Acculturation
With a little help from my friends? Acculturation and mental health in Arabic-speaking refugee youth living with their families
Introduction: Refugee youth are often faced with the compounding challenges of heightened exposure to traumatic events and acculturating to a new country during a developmental period when their sense of self is still forming. This study investigated whether refugee youth's acculturation orientation (separation, integration, marginalization, and assimilation) is associated with depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms and aimed to identify additional…
2023
Struggles of Refugee-Receiving Schools in Turkey
A total of 82.4 million persons had emigrated from their countries by the end of 2020 because of global conflicts. A total of 3.6 million settled in Turkey, which became the most refugee-receiving country. Among those resettled in Turkey, the majority were school-aged children, and schools became an inseparable instrument in the adaptation process. Thus, schools play a vital role…
2023
A Qualitative Exploration of Experiences of Asylum Seekers and People with Refugee Backgrounds in Accessing the Education System in Romania
Refugees and asylum seekers often confront particular challenges when accessing essential services in host countries. The difficulties these vulnerable groups face in meeting educational needs are documented in numerous studies. Although Romania experienced mainly transit migration, it is recently becoming a destination for refugees and irregular migrants. Most people entering the country are young or minors, and access to education…
2023
Socio-cultural starting positions among recently arrived Syrian refugees in the Netherlands: A latent class analysis
Although changes in socio-cultural positions appear to take place shortly after arrival, there is a growing concern on socio-cultural differences in receiving societies and it is widely recognized that socio-cultural positions are important for further participation and well-being, few scholars examined socio-cultural positions among recently arrived refugees in Europe. At the same time, not much is known about how these…
2022
Planning for Belonging: Including Refugee and Asylum Seeker Students
The education of students from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds is an international concern. It calls for inspired teachers, sensitive interventions, and informed leadership. This writing discusses the views of students, teachers, general staff, parents, and the principal of a primary school in regional New South Wales, Australia regarding the sense of belonging that is so critical to the very…
2022
The dynamics of recent refugees’ language acquisition: how do their pathways compare to those of other new immigrants?
Do the processes underlying destination-language acquisition differ between recently arrived refugees and other new immigrants? Based on a well-established model of language learning according to which language fluency is a function of efficiency, incentives, and exposure, this study addresses general processes of language learning as well as conditions specific to refugees. Longitudinal data on refugees (IAB-BAMF-SOEP Sample of Refugees in…
2022
Understanding Participation Experiences in Sport Programs for the Acculturation of Refugee Youth: A Comparative Study of Two Different Programs in the US and Sweden
Sports can help refugees mitigate traumas, connect with others, and learn positive values. In this illustrative comparative study, we compare two sport programs for the acculturation of refugees in the US and Sweden. Our aim is to describe both programs, compare them with the literature, and present suggestions for the field. Hence, we placed the program participants at the center…
2022
Moving on from Dutch to English: Young Refugees Feeling Betrayed by the Dutch Language Integration Policy and Seeking for More Inclusive Environments
This article explores the linguistic strategies of young refugees (ages 12-23) in the Netherlands. The study takes place within a societal context in which new migrants and refugees are increasingly pressured to learn Dutch as key to their integration, but English is becoming more and more dominant, and in which learning Dutch is not considered necessary for other newcomer groups…
2022
“We would love to, but…”—needs in school integration from the perspective of refugee children, their parents, peers, and school staff
Existing research on the education of refugee children has been conducted in countries with a longstanding tradition of refugee integration. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the integration process of refugee children in Croatian schools. Croatia is a small EU country with limited experience in refugee integration. The phenomenological approach was used to examine the experiences…
2022
Intercultural Attitudes as Predictors of Student’s Prejudices Towards Refugees
One of the major challenges for modern western societies is the reduction of prejudice in order to achieve a sufficient level of integration of immigrants and especially refugees. The current literature thus presents a multitude of approaches to understand and reduce prejudices. Therefore, the following paper investigates the relationships between ethnic identity, acculturation attitudes, intercultural competence, and prejudice and how…
2021
Social inclusion of refugees into higher education: policies and practices of universities in Norway
Pursuing higher education is one of the top priorities of many refugees after settlement in host countries. However, refugees’ participation in the labour market is the prime focus of integration policies and practices in various host nations, including Norway. This coupled with some complex challenges embedded in institutional policies and practices impede social inclusion of refugees into higher education in…
2021
The role of different school organizational models in the psychological adaptation of refugee adolescents
Given the high number of refugee children and adolescents around the globe, it is critical to determine conditions that foster their adaptation in the receiving country. This study investigated the psychological adaptation of recently arrived adolescent refugees in Germany. We focused on whether psychological adaptation reflects the organizational approach taken by the school that refugee adolescents initially attended. School is…
2021
The psycho-social needs of displaced Syrian youth in Turkish schools: A qualitative study
This study investigates major challenges encountered by Syrian refugee youth in public high schools in Turkey, focusing on three sources of assessment: the refugee students themselves and their parents and educators. Based on qualitative interpretive research methodology, twenty-three individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. The study simultaneously hears the voices of the Syrian refugee students as well as those of their…
2021
Integration Policies, Practices and Experiences – Germany Country Report
This report is about Germany's integration system. Germany is a “reluctant” immigration country. Despite its post-World-War-II history of immigration, Germany has never adopted a coherent strategy or policy of integration. Immigration was considered a transitory phenomenon as the notorious term “guest workers” suggests. Considering the expected return of immigrants to their countries of origin, integration policy making has long remained…
