Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Human Services

Advisor

Barbara Benoliel

Abstract

Emotional resilience among resettled refugees is an indicator of cultural integration and adaptation into a host country which in turn impacts schools, resettlement agencies, and refugee service organizations in how they can best meet the needs of refugees. The documented decline in emotional resilience among resettled Syrian refugees during the past decade is linked to the problem of cultural value disparities causing a resultant decline in mental health and socioemotional wellbeing. The purpose of this narrative qualitative study was to explore expressions of cultural value dimensions such as collectivism and uncertainty avoidance in oral histories of resettled Syrian refugees. Applying Hofstede's value dimensions as a theoretical framework to explore expressions of resilience through a culturally cognizant lens addressed the research gap in refugee resilience studies. The research question exploring expressions of collectivism and uncertainty avoidance in the refugee narratives was addressed by conducting a thematic content analysis using linguistic assessment on a data source of 26 publicly archived narrative oral histories collected from 2017 to 2018 from Syrian refugees resettled in countries other than the US. Study results indicated that constructs of collectivism informed participant narratives and impacted cultural adaptation more than elements of faith adherence or uncertainty avoidance. Expressions of family and community connections in particular rose to the forefront in the narratives. Positive social change can result from this study through increased understanding of refugee resilience using a cultural lens which can lead to improved refugee mental health, socioemotional wellness, and cultural adaptation.

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