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Acculturation and School Adapation of Somali Bantu Refugee Children University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 8-2008 Acculturation and school adapation of Somali Bantu refugee children. Manbeena Sekhon University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Recommended Citation Sekhon, Manbeena, "Acculturation and school adapation of Somali Bantu refugee children." (2008). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1296. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/1296 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACCULTURATION AND SCHOOL ADAPTAtiON OF SOMALI BANTU REFUGEE CHILDR~N By Manbeena SekHon B.A., Fergusson College, 2000 M.A., University of Daytol1l, 2003 A Dissertation Submitted to the Facultylof the Graduate School of the Universi~y of Louisville In Partial Fulfillment of the ReRuirements for the Degree of ! Doctor of Philosophy I , j Department of Educational and Cou~seling Psychology University of Louisvil'e Louisville, Kentuckt i I j August 2008 ACCULTURATION AND SCHOOL ADAPTATION OF SOMALI BANTU REFUGEE CHILDREN By Manbeena Sekhon B.A., Fergusson College, 2000 M.A., University of Dayton, 2003 A Dissertation Approved on July 16, 2008 By the following Dissertation Committee: Samuel C. Stringfield, Ph.D., DiSsertation Co-Chair Thomas G. Reio, Jr., Ph.D., Dissertation Co-Chair Kathleen M. Kirby, Ed.D., Ph.D. Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Ph.D. Daya Singh Sandhu, Ed.D., NCCC, LPCC 11 ©Copyright 2008 by Manbeera Sekhon i All rights reserved! ACKNOWLEDGEME~TS I believe I wouldn't be writing this note, had! it not been for Dr. Samuel Stringfield's incredible support through these past ~o years of my graduate study. From being lost and worn out having to work on a topic of little interest to then researching an area now of great passion, h~ supported and guided me through the end and I remain in awe of his hard w¢>rk and commitment to the students of our program. Not to mention, it was Drf Stringfield who steered me i , toward the mentorship and guidance of yet anoth~r amazing faculty, Dr. Thomas I Reio, whose enthusiasm and support for my rese,rch topic has been extremely motivating. lowe Dr. Reio, my co-chair, much grat,tude for his limitless patience, incredible sense of humor, willingness to involve h,mself with the Somali Bantu I community and to share his wisdom to help me thjou9h this research process. Mostly, I appreciate his willingness to co-chair my ~issertation despite his i relocation to Florida. I I knew I had much to learn from Dr. RUdasi~1 just having worked for her I one summer two years ago. Her guidance and av~ilability at the times I much i needed has been key in alleviating my anxiety as rell as helping me move I forward with my work when I was feeling stuck. I o~e Dr. Kathleen Kirby i gratitude not just for her support for my dissertatior' but for my entire time at the University of Louisville. Her passion for students a~d her sensitivity and I willingness to advocate for their needs sets her ap~rt from many others. I remain III very grateful I had her support and mentorship th se past five years. Last, but not the least, Dr. Daya Singh Sandhu's extensive nowledge and scholarship in the area of multicultural issues was indispensable A few other persons deserve acknowledge ent. My friend Danielle Oatley and Marti Kinny from JCPS ESL department have been incredibly helpful and I cannot thank them enough. Their assistance in he ping me gather important qualitative and quantitative data as well as all the isdom and knowledge they imparted in the area of refugee children has been xtremely helpful. Also, lowe special thanks to Dr. Geetanjali Gulati, a dear frie d and a mentor, for always helping me stay focused and seeing the light at th end of the tunnel and Dr. Lee Look for being an incredibly patient and supportiv listener who has always had more faith in me and my abilities than I seem to h ve in myself. Lastly, I am grateful for my internship site, SCS, Miami Univer ity, for allowing me the time off from work and at work to write my dissertation. I 0 e Dr. Pamela Wilkins and Dr. Maria Carrubba-Whetstine a big thank you. This acknowledgement cannot be complet without my thanking Waheguru for his blessings and mostly thanking y amazing family. lowe all my success and learning to my parents as they have one everything and more to get me to where I am today. Lastly, having an incr dibly supportive and caring brother and sister-in-law has made life away from ome tenfold easier. I feel blessed IV ABSTRACT ACCULTURATION AND SCHOOL ADAPTA ION OF SOMALI BANTU REFUGEE CHILDR Manbeena Sekho July 16, 2008 The number of refugees being uprooted