2020
Acculturation Experiences and Psychological Well-Being of Syrian Refugees Attending Universities in Turkey: A Qualitative Study
This study aims to portray acculturation experiences and psychological well-being of Syrian refugees attending universities in Turkey. We studied Syrian university students' contexts of acculturation that shape their acculturation experiences; their acculturation orientations; psychological and social wellbeing in the migration context association with their intergroup perceptions using semi structured oral interviews among 15 students. The research revealed that the majority…
2019
Turkey’s Education Policies towards Syrian Refugees: A Macro-level Analysis
This study discusses the transformation of Turkey's education policies towards Syrian refugees in three major stages. It argues that education policies in these different stages reflect the general perception of and political vision for Syrian refugees by the Turkish state, and that they are also instruments through which this political vision is materialized and declared. The remarkable evolution of Turkey's…
2019
The importance of employment in the acculturation process of well-educated Iraqis in Finland: A qualitative follow-up study
This study considers long-term adaptation among well-educated Iraqis who applied for international protection in Finland in 2015. We interviewed the participants approximately 3 months after their arrival, and subsequently after being granted international protection 1.5 and 2.5 years after arrival. We apply a theoretically constructed Benefits of Employment in Intercultural Contexts model in the context of skilled refugees to examine…
2019
School counselors’ roles and responsibilities in cultural adaptation process of syrian refugee children [Suriyeli mülteci çocuklarin kültürel uyum sürecinde okul psikolojik danişmanlarina düşen rol ve sorumluluklar]
Turkey is the most welcoming country to Syrian refugees and currently it is believed that most of the Syrian refugees will permanently stay in Turkey. This condense migration experience should be considered comprehensively regarding health, accommodation, nourishment, work and education rights. Syrian refugee children and adolescents constitute the largest Syrian refugee population. Currently formal education is provided to some of…
2017
The Norwegian Way: Protection through Higher Education the Recognition Process for Syrian Refugees in HE
The current Syrian refugee exodus to Europe has created an urgent need for European societies to implement faster integration methods, to reduce the risk of social and economic alienation. Since the latest refugee wave includes more highly educated people, higher education institutions might serve as a strong inclusion instrument to integrate them into local communities. Norway has established a novel…
2020
Education, acculturation, and adaptation: Unaccompanied migrant and refugee youths in Italy
Migration worldwide is characterized by the presence of unaccompanied minors, separated from their parents or any primary caregivers. The present study aimed to fill literature gaps on the acculturation and adaptation of unaccompanied migrant and refugee adolescents. The Ward and Geeraert model (2016), which explores how acculturation unfolds within different ecological contexts, namely societal, institutional and familial, was employed to…
2019
Resilience & adaptation
Unaccompanied & separated children
Mental health & psychosocial well-being
Racism & discrimination
Secondary education
Italy
Acculturation
Adult education & training
Interview
Integration & assimilation
Caregivers
Teachers & educational staff
English
Policy & law
Access & participation
Integration of Syrian Refugees in Turkey: Understanding the Educators’ Perception
The main objective of this research is to analyze the perception of pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards Syrian refugee children, who migrated to Turkey after the outbreak of the war in Syria. A factorial design is used to compare the independent and interactive effects of pre-service teachers’ attitudes on Syrian refugees. Participants consisted of 353 senior-level university students. This study finds…
2019
Being a Syrian University Student in Turkey: Intergroup relations, psychosocial issues, and boundary formation
This article reports on a qualitative study that investigates the experiences of Syrian university students in Izmir, Turkey using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 informants. The research is geared towards exploring the social, academic, and linguistic issues emerging in the acculturation period; factors moderating the integration process as well as students' coping strategies. The results are discussed within the framework…
2019
An investigation of the difficulties faced by Syrian asylum seekers and Syrian refugees in acquiring a second language and the possible solutions from refugees’ perspective
The current dissertation sheds light on the difficulties that Syrian refugees and asylum seekers face in acquiring the languages of the countries they had to flee to. To do so, this qualitative research investigated the experience of 45 Syrian refugees and asylum seekers who were hosted by 9 different countries around the world (Germany, Turkey, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, France, Malay,…
2018
Children’s influence on wellbeing and acculturative stress in refugee families
Purpose: This paper examines intergenerational, interdependent and contextual aspects of wellbeing and acculturative stress in refugee families during resettlement. Particular focus is placed on how children influence their parents. Method: The study is based on interviews with and diary notes from Middle Eastern parents and children residing in Sweden. Results: Analyzes of the narratives show how the direct and indirect…
2018
School-based interventions supporting refugees and asylum seeking children in mainstream schools: A systematic literature review
More than 14.000 children who are refugees or asylum seeking are attending compulsory schools in Austria. The refugee crisis is a current topic, which is influencing the everyday school-life in many Austrian schools. Not all schools are prepared for this challenge. In order to point out possibilities for improving the refugee situation in Austrian schools, the aim of this study…
2017
University civic engagement in forced migration: A comparative case study on university support programs for migrants and asylum seekers in Norway and the UK
This study aims at to address the problem of understanding how the University of Oslo (UiO) and the Kings College of London (KCL) support refugees through their respective programs: the Academic Dugnad and Sanctuary. To do so, the first step was to structure a conceptual framework based on the idea that university civic engagement (UCE) can be conceptualized as a…
2017
Integration of refugees in Germany and Austria: German and acculturation [Integration von flüchtlingen in deutschland und österreich: Deutsch und akkulturation]
German for Foreigners (Deutsch als Fremdsprache) is an established field of German Studies which focuses on the methodology and didactics of teaching a language and a culture of communication. Should we want to refer to German used as the language of communication among immigrants living within a German-speaking environment, we need to talk about German as a Second Language (Deutsch…
2016