This thesis examines the ways in which definitions and perceptions of refugees in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia evolved over the course of the American Civil War. It investigates perspectives from individuals in both the United States and Confederate States to illustrate how misconceptions about refugees—who they were, what they wanted, and how they could benefit each side—dominated how displaced people were discussed. I argue that despite significant attention to refugees in newspapers, military reports, and among the public, both sides failed to adequately assist refugees who were displaced as a result of the war. Utilizing a broadly chronological approach allows greater insight into how the situation in the Shenandoah Valley escalated over time with the addition of various refugee demographic groups, including white Unionists, Black self-emancipated people, deserters, and pro-Confederate civilians. This thesis discusses how each of these groups challenged Americans' culturally-constructed definition of the word "refugee." It also demonstrates how military commanders made use of refugees as sources of military intelligence who directly influenced the events of several military campaigns. This thesis argues that misconceptions about refugees hindered an effective and meaningful response to the Valley's refugee crisis among government officials, military officers, and the general populaces of the North and the South. / Master of Arts / The devastation wrought by the American Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley of western Virginia sparked a refugee crisis that grew in size over the course of the war. From the earliest days of the conflict in 1861, Americans correctly predicted that the war would displace many people. However, mistaken ideas about who qualified as a refugee and what to do with or for refugees prevented an effective response that could have alleviated the suffering of many of these people. This thesis examines how Americans struggled to understand refugees as matters of gender, race, and loyalty appeared to complicate the subject. It offers insight into not only how Americans perceived refugees, but also explores refugee experiences in order to illuminate voices that were overlooked both in the 1860s and in the decades since the war.

This thesis answers the question of how public opinion toward refugees and asylum-seekers expressed in opinion polls compares with that expressed through commentary on news articles posted by Cable News Network (CNN) on social media. Using a study of 2,022 Facebook comments regarding the plight of Syrian child Omran Daqneesh during the 2016 United States presidential election campaign, it reveals competing narratives in favor of and against the opening of American borders to individuals escaping conflict in Syria. The analysis of textual data encompasses themes of securitization and cosmopolitanism, the results of which provide clarity and texture to complement existing opinion poll data. While such polls provide snapshots of public opinion, an analysis of social media commentary reveals more clearly what and how people were thinking about Syrian refugees fleeing conflict and entering the United States at a specific point in time. This study leads to a heightened understanding of the nuances contributing to public opinion of refugee policies and assesses social media's capacity to reveal complexities of citizens' thinking. / Master of Arts / As the 2011 Syrian Civil War continues to engulf the Middle Eastern country, waves of civilians displaced by the conflict are forced to flee their homes as refugees and seek asylum in regions such as North America and Europe. In this thesis, I study the attitudes expressed on Facebook, a popular social media website, by members of the public in order to understand their reasons for supporting and opposing the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the United States. I expected that security concerns would be a primary motive for opposing refugee resettlement and anticipated that supporters would promote more open borders and a responsibility to protect Syrians’ human rights. My analysis confirmed that security, primarily against terrorism and acts of violence, is important for those who oppose bringing Syrian refugees into the United States. It also reveals that most of the online commenters were less concerned with terrorism and more concerned with the wellbeing of civilians escaping conflict. My analysis also found a segment of commenters voicing more moderate opinions: posters in this group support refugee resettlement if certain conditions are met or they support only certain types of refugees. I also compare the sentiment expressed in social media commentary to that documented by opinion polling during the same period.

"The Rescue Plot" examines the battles surrounding the rescue of migrants at sea in the long aftermath of Europe’s 2015 refugee crisis. Challenging the prevailing view of the border as a “field of struggle” between Europe and its outsides, this dissertation proposes the scene of maritime distress in the Mediterranean as a theater for playing out the internal contradictions of Europe itself: the fiscal crisis of the Eurozone; the wavering hegemony of liberal democracy; the radical Left’s search for a revolutionary subject, and migrants’ own elaboration of Europe between the experience of violence and the fantasy of fulfillment. Combining ethnography conducted on board the ships and aircraft of activist collectives rescuing migrants in the sea passage with literary criticism of nautical fiction and archival research into the histories of policing maritime mobility, the chapters of this dissertation develop an alternative history of the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean: not one of humanitarian mass disaster and unbridled state violence, but one of fierce battle waged among states, global capital and the alliances of border-crossers, activists and workers who meet at sea, each in search of their own form of emancipation as it shimmers on the horizon.

