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Focus on the Well-Being and Mental Health of Refugees and Migrants

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2023) | Viewed by 9921

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jeanette A. Lawrence

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
2. Victorian Foundation for the Survivors of Torture, Brunswick, VIC 3056, Australia
Interests: refugee children; refugee experiences; children’s rights and well-being; personal and social development across the life-course, especially intergenerational and contextualized relations; culturally-appropriate research and evaluation methods; specializing in computer-assisted interview techniques

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Contemporary humanity is experiencing multiple upheavals in environmental and social life. Recent massive public health and geopolitical changes bring into question how social scientists reckon with the impact of war, catastrophe, and pandemics on people’s well-being and how people cope with and turn around adversity. Refugee experiences test traditional theory, policy, and practice on survival, recovery, and pathways to general well-being. Over several decades, the focus of scholarly discourse has been shifting away from suffering and negativity to thriving and positivity. The social scientific community now needs new insights to better understand how people navigate historical and contextual upheaval and adversity: people’s needs, endurance, resilience, and coping strategies. We particularly need fresh insights and tools for understanding the exceptional changes endured during displacement, relocation, and resettlement, and how these can illuminate everyday human experience. People’s exceptional navigation of refugee and migration situations provides a unique lens on the impact of adversity and resilience on well-being and mental and physical health. We invite colleagues to contribute to greater understanding of the experiences, challenges, and well-being of refugees and migrants. We welcome the submission of papers for this Special Issue that focus on theory, research, policy, or programs related to the well-being of refugee and migrant communities and individuals.

Dr. Jeanette A. Lawrence
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • child refugees
  • migrants
  • refugee experiences
  • well-being
  • mental health
  • adversity
  • resilience
  • coping strategies
  • survival

