Hearing Both Sides: Understanding Refugee Newcomers’ Resettlement in Canada and South Korea

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

There is a rapid increase in the number of newcomers world-wide who migrate to another country, fleeing from devastating conflict and famine. Host countries are embracing these newcomers from a different perspective. What kinds of challenges and supports do newcomers experience before and after migration, and how do they affect their adjustment? What is the attitude of natives towards newcomers, and how can we foster an inclusive climate in a society? We approach these questions by hearing both sides: considering the view from refugee newcomers about their experiences in the new society and the view from natives regarding their attitudes toward the newcomers.

The symposium brings together four studies conducted in Canada and South Korea on newcomers and natives across different age groups. The first study investigates experiences and regulation of emotions of Syrian newcomer children resettling in Canada. The second study examines the effects of social support and discrimination on the relation between trauma and adjustment among North Korean newcomers in South Korea. The third study discusses the importance of implicit and explicit parental socialization practices for Canadian children’s prosociality toward newcomer peers. The last study provides an insight on how South Korean’s positive interactions with North Koreans transfers to their attitudes toward Yemenis newcomers.

We expect that findings from these studies to contribute to our understanding of unique experiences of newcomers and ultimately inform social interventions and policy change that could promote newcomers’ adjustment as well as the inclusive climate in host societies.

Sub Unit

• Solicited Content: Refugee Children

Chairs

• Keng-Hie Song, Daegu University

• Ju-Hyun Song, California State University - Dominguez Hills

Individual Presentations

• Narratives of Syrian Newcomer Children’s Emotional Experiences and Coping During Their Resettlement in Canada - Presenting Author: Ju-Hyun Song, California State University - Dominguez Hills; Non-Presenting Author: Keng-Hie Song, Daegu University; Non-Presenting Author: Tina Malti, University of Toronto

• Posttraumatic Stress among North Korean Refugee Youths: The Role of Discrimination and Support - Presenting Author: Na Han, Ewha womans university; Non-Presenting Author: Seung-Yeon Lee, Ewha Womans University

• How Parental Socialization Relates to Children’s Emotions and Prosocial Behavior toward Refugee Newcomers - Presenting Author: Joanna Peplak, University of California - Irvine; Non-Presenting Author: Alyssa Bottoni, University of Toronto; Non-Presenting Author: Marc M Jambon, University of Toronto; Non-Presenting Author: Tina Malti, University of Toronto

• Positive Contact with North Koreans Can Extend to South Koreans' Support for Refugees - Presenting Author: Jung Yun Lee, Yonsei University; Non-Presenting Author: Kyong-Sun Jin, Sungshin Women’s Univeristy; Non-Presenting Author: Laura K. Taylor, University College Dublin (UCD); Non-Presenting Author: Hyun-Joo Song, Yonsei University