At the end of 2016, approximately 65.6 million individuals were displaced forcibly around the world because of generalized violence, persecution, violation of human rights, or conflict such as civil war (UNHCR, 2016). The purpose of this study is to: (a) explore Syrian refugees after displacement in the US, (b) give voice to refugee fathers, and (c) advance knowledge for marriage and family therapists, who are working with refugee families. Eight Syrian refugee fathers who were displaced in the last two years and living in Indiana, US shared their experiences through in-depth interviews. After transcribing and translating the interviews, thematic analysis, a flexible research tool that provides a reach and complex account of data, was used to analyze the data. Four main themes emerged from fathers: displacement stress, loss of extended family connections, experiences of isolation, and identity changes with provider role. A thematic map also is created illustrating how the stress of displacement and being far away from extended families profoundly influence provider identities and family interactions. In addition, the contextual model of family stress is used to customize fathers� experience of displacement. The inferences from this study provide guidance for marriage and family therapists, mental health practitioners, and organizations working with refugee families. / PHD / Just imagine you have to flee your home country, leaving all your physical and non-physical possessions and belongings or even members of your extended family behind, witnessing the death or missing of a significant or loved one, resettling in a new country and struggling to obtain a new social status, coping skills and suffering a stigma against your nationality. These are just a portion of the adversities that refugee fathers have endured (other family members suffer in different ways) in host countries such as the US. Syrian refugee fathers in this study were forced to live in a new country wherein they cannot speak the language and have to rely on their children to communicate with others. As the only providers of their families in Syria, they struggle with financial strains. Consequently, their wives (almost in half of the cases) have to work outside the home in order to cover the household expenses ideally; they could rely on their extended family’s help and support if they were in their own country. Such experiences are stressful for Syrian refugee fathers with damaging effects for their identity as fathers and their family dynamics. Family therapists, mental health practitioners, and organizations working with refugee families can benefit from findings of this study to provide better services for their targeted populations.

Every human being enjoys human rights. Human rights should be enjoyed regardless of the state of the individual or the demographic features of an individual. A country is bound to host refugees and immigrants due to the existing geopolitical conflicts in various countries. In Sweden, there has been a rise in the number of immigrants and refugees due to conflicts in neighboring countries (United Nations 2021). This thesis addressed the human rights of immigrants and refugees in Sweden between 2015 and 2022. The thesis used secondary data from journal articles to examine how human rights have been impacted for the duration. The research found that the human rights of immigrants and refugees that have been negatively affected relate to employment, housing, and language barriers (Hamza 2021, p. 2). This thesis compared the human rights of these people in Gothenburg and Stockholm municipalities. The thesis concluded that there is a need for non-governmental organizations to lobby for better laws favoring immigrants and refugees and monitor the actions of governmental bodies. The effectiveness of addressing the human rights of refugees and immigrants was associated with better levels of socioeconomic sustainability.

The refugee and newcomer population faces many challenges as they arrive in their host country. Many individuals experience varying degrees of trauma in their country of origin. Trauma can lead to poor mental health outcomes and poor adjustment in host countries. Refugee children in particular may experience post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety as a result of traumatic experiences. Children can be resilient when given opportunities to create relationships and gain confidence. These opportunities can be fostered through various avenues, one of which is the school environment. Refugee students can benefit from various supports provided to them in the school environment. One support that has created positive effects for children is peer mentoring. Peer mentoring programs have benefited students through improved self-efficacy, better adjustment to a new culture, and stronger connections with peers. However, more research on effective educational supports is needed. This study evaluated both mentors and mentees ratings of resiliency as a result of their participation in an 8-week mentoring program. Results indicated that the mentees scores increased significantly while mentors' scores did not. The results, limitations, and implications are further discussed in the document.