fro their homes to seek refuge and resettlement in countries like the United State continues to grow, with large numbers being children. While each refugee grou has its own set of challenges when adjusting to a new country, a better underst nding of their needs may help facilitate their transition more quickly with lesser c allenges. This study investigated the adjustment of one such group - omali Bantus in a Midwestern U.S. city. Specifically, acculturation and school ad ptation of Somali Bantu refugee children was explored using the Differenti ted Multidimensional Model of Acculturation. Somali Bantu refugee children in 5 element ry schools were asked to complete a questionnaire that assessed their level of acculturation to American culture and level of retention of Somali Bantu cult re, at three levels i.e. language, identity, and behavior. The 5 ESL teach rs were asked to complete a questionnaire that assessed total difficulties in be aviors for each of their Somali Bantu student. Correlations, MANOVAs, and hier rchical regression analyses were used to analyze the data. v The findings of this study documented the ignificant role of school context in the acculturation and school adaptation of thes Somali Bantu refugee children. The findings demonstrated that age was tatistically, significantly, and negatively related to overall American Acculturati n (AAI) and statistically, significantly, and positively related to Proficiency evel Composite scores. These students' AAI scores were statistically, significantl ,and positively related to their Somali Acculturation Index (SAl) scores. Further are, SAl scores were statistically, significantly, and positively related to rades on Social Behavior and grades on Social Behavior and Work Study Habit were statistically, significantly, and positively related. Also, age and length of tim in the country were statistically, significantly, and positively related. The hierarchical regression analyses for I and ABA suggested that the demographic variables age, length of time in the S and gender did not contribute to any significant variance and school c ntributed a moderate variance to the overall AAI and ABA scores. School contri uted substantially more incremental variance to ALA and AlA than did the ther variables (age, length of time in the US and gender). Overall. the theoretic I model including age, length of time in the US, gender and school explained 18 25, 17 and 13 percent of the variance in the AAI, ALA, AlA and ABA respective y. The hierarchical regression analyses for S I, SLA, SIA and SBA suggested that the demographic variables age, Ie gth of time in the US and gender contributed marginally significant variance. School contributed substantially more incremental variance to SAl, S A and SBA and a small Vi incremental variance to SIA than did the other de agraphic variables. Overall, the theoretical model including age, length of time in the US, gender and school explained 36, 20, 15, and 41 percent of the varian e in the SAl, SLA, SIA, and SBA respectively. The hierarchical regression analyses for th school outcomes suggested that the demographic variables age, length of time in the US and gender contributed marginally significant variance in Total Difficulties and Proficiency Level Composite scores but none for Grades on S cial behavior and Work Study Habits. School contributed slightly more incremen al variance to Total Difficulties and Proficiency Level Composite scores a. Accult ration did not contribute to any significant variance in any of the school outcomes Overall, the theoretical model including age, length of time in the US, gender, sc 001, and American acculturation explained 26, 18, 16, and 38 percent of the variance and age, length of time in the US, gender, school, and Sam Ii acculturation explained 26, 22, 16, and 41 percent of the variance in the Total Difficulties, Grades on Social Behavior, Grades on Work Study Habits, and Prof ciency Level Composite scores, respectively. The potential implications for theory and pr ctice related to acculturation and school adaptation of Somali Bantu refugee ch Idren and teachers and school administrators working with them are provided. Vll TABLE OF CONTEN S PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................ x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 A. Importance of the Study in General B. Role of School and Education in Ref gee Children's Adjustment C. Barriers to Adjustment and Success n Schools D. Who are Refugees? E. Types of Refugees F. Refugees versus Immigrants G. Refugee Children H. Refugee Children's Needs for Succe s in the U.S. I. Role of School/ Education in Refuge Children's Wellbeing J.
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