PSYC20008 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Salwa Kingdom, Well-Founded Relation, Correspondence Analysis
14 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 22 - Thursday 18 May 2017
PSYC20006 - BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
LECTURE 22
REFUGEES & ASYLUM SEEKERS
TODAY
•1. Who is a refugee? Who is an asylum seeker?
•2. The role of family and the refugee experience.
•3. The cultural challenge of settlement.
•Bicultural identity.
•Changing and persisting challenges.
•4. The Australian community and federal government’s attitudes toward refugees.
1. WHO IS A REFUGEE?
REFUGEES
•A refugee is any person who:
•Has a well founded fear of persecution
•Lives outside his or her country
•Owing to such fear is unable or unwilling to return home.
•Source: UNHCR, 1951
•Well-founded fear: Rational, based on good reason or evidence.
•Of being Persecuted: for reasons of race, religion, nationality, social group membership, political
opinion.
•Lives outside his/her country: Inside country = “displaced”, No nationality = “stateless”
•Unable or unwilling to return: Belief that persecution will continue, or intensify, if they return.
ASYLUM SEEKERS
•An asylum seeker is any person who has submitted an application for refugee status (or other
humanitarian visa), but may or may not have been accepted yet. Refugees have been accepted.
•Australia (2015-2016):
•“Onshore” refugees: 2,003 visas
•“Offshore” refugees: 15,552 visas
Lecture 22 - Thursday 18 May 2017
PSYC20006 - BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
2. THE ROLE OF FAMILY
DURING THR REFUGEE
JOURNEY
•First and foremost, the
emotional well-being of
refugee children is influenced
by the protection and care they
receive from their families. --
UNHCR, 1994, p. 38.
•Disruptions fundamentally
change the relationship
between family members.
•Interviewed 12 adolescents
•Aged 16-18 (5f, 7m)
•Middle Eastern, living in Denmark
•Experienced war-related incidents
•Bombings, shootings
•House searches
•Family intimidated
•Refugee camps
•Temporary family separation
•“Tell Me Your Life Story”
•Narrative approach
•Semi-structured interviews with adolescent + family
•Found that explanations and interpretations of family relationships mattered for their
recovery. Those children with a supporting and loving family dynamic had a higher trajectory
of recovery.
SALWA’S STORY
•“Because I don’t feel good at home, I can’t feel good at any other place. If you feel good at home,
then you feel good no matter where you are in the whole world. No matter where you go.
•But as long as you don’t feel good in your own house, in your family’s house, then you don’t feel
good anywhere.”
•Abusive and controlling father and brother.
WALSH’S MODEL
•Event:
•DV > refugee journey
•Disintegration > sep’tn.
•Family belief system: Meaning => blame
•Family organisation: Rigid family structure
•Communication: False information, Emotional hiding
ARAM’S STORY
•“It helped me a lot in fact to get to know what is happening in those countries because you can’t
see it as an outsider. You only see the surface and you don’t know what is happening behind the
scenes... I am just trying to move on, see, it has been worse, right.”
WALSH’S MODEL
•Walsh’s model:
•Event: Refugee journey
•Family belief system: Making meaning
•Family organisation: External supports
Document Summary
The role of family and the refugee experience: 3. The cultural challenge of settlement: bicultural identity, changing and persisting challenges, 4. Asylum seekers: an asylum seeker is any person who has submitted an application for refugee status (or other humanitarian visa), but may or may not have been accepted yet. Refugees have been accepted: australia (2015-2016), onshore refugees: 2,003 visas, offshore refugees: 15,552 visas. Psyc20006 - biological psychology: the role of family. Journey: first and foremost, the emotional well-being of refugee children is influenced by the protection and care they receive from their families. Those children with a supporting and loving family dynamic had a higher trajectory of recovery. Salwa"s story: because i don"t feel good at home, i can"t feel good at any other place. If you feel good at home, then you feel good no matter where you are in the whole world.