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 381 KiB  
Article
Developing a Collaborative Approach to Support Access and Acceptability of Mental Health Care for Refugee Youth: An Exploratory Case Study with Young Afghan Refugees
by Jakob Versteele, Cécile Rousseau, Marina Danckaerts and Lucia De Haene
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(3), 292; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21030292 - 1 Mar 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2605
Abstract
Despite an increased prevalence of psychiatric morbidity, minor refugees resettled in Western host societies are less likely to access mental health care services than their native peers. This study aims to explore how a collaborative approach can be implemented to promote access to [...] Read more.
Despite an increased prevalence of psychiatric morbidity, minor refugees resettled in Western host societies are less likely to access mental health care services than their native peers. This study aims to explore how a collaborative approach can be implemented to promote access to specialized mental health care. Collaborative mental health care embeds specialized intervention in primary care settings and emphasizes the inclusion of minority cultural perspectives through an interdisciplinary, intersectoral network. In this study, we analyze how such a collaborative approach can support access to specialized mental health care for refugee youth. The study presents findings from a qualitative multiple-case study (n = 10 refugee patients), conducted in the setting of a psychiatric day program for young refugees that develops an intersectional, collaborative practice in supporting minor refugees’ trajectory from referral to admission. Building on in-depth interviews, participant observation and case documents, within-case analysis and cross-case inductive thematic analysis identify the specific working mechanisms of a collaborative approach. The results indicate how this intersectoral approach addresses the interplay between traumatic suffering and both cultural and structural determinants of mental health. To conclude, a discussion identifies future research directions that may further strengthen the role of collaborative practice in promoting mental health care access for refugee youth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focus on the Well-Being and Mental Health of Refugees and Migrants)
19 pages, 1204 KiB  
Article
The Relationship between Wellbeing, Self-Determination, and Resettlement Stress for Asylum-Seeking Mothers Attending an Ecosocial Community-Based Intervention: A Mixed-Methods Study
by Yufei Mandy Wu, Jens Kreitewolf and Rachel Kronick
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(22), 7076; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20227076 - 17 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2518
Abstract
Psychosocial support programs have been increasingly implemented to protect asylum seekers’ wellbeing, though how and why these interventions work is not yet fully understood. This study first uses questionnaires to examine how self-efficacy, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and adaptive stress may influence [...] Read more.
Psychosocial support programs have been increasingly implemented to protect asylum seekers’ wellbeing, though how and why these interventions work is not yet fully understood. This study first uses questionnaires to examine how self-efficacy, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and adaptive stress may influence wellbeing for a group of asylum-seeking mothers attending a community-based psychosocial program called Welcome Haven. Second, we explore mothers’ experiences attending the Welcome Haven program through qualitative interviews. Analysis reveals the importance of relatedness as a predictor of wellbeing as well as the mediating role of adaptive stress between need satisfaction and wellbeing. Further, attending Welcome Haven is associated with reduced adaptive stress and increased wellbeing, which correspond with the thematic analysis showing that attendance at the workshops fostered a sense of belonging through connection with other asylum seekers and service providers as well as empowerment through access to information and self-expression. The results point to the importance of community-based support that addresses adaptive stress and the promotion of social connection as key determinants of wellbeing. Nonetheless, the centrality of pervasive structural stressors asylum seekers experience during resettlement also cautions that relief offered by interventions may be insufficient in the face of ongoing systemic inequality and marginalization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focus on the Well-Being and Mental Health of Refugees and Migrants)
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16 pages, 1511 KiB  
Article
The Child as Vulnerable Victim: Humanitarianism Constructs Its Object
by Jason Hart
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(6), 5102; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20065102 - 14 Mar 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2563
Abstract
Over the last one hundred years, humanitarian agencies have considered children primarily through the lens of vulnerability. Advocacy for attention to children’s agency and for their participation has burgeoned since the 1980s without shifting the powerful hold that assumptions of vulnerability have had [...] Read more.
Over the last one hundred years, humanitarian agencies have considered children primarily through the lens of vulnerability. Advocacy for attention to children’s agency and for their participation has burgeoned since the 1980s without shifting the powerful hold that assumptions of vulnerability have had over the policy and practices of humanitarians. This article seeks to denaturalise the conceptualisation of children in contexts of emergency as primarily vulnerable (would-be) victims, placing it in historical and geopolitical contexts. It offers a critical analysis of both conventional humanitarian thinking about vulnerability per se and the reasons for its continued invocation in settings of displacement and political violence. Drawing upon examples from the Mau Mau rebellion against British colonial rule in 1950s Kenya, and current humanitarian response to the situation of Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation, this article relates the continued dominance of the vulnerability paradigm to the pursuit of self-interest by elites and the survival strategies of humanitarian agencies. It pays particular attention to the uses to which mental health thinking and programming is put in what may be called the ‘politics of pathologisation’. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focus on the Well-Being and Mental Health of Refugees and Migrants)
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Other

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12 pages, 350 KiB  
Essay
Recognizing Relational Interactions with Social Institutions in Refugee Children’s Experiences of Intertwining Vulnerability and Agency
by Jeanette A. Lawrence, Agnes E. Dodds, Ida Kaplan and Maria M. Tucci
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(19), 6815; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20196815 - 23 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1439
Abstract
In this paper, we examine relational interactions between refugee children and social institutions, building the case for the recognition of the co-occurrence and intertwining of vulnerability and agency in children’s experiences in diverse refugee situations. This developmental relational approach offers refinement of a [...] Read more.
In this paper, we examine relational interactions between refugee children and social institutions, building the case for the recognition of the co-occurrence and intertwining of vulnerability and agency in children’s experiences in diverse refugee situations. This developmental relational approach offers refinement of a general relational worldview by specifying how vulnerable and agentic experiences are co-constructed by children and adult individuals and institutions. We analyze the conceptual roots of vulnerable and agentic experiences, and use the concept of co-construction to specify the processes and outcomes of interactive relational experiences. Evidence from example studies of the intertwining of vulnerability and agency in specific refugee situations demonstrates how refugee children contribute to power-oriented experiences. Due recognition of the relational co-construction of intertwining vulnerable and agentic experiences provides a basis for refining generalized relational observations, and a fine-grained basis for developing policies and procedures to dispel ambivalence to refugee children and to change inequitable policies and practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Focus on the Well-Being and Mental Health of Refugees and Migrants)
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