Blog #9 - Research Summary
Helping Refugee Children Cope Psychologist suggests ways to ease the trauma & disruption.
Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in low-income and middle-income countries: risk and protective factors
"We undertook a two-part systematic search and review of the evidence-base for individual, family, community, and societal risk and protective factors for the mental health outcomes of children and adolescents. Here we review data for displacement to low-income and middle-income settings. We draw together the main findings from reports to identify important issues and establish recommendations for future work. We draw attention to exposure to violence as a well established risk factor for poor mental health."
Bibliography:
Fazel, Mina, Ruth V. Reed, Catherine Panter-Brick, and Alan Stein. "Mental Health of Displaced and Refugee Children Resettled in High-income Countries: Risk and Protective Factors." The Lancet379, no. 9812 (August 10, 2011): 266-82. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(11)60051-2.
Refugee Children’s Fears and Coping Mechanisms:A Preliminary Investigation
"It is important for counselors to understand refugee children’s fears and coping mechanisms as these children adjust to their new environment. This qualitative study explored the fears and coping strategies of 18 refugee children from the countries of Haiti, Sudan, Cuba, Venezuela, and Vietnam whose families sought asylum in the United States. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the children and their parents. Frequency distributions, content analysis, conclusions, and implications of the findings are included."
Helping Refugee Children Cope With Stress
Creativity and Emotional Well-Being: Recent Research
Helping Refugee Children Cope With Stress
Creativity and Emotional Well-Being: Recent Research
Figures At a Glance
UNCHR Statistics
Global Trends- Forced Displacement in 2016
Are Refugee Numbers the Highest Ever?
Colorado's Refugee Population in Four Charts
Global Trends 2017
PTSD-Kids
How Art Therapy is being Used to Help Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
Refugee Children Need Our Help
The playground that’s making a difference for Syrian refugee children with disabilities
Refugee Children Stories
Refugee children making a new life in Germany
International Rescue Committee
"Escaping from brutal conditions in some nations of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, the world's refugee children refugee children need specific kinds of support. While they are diverse in terms of their languages, religions, personalities and family structure, they almost universally share a history of trauma and disruption."
"Kamya described the foreshortened sense of future that characterizes many refugee children. They have seen altogether too much death and destruction first-hand. This leads some to assume they will also die young, while others feel indestructible."
"Refugee children need adults who are aware of their current and former struggles and are willing to listen to them, support them, and believe in them. Let’s be those people."
Concrete suggestions:
- Help them discover a sense of purpose.
- Help them identify their strengths.
- Help clients anticipate problems.
- Help clients with language issues.
- Help clients make meaning.
This article breaks down the different traumas and experiences that refugees and refugee children have gone through throughout the world. It emphasizes the deep psychological problems that the crisis has caused for refugee children to endure and then provides some concrete suggestions by a psychologist that has studied what these children have gone through and what techniques may be helpful in making them cope with their issues.
Bibliography:
Aronson Fontes, Lisa, Ph. D. "Helping Refugee Children Cope." Psychology Today. June 29, 2017. Accessed October 25, 2018. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/invisible-chains/201706/helping-refugee-children-cope.
"Out of the 60m people who have been evicted from their homes due to persecution and conflicts worldwide, at least half are children. These young refugees have complex mental health needs, predominantly emotional difficulties such as post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety which are compounded by physical ill health, developmental delays, social exclusion and lack of education."
"The next level is to provide children with opportunities to understand and cope better with the sources of their distress through creative techniques such as drawing and music, writing, talking, or play. These can be facilitated by trained non-specialist staff such as teachers."
"When trying to help young refugees deal with both the trauma of their past and the uncertainty of their future, there needs to be a collaboration between NGOs, the state and schools to make sure that nobody gets left behind."
This source goes more in depth as to what mental and psychological problems refugee children may be going through based on their experiences. Whether the child is insecure about if they're going to have a short life or if they have become dare devils. It also suggests tackling this problem by bringing in creative outlets for the children so that it can allow them to cope in ways that are appropriate for people their age. Implementing elements that are normal for children to normally experience allows for a sense of what a child should be experiencing.
This source goes more in depth as to what mental and psychological problems refugee children may be going through based on their experiences. Whether the child is insecure about if they're going to have a short life or if they have become dare devils. It also suggests tackling this problem by bringing in creative outlets for the children so that it can allow them to cope in ways that are appropriate for people their age. Implementing elements that are normal for children to normally experience allows for a sense of what a child should be experiencing.
Bibliography:
Vostanis, Panos. "How to Help Refugee Children Get through the Trauma of What's Happened to Them." The Conversation. September 14, 2018. Accessed October 25, 2018. http://theconversation.com/how-to-help-refugee-children-get-through-the-trauma-of-whats-happened-to-them-64335.
Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in low-income and middle-income countries: risk and protective factors
"We undertook a two-part systematic search and review of the evidence-base for individual, family, community, and societal risk and protective factors for the mental health outcomes of children and adolescents. Here we review data for displacement to low-income and middle-income settings. We draw together the main findings from reports to identify important issues and establish recommendations for future work. We draw attention to exposure to violence as a well established risk factor for poor mental health."
Bibliography:
Fazel, Mina, Ruth V. Reed, Catherine Panter-Brick, and Alan Stein. "Mental Health of Displaced and Refugee Children Resettled in High-income Countries: Risk and Protective Factors." The Lancet379, no. 9812 (August 10, 2011): 266-82. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(11)60051-2.
Refugee Children’s Fears and Coping Mechanisms:A Preliminary Investigation
"It is important for counselors to understand refugee children’s fears and coping mechanisms as these children adjust to their new environment. This qualitative study explored the fears and coping strategies of 18 refugee children from the countries of Haiti, Sudan, Cuba, Venezuela, and Vietnam whose families sought asylum in the United States. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the children and their parents. Frequency distributions, content analysis, conclusions, and implications of the findings are included."
Helping Refugee Children Cope With Stress
Creativity and Emotional Well-Being: Recent Research
Helping Refugee Children Cope With Stress
Creativity and Emotional Well-Being: Recent Research
Figures At a Glance
UNCHR Statistics
Global Trends- Forced Displacement in 2016
Are Refugee Numbers the Highest Ever?
Colorado's Refugee Population in Four Charts
Global Trends 2017
PTSD-Kids
How Art Therapy is being Used to Help Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
Refugee Children Need Our Help
The playground that’s making a difference for Syrian refugee children with disabilities
Refugee Children Stories
Refugee children making a new life in Germany
International Rescue Committee
Comments
Post a Comment