NARRATIVES OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT WORKERS: THE IMPACT OF RECENT POLICY CHANGES ON REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT by William Wesley Crooks, M.A., M.Ed. A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Council of Texas State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a Major in Adult, Professional, and Community Education May 2019 Committee Members: Clarena Larrotta, Chair Joellen E. Coryell Melissa A. Martinez Jovita M. Ross-Gordon COPYRIGHT by William Wesley Crooks 2019 FAIR USE AND AUTHOR’S PERMISSION STATEMENT Fair Use This work is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, section 107). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of this material for financial gain without the author’s express written permission is not allowed. Duplication Permission As the copyright holder of this work I, William Wesley Crooks, authorize duplication of this work, in whole or in part, for educational or scholarly purposes only. DEDICATION To Patty, my loving and very tolerant wife, who is the inspiration and the foundation of my life, and who has supported all my endeavors while accepting my madness. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation was created not just by me, but by many people whose participation and inspiration were essential. I would like to acknowledge those who were a part of this effort and who helped me complete my journey. I am first most grateful to the study participants who took the time and effort to share their experiences and opinions on a controversial subject. Your stories and narratives formed the basis of this dissertation, and they were frequently provided through the emotional remembrance of your personal journeys and circumstances. Many of your feelings and views were voiced at a time in history when you felt a personal risk in doing so. Your participation was both brave and principled, and I am in your debt. I would like to thank my wife Patty, who provided me the support and inspiration to seek my doctor of philosophy degree, and who put up with my weird hours and frequent absences, both mental and physical. I will make it up to you in the years ahead, I promise. To all my professors in the Adult, Professional, and Community Education program who are the reason I am finishing this degree. To Dr. Ann Brooks who convinced me to stay in the program after a personal crisis and whose perspectives changed the way I think. To Dr. Joellen Coryell who exposed me to the international scope of adult education and who wonderfully prepared me for writing this dissertation. To Dr. Jovita Ross-Gordon who quietly provided me her remarkable insights and expertise in adult education, forming the foundation of much of my theoretical v knowledge. To Dr. Robert Reardon who helped talk me through a tough time. To Dr. Mattyna Stephens who taught me leadership and organizational change. To Dr. Gail Ryser who provided her wonderful support in helping me learn quantitative analysis, and to Dr. Duncan Waite, the professor of my first class, who opened my eyes to a different way of writing and who didn’t frighten me away. To Cohort 15, you are all a part of my life now and you inspired me to keep going. I looked forward to attending class because of you. Thank you for your kindness and your help–Autumn, Daniel, Danette, Don, John, Kevin, Merih, and Terrance. Good luck to all of you. To my committee members–Dr. Joellen Coryell, Dr. Melissa Martinez, and Dr. Jovita Ross-Gordon–you have all provided your time and expertise in making this dissertation better. Your support, guidance, and feedback were invaluable. I truly enjoyed the experience because of you, and continue to understand that my journey is not over, but only beginning. Finally, I want to thank Dr. Clarena Larrotta, my dissertation chair. I knew from the first day of your qualitative analysis class that I wanted you to be my chair. The clarity of your vision, the practicality of your approach, and your teaching style all made it possible for me to see the way ahead. Your insights, your patience, and your counseling helped guide along the path and allowed me to develop my ideas and bring my dissertation to completion. I cannot say thank you enough, and I am honored to be one of your students. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. xi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................1 Background and Context of the Study .........................................................3 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................6 Research Questions ......................................................................................7 Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................7 Significance of the Study .............................................................................8 Conceptual Framework ..............................................................................10 Researcher’s Perspective ...........................................................................13 Dissertation Roadmap ................................................................................14 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...................................................................16 Definition of a Refugee ..............................................................................17 Scope of the Refugee Problem ...................................................................19 The Refugee Resettlement Process ............................................................20 International Process for Refugee Resettlement ............................21 U.S. National Process for Refugee Resettlement ...........................24 Texas Process for Refugee Resettlement .......................................28 Refugee Resettlement Organizations in the United States ............30 Recent Changes in Policies Affecting Refugee Resettlement ...................32 Sentiments and Narratives Regarding Immigrants and Refugees ..............33 Anti-Immigrant Sentiments ...........................................................36 Nativism and the Nativist Narrative ..............................................38 The Neoliberal Narrative ...............................................................45 The Victim Narrative .....................................................................47 Refugee Resettlement Workers..................................................................48 vii Refugee and Refugee Resettlement Worker Interactions ..............50 Resettlement Organization and Refugee Resettlement Worker Interactions .........................................................................52 Gaps in the Literature.................................................................................53 III. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS...............................................................55 Qualitative Research ..................................................................................55 The Descriptive Case Study .......................................................................56 Participant Selection ..................................................................................56 Data Collection Sources .............................................................................59 Episodic Narrative Interviews ........................................................59 Artifacts..........................................................................................63 Researcher’s Journal ......................................................................65 Data Analysis .............................................................................................66 Paradigmatic Analysis of Narratives .............................................67 MaxQDA Software ........................................................................67 Overall Data Analysis Approach ...................................................68 Data Preparation and the Inductive Analysis .................................70 The Deductive Analysis .................................................................72 Trump Administration’s Policies and Impacts ..............................73 Ethical Considerations ..............................................................................73 Building Trustworthiness .........................................................................76 IV. REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT WORKERS ...................................................78 Who They Are............................................................................................79 How They Learned Their Jobs ...................................................................91 What They Do ............................................................................................95 Management Tasks ........................................................................96