IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i18p9902-d639542.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Defining Adjustment to Address the Missing Link between Refugees and Their Resettlement Communities

Author

Listed:
  • Camilla Modesti

    (Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Alessandra Talamo

    (Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

Background: data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) show that, in 2020, among 82.4 million refugees, only 251,000 returned to their home countries, indicating the desire for refugees to stay, for the long-term, in their new homelands. The paper contributes to the scientific–psychological debate on the social representation of refugee populations, by studying this population, not simply as “foreigners”, traumatized and resourceless people, but rather focusing on the factors that lead to their positive adjustments within local communities. Method: a scoping review was carried out to explore the phenomenon of adjustment (RQ1) and to identify the factors that foster adjustment among refugees and their resettlement communities (RQ2). A research protocol and eligibility criteria were defined prior to conducting the literature research through the Scopus database. Afterwards, data charting and items were conducted to organize the results. Results: a process of data mapping outlined three dimensions of adjustment—psychological, social, and scholastic. In addition, six macro factors emerged that ease refugee adjustments—context characteristics, time, social integration markers, acculturation, social support, and psychological capital. Results show that adjustment is the result of the inter-relations among sociological and psychological factors. Conclusions: the lack of studies addressing the inner resources of refugees and community participation confirms that research in this field needs a change of paradigm, to identify the resources that refugees use to adjust to their new communities and promote their development.

Suggested Citation

  • Camilla Modesti & Alessandra Talamo, 2021. "Defining Adjustment to Address the Missing Link between Refugees and Their Resettlement Communities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-20, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9902-:d:639542
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9902/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9902/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fred Luthans & Steven M. Norman & Susan M. Jensen, 2007. "The value of the psychological capital of immigrant entrepreneurs," International Journal of Business and Globalisation, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(2), pages 161-175.
    2. Westermeyer, Joseph, 1987. "Prevention of mental disorder among hmong refugees in the U.S.: Lessons from the period 1976-1986," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 941-947, January.
    3. Chung, Rita Chi-Ying & Kagawa-Singer, Marjorie, 1993. "Predictors of psychological distress among southeast Asian refugees," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 631-639, March.
    4. Michael Bauer & Stefan Priebe, 1994. "Psychopathology and Long-Term Adjustment After Crises in Refugees From East Germany," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 40(3), pages 165-176, September.
    5. Hahn, Elisabeth & Richter, David & Schupp, Jürgen & Back, Mitja D., 2019. "Predictors of Refugee Adjustment: The Importance of Cognitive Skills and Personality," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 5(1[Art. no), pages 1-14.
    6. Eyton, June & Neuwirth, Gertrud, 1984. "Cross-cultural validity: Ethnocentrism in health studies with special reference to the Vietnamese," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 447-453, January.
    7. Nho, Choong Rai & Yoon, Sukyoung & Seo, Jieun & Cui, Lina, 2019. "The mediating effect of perceived social support between depression and school adjustment in refugee children in South Korea," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    8. Caterina Nicolais & James Michael Perry & Camilla Modesti & Alessandra Talamo & Giampaolo Nicolais, 2021. "At Home: Place Attachment and Identity in an Italian Refugee Sample," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-18, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hongyun Fu & Mark VanLandingham, 2012. "Mental Health Consequences of International Migration for Vietnamese Americans and the Mediating Effects of Physical Health and Social Networks: Results From a Natural Experiment Approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 393-424, May.
    2. Cyrine Hannafi & Mohamed Ali Marouani, 2023. "Social integration of Syrian refugees and their intention to stay in Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 581-607, April.
    3. Caitlin G. Bletscher, 2020. "Communication Technology and Social Integration: Access and Use of Communication Technologies Among Floridian Resettled Refugees," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 431-451, June.
    4. Jacobsen Jannes & Krieger Magdalena & Schikora Felicitas & Schupp Jürgen, 2021. "Growing Potentials for Migration Research using the German Socio-Economic Panel Study," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 241(4), pages 527-549, August.
    5. Livia Hazer & Gustaf Gredebäck, 2023. "The effects of war, displacement, and trauma on child development," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, December.
    6. Steel, Zachary & Momartin, Shakeh & Silove, Derrick & Coello, Marianio & Aroche, Jorge & Tay, Kuo Wei, 2011. "Two year psychosocial and mental health outcomes for refugees subjected to restrictive or supportive immigration policies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(7), pages 1149-1156, April.
    7. Subin Park & Soo Yeon Kim & Eun-Sun Lee & Jin Yong Jun, 2019. "Factors Related to Change in Depression among North Korean Refugee Youths in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-8, November.
    8. Dheer, Ratan J.S. & Lenartowicz, Tomasz, 2020. "Effect of generational status on immigrants’ intentions to start new ventures: The role of cognitions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(3).
    9. Yuliya Kosyakova, 2021. "Socioemotional Skills and Refugees’ Language Acquisition," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2130, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    10. Sangalang, Cindy C. & Jager, Justin & Harachi, Tracy W., 2017. "Effects of maternal traumatic distress on family functioning and child mental health: An examination of Southeast Asian refugee families in the U.S," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 178-186.
    11. Laura A. Nabors & Tina L. Stanton-Chapman & Filiberto Toledano-Toledano, 2022. "A University and Community-Based Partnership: After-School Mentoring Activities to Support Positive Mental Health for Children Who Are Refugees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-11, May.
    12. Lilian Negura & Corinna Buhay & Annamaria Silvana de Rosa, 2021. "Mirrored Social Representations of Canadian Caseworkers with Migratory Paths Intervening with Refugees in the Host Country," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-20, August.
    13. Patricio V. Marquez, 2016. "Mental Health Among Displaced People and Refugees," World Bank Publications - Reports 25854, The World Bank Group.
    14. Richard F Mollica & Robert Brooks & Svang Tor & Barbara Lopes-Cardozo & Derrick Silove, 2014. "The enduring mental health impact of mass violence: A community comparison study of Cambodian civilians living in Cambodia and Thailand," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 60(1), pages 6-20, February.
    15. Thanh V. Tran & Victor Manalo & Victor T.D. Nguyen, 2007. "Nonlinear Relationship Between Length of Residence and Depression in a Community-Based Sample of Vietnamese Americans," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 53(1), pages 85-94, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9902-:d:639542. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.