NARRATIVES OF IDENTITY, HOME, AND RETURN OF KOSOVARIAN REFUGEES: STEPS TOWARD A POSTMODERN SENSE OF AGENCY By MARCO GEMIGNANI A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2005 Copyright 2005 by Marco Gemignani This dissertation is dedicated to my son, Giancarlo, a constant source of wonder, curiosity, and fun. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My biggest acknowledgement is for Yolanda, my caring partner and close friend, companion of tons of life experiences. Warm thanks go to my advisor and the members of my doctoral committee for having been, and continuing to be, ongoing sources of learning and inspiration. An extraordinary recognition goes to my family and friends in Italy for enabling my privileged position of having plural homes. Also, special thanks are for the colleagues of the Suffolk University Counseling Center and for all the thoughtful persons who served as my counseling supervisors during the doctoral program. All of them helped me with the endless task of translating into practice too many philosophical readings and wonderings. Finally, this study would not have been possible without the enthusiastic help of my closest collaborators, the refugees from Kosovo, who taught me about the humane aspects and consequences of forced migration. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 1.1 The Contexts of the Research ......................................................................3 1.1.1 The Importance of Context ..............................................................6 1.1.2 The Context of Kosovo....................................................................8 1.1.3 The Socio-Political Context of Kosovarian Refugees in the U.S. .10 1.1.4 The Socio-Political Context of Kosovarian Asylum Seekers in the U.S............................................................................................11 1.1.5 Serbian-Kosovarian Displaced Individuals....................................12 1.1.6 The Context of the Author .............................................................14 1.2 A Short Introduction to the Research Goals from a Narrative- Postmodern Perspective.............................................................................16 1.2.1 Reinterpreting Expectations from a Position of Shared Responsibility and Post-Structuralism...........................................16 1.2.2 Introducing the Research Goals: Exploring Narratives and Discourses about Identity, Home, and Return. ..............................18 1.2.3 Understanding Empowerment and Agency: Steps Towards a Field Intervention...........................................................................20 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .......................................................................23 2.1 Refugees and Displaced Population (DP)..................................................23 2.1.1 The Difficult Definition of “Refugee”: From the Etymological to the Political. ...............................................................................23 2.1.2 Mental Health and Psychological Concerns of Refugees and DP: Neither Here Nor There..........................................................26 2.1.3 Critics of the Use of DSM Categories for Refugees......................28 2.1.4 Beyond the Individualistic Focus...................................................30 v 2.1.5 Some Common Assumptions on the Refugee Experience and the Concept of “Home” in Discourses of Return and Cultural Integration......................................................................................31 2.2 Home..........................................................................................................33 2.2.1 Home and Place .............................................................................35 2.2.2 Home and Forced Displacement....................................................36 2.2.3 Belonging.......................................................................................37 2.3 Return.........................................................................................................38 2.3.1 Conditions for Return to Kosovo...................................................38 2.3.2 Assumptions in the Idea of Return.................................................39 2.4 Identity .......................................................................................................43 2.4.1 Refugees’ Belongingness and Constructions of Identity...............43 2.4.2 Narrative-Postmodern Identity.......................................................46 2.5 Agency .......................................................................................................48 2.5.1 Sense of Agency and Responsibility..............................................51 2.5.2 Identity and Agency.......................................................................52 3 METHOD ..............................................................................................................56 3.1 The Research Question: Key Concepts and Purposes ...............................56 3.2 Theoretical Perspectives ............................................................................60 3.2.1 The Importance of Context ............................................................61 3.2.2 The Postmodern Bases of the Research.........................................62 3.2.2.1 Epistemology .....................................................................63 3.2.2.2 Knowledge from Power and as Power...............................68 3.2.2.3 Implications for Counseling Psychology...........................70 3.2.3 The Narrative Approach ................................................................72 3.2.3.1 Why Study Narratives?......................................................73 3.2.3.2 Narrative Inquiry: Different Interpretations of a Popular Methodology......................................................................76 3.2.3.3 Narrative coherence ...........................................................79 3.2.4 Theoretical and Epistemological Bases for the Development of a Narrative-Postmodern Approach to Research and Counseling...81 3.2.4.1 Summary of the Theoretical and Methodological Positions of This Research.................................................81 3.2.4.2 Counter-Narratives.............................................................83 3.2.4.3 Authorship and Agency .....................................................88 3.3 The Methodology of This Study................................................................89 3.3.1 Integrating Narrative Approaches and Postmodern Philosophies .89 3.3.2 Participants.....................................................................................93 3.3.3 Data Collection ..............................................................................94 3.3.3.1 The Challenge of Gaining Access to the Refugee Community and Sampling .................................................94 3.3.3.2 Data Collection ..................................................................96 3.3.4 Transcriptions ................................................................................97 3.3.5 Ethical Concerns ............................................................................97 3.3.6 Validity ..........................................................................................99 vi 3.3.6.1 Validity in Qualitative Research........................................99 3.3.6.2 Validity of This Study......................................................103 3.3.6.3 The Option of Member-Checking....................................105 3.3.7 Description of the methodology and analysis..............................107 3.3.7.1 Stage 1: Identification and Elaboration of Narratives......108 3.3.7.2 Stage 2: Action Orientations, Positionings, and Social Achievements...................................................................109 3.3.7.3 Stage 3: Master- and Meta-Narratives. ............................110 3.3.7.4 Stage 4: Subjectivity and Counter-Narratives..................112 4 DATA ANALYSIS: FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS ..................................114 4.1 Findings....................................................................................................114 4.2 Validity and Generalizability of This Study ............................................129 4.3 Limits of the Research .............................................................................132 4.4 Heuristics .................................................................................................134 4.5 Observations and Conclusions.................................................................136 4.5.1 Foreigners and Narratives of Exclusion.......................................137 4.5.2 Territories and Identities..............................................................138 4.5.3 Return: The Dialogue between Agency and Possibilities............142 4.5.4 Final Comments and Reflections on a Postmodern