Personal and organizational predictors of service provision for refugees

Abstract

This cross-sectional research study examined related predictors such as knowledge of refugees, familiarity with community resources, cultural competence, and organizational culture factors associated with service provision for refugees among a sample of service providers. Three theories/models provided the theoretical framework-- the gateway provider model (Stiffman, Pescosolido, and Cabassa, 2004), cultural competence model (Schim, Doorenbos, and Borse, 2005; Suarez-Balcazar et al., 2011), and organizational theory (Glisson et al., 2008a; Glisson et al., 2008b). This study aimed to 1) describe the characteristics of a sample of refugee service providers, and 2) examine how service providers' personal factors and organizational culture factors are associated with service provision. One hundred seventy refugee service providers across the United States completed an online survey. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis, multiple regression analysis, and mediation analysis were employed to address four research questions and related hypotheses. Seventy-five point three percent of study participants were white and 81.5% were female. The age of subjects ranged from 23 to 75 years of age. Most (60%) of the study participants completed a graduate degree or higher and 86.3% of participants had not been a refugee before. Further, 62.3% of study participants were employed in a refugee resettlement related job. Most of the respondents worked in the Midwest (35.6%) and South (36.3%) regions. The vast majority of participants (84.9%) were working at a refugee resettlement agency. The major findings indicated that service providers' personal factors (i.e., knowledge of refugees, familiarity with community resources, and cultural competence) were significantly associated with overall service provided and referrals as well as each domain of service provided and referrals. Proficient organizational culture was positively associated with service provided and referrals, and constantly rigid organizational culture was negatively associated with service provided and referrals. Cultural competence behavior had a mediation effect on the association between service providers' familiarity with community resources and service provision. In addition, cultural competence behavior had a mediation effect on the association between service providers' work experiences and service provision. The findings provide important insights for refugee service providers, refugee service organizations, researchers, and policy makers for improving refugee service by developing a cultural competence training program and an online networking system.