“Seeing the Life”: Redefining Self-Worth and Family Roles Among Iraqi Refugee Families Resettled in the United States

Abstract

Social and geographic displacement is a global phenomenon that precipitates novel stressors and disruptions that intersect with longstanding familial and social roles. Among the displaced are war-torn Iraqi refugee families, who must address these new obstacles in unconventional ways. This study explores how such disruptions have influenced associations between gender and apparent self-worth experienced by Iraqi refugee families upon relocation to the United States. Further, the psychosocial mechanisms requisite of any novel approach to a new social construct are explored and reveal that production in the family is at the core of instability and shifting power dynamics during resettlement, preventing family members from “seeing the life” in the United States that they had envisioned prior to immigration. Over 200 semi-structured qualitative interviews with Iraqi participants and mental health providers were conducted over the course of the study, and demonstrate a plasticity among social roles in the family and community that transcends the notion of a simple role reversal, and illustrate the complex positionalities that families under stress must approximate during such physical and social displacement.

Predictors of professional help-seeking for emotional problems in Afghan and Iraqi refugees in Australia: findings from the Building a New Life in Australia Database

“…Overall, this study’s findings were partly consistent with our previous studies demonstrating an association between measures of mental health status, namely, general psychological distress, PTSD symptoms, functional disability and help-seeking [11–13]. Specifically, in the Iraqi multivariate analysis it was noted that exposure to traumatic events, probable PTSD and higher levels of psychological distress were associated with increased help-seeking.…”

“…Further, research on the prevalence of mental illness and access to professional help-seeking amongst general community in Australia [27] has demonstrated that despite a high prevalence of mental illness, most people do not access professional health care. Similar patterns have been found for those from refugee backgrounds [10, 11].…”

“…Since 2015, our group has sought to explore help-seeking for mental health problems amongst resettled refugee groups in Australia. In an initial investigation, it was noted that only a third of Iraqi refugees with clinically significant PTSD symptom levels reported seeking professional help [11]. Further, when factors associated with help-seeking within the symptomatic subgroup were examined, psychological distress levels were associated with perceived need for help and subsequent help-seeking [12].…”

An evaluation of a mental health literacy course for Arabic speaking religious and community leaders in Australia: effects on posttraumatic stress disorder related knowledge, attitudes and help-seeking

“…This program was developed to respond to the evidence that posited religious and community leaders to be gatekeepers in refugee communities, providing mental health support and potentially facilitating professional helpseeking processes [18]. Relatedly, research has also demonstrated limited mental health service uptake amongst such individuals even when presenting with severe levels of psychological distress [5,8]. Several factors have been postulated for this impaired help-seeking behaviour including negative perceptions of mental health treatment and the fear of being considered 'crazy' within their own community [18].…”

“…Evidence suggests that refugees demonstrate high levels of psychological distress and are at a higher risk of developing mental illnesses such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) [5]. Research has also demonstrated that Arabic speaking refugees have lower levels of professional help-seeking behaviours [6][7][8].…”