St. Catherine University SOPHIA Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers School of Social Work 5-2016 Resiliency Factors for Karen Refugees Abby Voigt St. Catherine University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Voigt, Abby. (2016). Resiliency Factors for Karen Refugees. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers/683 This Clinical research paper is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Social Work at SOPHIA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers by an authorized administrator of SOPHIA. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running Head: RESILIENCY FACTORS FOR KAREN REFUGEES Resiliency Factors for Karen Refugees by Abby L. Voigt, B.A. MSW Clinical Research Paper Presented to the Faculty of the School of Social Work St. Catherine University and the University of St. Thomas St. Paul, Minnesota in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Social Work Committee Members Mari A. Graham, MSW, PhD, LISW, (Chair) Eva M. Solomonson, MSW, LICSW Novia Josiah, BSW, LSW The Clinical Research Project is a graduation requirement for MSW students at St. Catherine University/University of St. Thomas School of Social Work in St. Paul, Minnesota and is conducted within a nine-month time frame to demonstrate facility with basic social research methods. Students must independently conceptualize a research problem, formulate a research design that is approved by a research committee and the university Institutional Review Board, implement the project, and publicly present the findings of the study. This project is neither a Master’s thesis nor a dissertation. RESILIENCY FACTORS FOR KAREN REFUGEES Abstract The refugee experience is one of great hardship. Refugees are removed from a distressing life which often includes starvation, physical injury or torture, incarceration, threats, and rape and are placed in a completely new world where they have to relearn how to live in a place where the language, food, work, and interactions are completely different than what they know. This remains true for the Karen population from Burma. Despite these challenges, refugees find sources of resilience in order to persevere through their hardships. The purpose of this research project was to describe the sources of resilience during and after resettlement to the U.S. for Karen refugees in the Saint Paul, MN area. A qualitative research method was used for the project, in which, participants were interviewed twice; the first interview focusing on their personal experience of resettlement and the second interview focusing on their perception of other Karen refugees’ experiences. Participants included three Karen women who work as interpreters in social service agencies in the Saint Paul area. The themes that emerged from the study included resettlement issues, supportive services, hope, importance of community, and personal qualities. The findings of this research project suggest that social workers should aim to minimize challenges that refugees face upon resettlement and maximize sources of resilience. 2 RESILIENCY FACTORS FOR KAREN REFUGEES Table of Contents 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………….....4 2. Literature Review………………………………………………………………….......7 2.1 Who are the Karen?..………………………………………………………….7 2.2 Refugee Resettlement Process………………………………..……………....9 2.3 Triple Trauma Paradigm…………………………………………………......11 2.4 Resettlement for the Karen…………………………………………………..12 2.5 Challenges in Resettling Process…………………………………………….13 2.6 Resiliency Factors and the Resettlement Experience………………………..19 2.7 Theories Related to Refugees and Resilience………………………………..20 2.8 Summary and Research Question……………………………………………23 3. Method………………………………………………………………………………..24 3.1 Sampling Procedures………………………………………………………...25 3.2 Protections of Human Subjects………………………………………………25 3.3 Instrumentation………………………………………………………………26 3.4 Data Collection………………………………………………………………27 3.5 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………….......27 3.6 Strengths and Limitations……………………………………………………28 4. Research Lenses………………………………………………………………………30 4.1 Theoretical Lens……………………………………………………………..30 4.2 Professional Lens…………………………………………………………….31 4.3 Personal Lens………………………………………………………………...32 5. Findings……………………………………………………………………………….33 5.1 Description of Participants…………………………………………………...33 5.2 Observational Data…………………………………………………………..33 5.3 Resettlement Issues………………………………………………………….34 5.4 Supportive Services………………………………………………………….40 5.5 Hope…………………………………………………………………………41 5.6 Importance of Community…………………………………………………..43 5.7 Personal Qualities……………………………………………………………44 5.8 Summary……………………………………………………………………..46 6. Discussion……………………………………………………………………………..47 6.1 Findings Supported by the Research…………………………………………47 6.2 Unexpected Findings………………………………………………………...48 6.3 Implications for Practice……………………………………………………..49 6.4 Implications for Future Research…………………………………………….51 7. