Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.P.D.(Prof))--University of Queensland, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

There is a lack of studies investigating PTSD in countries with a low human development index and also among refugee populations (Onyut et al., 2004; Stevens et al., 2013). The purpose of the present study was to investigate coping strategies used by Congolese refugees, a heavily traumatised population. Using a mixed-methods design, two studies were conducted on samples of Congolese refugees. Interviews (N=10) were conducted to study coping strategies. Thematic analysis generated five themes: 1) religion, 2) social coping, 3) problem-solving, 4) resignation, and 5) avoidance. Furthermore, differences in coping strategies between individuals with low (n=23) and high (n=24) PTSD symptom severity1 were examined statistically. The results showed that the low PTSD symptom severity group used significantly more adaptive coping strategies compared to the other group (p=.004). No difference was found in maladaptive coping strategies (p=ns). The results of both the qualitative and quantitative analyses suggest that religious meaning-making and social coping are important in this context.

What drives refugees displaced by war to hold attitudes supporting violence to achieve political ends? The conventional wisdom suggests that refugee communities are breeding grounds for the emergence of political violence, terrorism, and radicalism. Yet, the literature on refugees and political violence offers little empirical evidence of such a connection or systematic investigation of the root causes of attitudes toward political violence among refugees. My research addresses the following questions: 1) What are the sources of politically violent attitudes? 2) Can these sources be traced to specific aspects of the refugee communities themselves? 3) Can they be traced to certain experiential events or demographic factors? 4) Are attitudes towards political violence related to actors’ political goals? This analysis is based on nearly three years of fieldwork in Chechen refugee communities in The Republic of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Poland, and Belgium. Methodologically, this inductive study employed a mixed-methods approach, utilizing qualitative and ethnographic methods, such as direct participant-observer, to conduct 310 structured-interviews with a range of Chechen refugees. For independent variables I asked a battery of questions related to demographic profiles, grievances, political goals and preferences, and preferences for regime type. The dependent variable, attitudes towards political violence, was gleaned from structured-interviews which called on subjects to offer general assessments of their position on the acceptability of political violence as well as express their views on the legitimacy of four concrete events related to the conflict in Chechnya: the 2002 attack on Moscow’s Dubrovka Theater; the 2004 attack on School #1 in Beslan, North Ossetia; the 2004 attack on military and police personnel in Nazran, Ingushetia; and the 2005 attack on military and police personnel in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. / text

Introduction: This study was conducted to gain an ethnographic understanding of the Karen persons from Myanmar and their perceptions of tuberculosis (TB) as well as to provide the DeKalb County Board of Health (DCBoH) TB program with practical recommendations for serving this population. Methods: In-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted with 37 Karen-Burmese persons living in the U.S. Local bilingual, bicultural researchers conducted the interviews with respondents recruited from the DCBoH TB clinic and surrounding communities in DeKalb County, Georgia. Both qualitative and quantitative strategies were used to analyze the data. Results: We found that the levels of knowledge pertaining to TB varied greatly. There were few perceptions that were statistically significant among gender and recruitment sources. Also, misconceptions were common in regards to TB transmission and low perceptions of risk. The respondents did request TB education in various formats such as videos and television. Some reported difficulties at the DCBoH included lack of interpreters, limited transportation, and clinic hours. Conclusions: Some of the perceptions of the Karen-Burmese towards TB can be addressed through education. To begin this process it is recommended that the DCBoH TB program provide language-appropriate services that enable both clients and staff members to effectively focus on all concerns regarding TB. Extended clinic hours and transportation would also be helpful for Karen clients. It is important that the staff receives continuous training in cultural competency and an overview of potential misconceptions that this population may embrace.

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This thesis examines the lifeworlds of Somali returnees in Ethiopia. Their experience of flight and return is distinctive, shaped by the history and culture of the Somali people and the political and economic conditions of this part of Africa. In emphasizing this distinctiveness, this thesis is an implicit critique of recent efforts by academics and aid agencies to homogenize the experience of refugees in this region and elsewhere. In Ethiopia, "development" and humanitarian aid, in interaction with political contests at many levels, provide the context for interpreting refugee experience and action. Globally, the most powerful of the reductionist accounts is based on the "trauma model" of refugee experience. In this model, "refugee experience" has come to be virtually synonymous with "psychosocial" and, in turn, "mental health" and "post-traumatic stress disorder" (PTSD). Somali refugees and returnees in Ethiopia, however, do not address violence, death, and war-related distress in a framework of psychological medicine, with its goal of reducing psychological, emotional and physiological symptoms of individual distress. Rather, such distress is predominantly assimilated into the framework of politics, with its goals of survival and restitution. Emotion, and talking about emotion, evoke complex individual and collective memories that situate individual and local community experience within, or in juxtaposition to, other realities: competing powers such as the Ethiopian and other states, dispossession, and the precariousness of survival in a harsh natural and political environment. Historical narratives, collective memory, anger, and the rhetorics of development and humanitarian aid play important roles in these communities' efforts to rebuild social networks and what they refer to as a "decent human life."

Ethnic conflict is the most common type of internal armed conflict in the world. It often involves systematic attacks on civilian populations and is therefore also the major source of most of the world's 9.2 million external refugees and 25 million internal refugees. In 2003, Asia-Pacific was the region second most affected by conflict-induced displacement and in 2004 it had the second largest global number of internal refugees following Africa. Given the likelihood that this trend will continue, it is perhaps surprising that a relative lack of research has been conducted concerning the relationship between ethnic conflict and refugee movements within this region compared to other areas. It is therefore imperative that a comprehensive study be undertaken to fill this void of knowledge. The fundamental question posed by my thesis is why do some ethnic conflicts produce external refugees and others do not in the Southeast Asia/Pacific region? To answer this question, this thesis develops a theoretical model from which to analyse variations in both external and internal refugee numbers as a result of ethnic conflict in the region. It applies the model to specific ethnic conflicts in Fiji, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Solomon Islands during the period 1995 2005 and identifies a common set of factors conducive to creating internal and external refugees. The findings emphasise the interlinked nature of the variables and demonstrate that no single-factor explanation exists that can explain how refugees are created.

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No description available.