Reflections from Refugees’ Family Transitions: The Influence of Language, Community, and Cultural Background

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Solicited Content: Refugee Children

Abstract

Turbulent political and social climates can force families out of their homelands. The United States has resettled around 3 million refugees since 1975, and in 2019 alone, the U.S. accepted 31,250 refugees (UNHCR, 2020). Refugee families have unique experiences during the transition to their new countries, including learning an entirely new culture and set of societal guidelines, which can be incredibly challenging (Fix et al., 2017). This is especially true regarding society’s expectations for children. The structure of early childhood education and communities in the U.S. is often different and for newly arrived families with young children this can be challenging to navigate. The aims for this study were first, to understand how refugees’ previous life experiences influenced their current educational experiences, and secondly, to explore the current supports and challenges that influence refugee families’ transition and adjustment into their new communities.
Eleven refugee mothers with preschool aged children participated in this study. The mothers were from a larger study on book reading practices. Interpreters were utilized for communication with five Burmese and five Arabic-speaking mothers. One mother who spoke Amharic was fluent in English and did not need an interpreter. Semi-structured interviews lasting between 25-45 minutes were conducted with each mother. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed for analysis.
Data analysis was completed using the Sort and Sift, Think and Shift (Maietta, 2006) framework for qualitative analysis. First, each of the researchers individually identified key quotes and wrote memos for each mother, then read all the memos to identify thematic codes. Next all the researchers coded the interviews and bridged the common themes across all the mothers. Finally, as a collective we created overall profiles for each mother. The team established credibility and trustworthiness through this iterative process of diving into the data and then bridging the memos to capture the common themes.
Our findings indicated the vast difference in expectations for education in parents’ home countries compared to those of the U.S. Data also pointed to parents’ cultural experiences as shaping their family motivations, practices, and overall adjustment to the U.S. In their home countries, societal expectations for women and civil conflicts and family loss influenced their ability to engage in formal education. However, parents overcame many challenges and arriving in the United States elicited their hopes and aspirations for their children. Findings also demonstrated that as families adjust to their new societal expectations, they rely on each other to succeed in their new communities. Language was also noted as a central aspect of their culture that impacted their transition and adjustment. Parents aimed to use and impart their native languages to communicate with their children, while also learning English together as a family.
These findings illustrate the importance of understanding refugee life in the context of both their previous lives and their present experiences in shaping their daily functioning as families in a new environment. Such information could assist professionals working with refugees in their resettlement and adjustment process.

Authors

• Rachel Boit, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Presenting Author

• Amanda C Barnes, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Joy Catherine Birabwa, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Savannah Bayer, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mauri McKoy, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Linda Hestenes, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author