Habitus of Torture: How Torture Shapes Refugee Resettlement

• In Event: 4246 - Violence

Abstract

While estimates suggest that 40% of refugees have experienced torture—and the prevalence rate is significantly higher among some refugee groups—there has been little sociological investigation into the experience of torture and the experience of torture for refugees, specifically. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, this paper examines how refugees’ past experiences of torture shape the refugee resettlement process. Findings suggest that refugees draw upon political contexts and rhetoric, social cues about police power and legitimacy, and the interaction between symbolic and structural violence and torture to make sense of state interaction in resettlement.

Author

• Breanne L Grace, University of South Carolina