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….52 REFERENCE LIST……………………………………………………………………...53 APPENDIX A…………………………………………………………………………...58 APPENDIX B…………………………………………………………………………...61 APPENDIX C…………………………………………………………………………...63 3 RESILIENCY FACTORS FOR KAREN REFUGEES Introduction I am Karen, one of the ethnic groups in Burma. Out of sight in the mountains and jungles of eastern Burma, the Burmese dictatorship has been trying to wipe out my people. Millions have been forced to flee their homes. More villages have been destroyed in Burma than in Darfur in Sudan, but the world has seemed content to ignore our suffering (Phan, 2010, p. 10). Zoya Phan, a Karen refugee from Burma wrote a memoir about her experience in her home country, the refugee camps, and resettlement. The reality of running for one’s life is often the first chapter of resettlement for many refugee populations. Refugees face traumatic events such as starvation, physical injury or torture, incarceration, threats, rape, and witnessing killing and torture within their countries of origin (Blair, 2000; Marshall et al., 2005). On top of that, resettlement in itself can be an extremely stressful and traumatic time for refugees new to the United States. Refugees are removed from a distressing life and placed in a completely new world where they have to start from scratch. Often times, refugees have to relearn how to live and survive in a place where the language, food, work, and interactions are completely different than what they know. Refugees face many logistical stressors upon resettlement, such as economic and language difficulties (Beiser & Hou, 2006), as well as emotional strains. Refugees face discrimination (Beiser & Hou, 2006) in addition to having to choose between committing to one’s ethnic identity, abandoning one’s heritage, or creating a compromise between the two (Beiser & Hou, 2006). These logistical and emotional stressors pose threats to the emotional and behavioral well-being of refugees of all ages (Betancourt, Abdi, Lilienthal, & Agalab, 2015; Blair, 2000). Mental health concerns such as PTSD and major depression are significant issues for refugees during and after resettlement (Blair, 2000). These concerns are both serious 4 RESILIENCY FACTORS FOR KAREN REFUGEES and common for many types of refugee populations. In a study exploring mental illness in Cambodian refugees, 45% qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD and 51% met criteria for major depression (Blair, 2000). Not only is this an issue that refugees face immediately after resettlement, it also continues to be an issue for an extended time (Marshall, Schell, Elliot, Berthold, & Chun, 2005). Despite facing extreme stressors, many refugees are resilient enough to survive the hardships of resettlement. Resilience is defined as “a process linking a set of adaptive capacities to a positive trajectory of functioning and adaptation after a disturbance” (Norris, Stevens, Pfefferbaum, Wyche, & Pfefferbaum, 2008, p. 130). Sources of resiliency can be found at individual, family, and community levels (Weine, 2008) and can give refugees the resources and hope they need in order to survive and, optimally, thrive within their new country. By becoming more aware of these contributors to resilience, social workers and other social service providers can focus on enhancing resilience and ensuring that the necessary supports and resources are in place in order to best aid in a positive resettlement experience for refugees. The United States continues to have an increase in immigrants resettling to the country. In particular, immigrants and refugees are a rapidly growing population in Minnesota. Between 1990 and 2000 there was a 138% increase in immigration to Minnesota compared to the 57% increase nationally (Fennelly, 2006). Overall, over 90,000 refugees have immigrated to the state since 1979 (Harkins, 2012). As the population of refugees continues to grow, social work professionals need to understand the factors that enhance resilience within refugee populations in order to best serve these populations. The purpose of this study is to describe the sources of 5 RESILIENCY FACTORS FOR KAREN REFUGEES resilience during and after resettlement to the United States for Karen refugees in the St. Paul area. Since many studies have been completed in the past that have looked at the resettlement process of refugees, this study will expand that knowledge and focus