Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Refugee Youth in Resettlement
Title
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Refugee Youth in Resettlement
Author
Kia‐Keating, Maryam
Liu, Sabrina R.
Sims, Ginette M.
Research Area
Social Interactions
Topic
Family Relationships
Abstract
The global refugee crisis has reached unprecedented levels in scale and severity. Refugee youth face adversities at every phase of their experience; however, compared to premigration and migration, far less is understood about postmigration factors impacting well‐being. An overemphasis on traumatic stress has led to a gap in the research on resilience, protective, and promotive factors during resettlement. In contrast to a deficit model, the socioecological framework provides a holistic understanding of individual functioning. It is vital for future research to utilize a socioecological framework to highlight protective and promotive factors and inform policy and prevention efforts that target contextual and macro‐level processes that can benefit refugee youth development. Participatory, human‐centered, and empowerment approaches are emergent strategies that view and treat refugee youth populations as equitable partners, building their agency to move toward social action and help lead the efforts in reducing health disparities and supporting refugee resilience in resettlement.