Negotiating Identity and Belonging in a New Space: Opportunities and Experiences of African Youths in South Australia

Mude, William; Mwanri, Lillian

doi:10.3390/ijerph17155484

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Additionally, missed opportunities and the lack of education due to circumstances described elsewhere in this paper meant that African migrant youths felt excluded and at times discriminated against, for example, when accessing social security support. Discrimination is a known stressor and social determinants of health which hampers the socioeconomic opportunities and has implications for AOD use, poor social outcomes, and mental health [32,33]. Moreover, participants in the current study also revealed living in poverty and experiencing other deprivations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Alcohol, Other Drugs Use and Mental Health among African Migrant Youths in South Australia

Mwanri

Mude

2021

IJERPH

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This paper was part of a large study that explored suicide among African youths in South Australia. The paper reports perspectives about alcohol and other drugs (AOD) use and mental health among African migrant and refugee youths in South Australia. The study employed a qualitative inquiry, conducting 23 individual interviews and one focus group discussion with eight participants. An acculturative stress model informed data analysis, interpretation and the discussion of the findings that form the current paper. African migrant and refugee youths revealed challenging stressors, including related to cultural, socioeconomic, living conditions, and pre- and post-migration factors that contributed to mental health problems and the use of AOD in their new country. The traumatic loss of family members and social disruption experienced in their countries of origin were expressed as part of factors leading to migration to Australia. While in Australia, African migrant and refugee youths experienced substantial stressors related to inadequate socioeconomic and cultural support, discrimination, poverty, and unemployment. Participants believed that differences in cultural perspectives about AOD use that existed in Africa and Australia also shaped the experiences of social stressors. Additionally, participants believed that these cultural differences and the identified stressors determined AOD use and mental health problems. The findings highlight the need to understand these social and cultural contexts to improve mental health services and help reduce the use of AOD, which, when problematic, can influence the health and integration experiences of these populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Alcohol, Other Drugs Use and Mental Health among African Migrant Youths in South Australia

Mwanri

Mude

2021

IJERPH

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“…An additional aspect to this theme was participants’ belief that that integration should be a two-way process, and not a unidirectional or assimilatory process [ 32 ]. This would require the host community to also adapt, by developing an understanding of some African cultural values and way of life.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there is now a significant emerging body of knowledge on African migrants in Australia, most of these studies have focused on refugees, so the focus of this study on skilled migrants addresses a significant gap in the extant literature [ 9 , 35 ]. Despite the significant challenges including racism [ 9 , 32 ], difficulty accessing employment [ 2 ], discrimination [ 9 ] intergenerational issues [ 8 , 36 ] and micro-aggressions [ 37 ] that seem to dominate experiences of African migrants during their resettlement, most draw positivity and optimism from religion, faith, hope, and community-oriented attitudes which appear to nurture resilience and social connections. Positivity and optimism have been identified in the literature as factors that build resilience among migrant groups [ 29 , 38 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telling Our Stories: Resilience during Resettlement for African Skilled Migrants in Australia

Mwanri

Anderson

Gatwiri

2021

IJERPH

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Background: Emigration to Australia by people from Africa has grown steadily in the past two decades, with skilled migration an increasingly significant component of migration streams. Challenges to resettlement in Australia by African migrants have been identified, including difficulties securing employment, experiences of racism, discrimination and social isolation. These challenges can negatively impact resettlement outcomes, including health and wellbeing. There has been limited research that has examined protective and resilience factors that help highly skilled African migrants mitigate the aforementioned challenges in Australia. This paper discusses how individual and community resilience factors supported successful resettlement Africans in Australia. The paper is contextualised within a larger study which sought to investigate how belonging and identity inform Afrodiasporic experiences of Africans in Australia. Methods: A qualitative inquiry was conducted with twenty-seven (n = 27) skilled African migrants based in South Australia, using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Participants were not directly questioned about ‘resilience,’ but were encouraged to reflect critically on how they navigated the transition to living in Australia, and to identify factors that facilitated a successful resettlement. Results: The study findings revealed a mixture of settlement experiences for participants. Resettlement challenges were observed as barriers to fully meeting expectations of emigration. However, there were significant protective factors reported that supported resilience, including participants’ capacities for excellence and willingness to work hard; the social capital vested in community and family support networks; and African religious and cultural values and traditions. Many participants emphasised their pride in their contributions to Australian society as well as their desire to contribute to changing narratives of what it means to be African in Australia. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that despite challenges, skilled African migrants’ resilience, ambition and determination were significant enablers to a healthy resettlement in Australia, contributing effectively to social, economic and cultural expectations, and subsequently meeting most of their own migration intentions. These findings suggest that resilience factors identified in the study are key elements of integration.

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“…When an individual is embedded in a community that integrates the heritage and receiving cultural streams -that is, the culture of the country in which one has settled -there is a holding of values, acceptance and identity consistent with the two cultural contexts (4,5). It is well acknowledged that heritage identity across generations persists (6) and that identity, as conceptualised by the individual in question, may vary depending on the life domain of interest (7,8). This dynamic nature of identity increases interest in understanding the experiences of people living outside their culture of origin (9,10).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

South Sudanese or Australian or Both or Caught in Between? A Qualitative Study Examining Identity Among South Sudanese Refugees Living in Sydney, Australia.

Vaughan

Nyanhanda

Kaphle

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: The majority of the current South Sudanese population in Australia arrived as refugees in the early 2000s, facing challenges related to dislocation, navigating a new culture while honouring their own own. Much of the research on the South Sudanese experience has been conducted in the early years after arrival, with resettlement stressors likely to influence narratives of identity as new immigrants.This study aimed to understand the lived experiences of identity among South Sudanese who are long-term residents of Australia after fleeing their birth country, migration, and re-building their lives.Methods: The qualitative study was underpinned by a phenomenological framework that characterised the experiences of study participants. Purposive and snowball sampling was used to recruit Sydney-residing adults who arrived in Australia through its humanitarian refugee program 10 or more years ago and were born in South Sudan. Semi-structured interviews explored how participants identified themselves in Australia, changes in their experiences over time, their social and general life situation in Australia, and perceptions (self and other) of South Sudanese people in Australia.Results: The 26 participants from refugee backgrounds all had similar experiences of dislocation, most arriving in Australia 10-19 years ago with family members. Most participants were in employment and had attained (sometimes multiple) educational qualifications.Participants described a multiplicity of interconnected domains that governed the negotiating and making sense of identity. Three key themes were identified: mutable identities - dependent on context; Identity in relation to children; and the influence of limited opportunities. These themes were mediated by other interwoven personal and structural factors that shaped experience and perception. Expressions of hope, pride and achievement were threaded through several of the interviews, particularly in relation to their children. There was also frustration related to employment challenges and discrimination that limited identity reconstruction.Conclusions: Our exploration of long-term lived experiences for South Sudanese migrants highlights the evolving and often conflicting factors that shape domains of integration and identity construction. The deeper, more nuanced understandings of bicultural identity within a strengths-based framework calls for better partnerships and services to support strengthened community and acculturalisation.

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Negotiating Identity and Belonging in a New Space: Opportunities and Experiences of African Youths in South Australia

Cited by 10 publications

References 33 publications

Alcohol, Other Drugs Use and Mental Health among African Migrant Youths in South Australia

Alcohol, Other Drugs Use and Mental Health among African Migrant Youths in South Australia

Telling Our Stories: Resilience during Resettlement for African Skilled Migrants in Australia

South Sudanese or Australian or Both or Caught in Between? A Qualitative Study Examining Identity Among South Sudanese Refugees Living in Sydney, Australia.

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