Mosselson's [18] research also exposes self-assured masks of adolescent refugee Bosnian girls. In the case of her research, these girls intentionally chose a persona of success in order to avoid being singled out for remedial help of any kind.…”

Two decades of Bosnian place-making in St. Louis, Missouri

“…Among the first of these studies was consideration for how government policies in various host countries influenced the early years of resettlement and employment of refugees in Austria (Franz 2003a), Denmark (Ives 2005), Canada (Bauder 2005), and the USA (Franz 2003a;Ives 2005). These scholars and others observed the importance of cultural and social capital in facilitating resettlement processes (Colic-Peisker and Walker 2003;Mosselson 2007;Brooks 2010;Lucken 2010;Cheah et al 2011;Croegaert 2011). A few scholars have also considered the role of personality predispositions (Cheah et al 2010), values (Coughlan and Owens-Manley 2006), and individual initiative (Franz 2003b) in the successful adaptation and integration of refugees.…”