According to estimates by Bosnian authorities, there are two million Bosnians and their descendants living in diaspora, the highest number recorded since the end of the conflict in 1995. Most of these individuals are forced or involuntary migrants who fled the genocide and ethnic cleansing campaign of Serb nationalists who sought to destroy Bosnia as a historically multiethnic homeland in order to create ethnically homogeneous Serb territory. Over twenty years after the war, many of those that were displaced have not returned to their former homes and are unlikely to ever return. This study contributes to deepening understanding of the challenges faced by those displaced as they struggle to rebuild their lives and future in a new context. It does so through a theory-based analysis of the notion of home and constructions of identity in diaspora following conflict, and the narratives of members of the Bosnian diaspora about their experiences of conflict and violence in the places they called home. The strategy of violence used by nationalist Serbs physically destroyed places and people's homes, but it also impacted long-existing social structures and relationships, transforming the images of those places. As a consequence, the dispersal itself and the causes behind it became a central element in displaced Bosnians' redefinition of home and identity, where the place of resettlement developed as the best place to be, a new home, based on a search for 'cool ground' and 'normal life.' Two processes have played critical roles in this reconceptualization. First is the expansion of the family network, allowing for a regeneration of family structures that were fragmented by conflict. Second is translocalism, referring to the community-specific ways individuals maintain attachments to their former home. The places of resettlement and their particularities influence these processes and activities, producing distinct conditions for a reconceptualized home. The study's findings suggest that further research into translocalism as an enduring solution to the condition of displacement would be of benefit, as contemporary refugees from Syria and other places of conflict try to re-establish life outside of their home countries. The findings also provide a foundation for research on the children of refugees, specifically on how memory and trauma are being communicated and passed on to them by their parents. / Ph. D. / According to estimates by Bosnian authorities, there are two million Bosnians and their descendants living outside the country in ‘diaspora,’ the highest number recorded since the end of the conflict in 1995. Most of these individuals are forced or involuntary migrants who fled the genocide and ethnic cleansing campaign of Serb nationalists who sought to destroy Bosnia as a historically multiethnic homeland in order to create ethnically homogeneous Serb territory. Over twenty years after the conflict, many of those that were displaced have not returned to their former homes and are unlikely to ever return. This study contributes to deepening understanding of the challenges faced by those displaced as they struggle to rebuild their lives and future in a new context. It examines what the lives of members of the diaspora were like in the places they called home before everything became upended by violence and conflict. The strategy of violence used by nationalist Serbs physically destroyed places and people’s homes, but it also impacted long-existing social structures and relationships, transforming the images of those places. As a consequence, the dispersal of Bosnians as refugees and the reasons for their dispersal became a central element in how they have redefined their notion of home and their identity. According to this redefinition, the place they resettled developed as the best place to be, a new home, based on a search for ‘cool ground’ and ‘normal life.’ Two processes have been particularly important in this reconceptualization. First is the expansion of the family network in the place of resettlement, which has allowed for a regeneration of family structures that were fragmented by conflict. Second is translocalism, which refers to the community-specific ways individuals maintain attachments to their former home. The places of resettlement and their particularities influence these processes and activities, producing distinct conditions for a reconceptualized home. The study’s findings suggest that further research into translocalism as an enduring solution to the condition of displacement would be of benefit, as contemporary refugees from Syria and other places of conflict try to re-establish life outside of their home countries. The findings also provide a foundation for research on the children of refugees, specifically on how memory and trauma are being communicated and passed on to them by their parents.

Yes

Yes / Vulnerable migrant women are at an increased risk of developing postnatal depression, compared with the general population. Although some symptoms are the same as in other pregnant women, there are specific reasons why vulnerable migrant women may present differently, or may not recognise symptoms themselves. Factors associated with migration may affect a woman’s mental health, particularly considering forced migration, where a woman may have faced violence or trauma, both in her home country and on the journey to the UK. Vulnerable migrant women engage less with maternity care than the average woman for reasons including a lack of knowledge of the UK healthcare system, fear of being charged for care, or fear that contact with clinicians will negatively affect their immigration status. This article explores the issues surrounding vulnerable migrant women that increase their risk of developing postnatal depression and presents reasons why this may go unrecognised by health professionals such as midwives.

Yes / Purpose Perinatal depression is one of the most commonly diagnosed mental health conditions in the general maternity population but whilst the prevalence is thought to be much higher in asylum seeking and refugee (AS&R) women, it is less frequently identified and diagnosed by health care professionals. Method A systematic review was undertaken to address ‘what factors influence help-seeking behaviours in asylum seeking and refugee women with symptoms of perinatal depression’. The review focussed on women accessing care in high income countries. 12 studies met the eligibility criteria and a narrative synthesis was undertaken resulting in two main themes: women's perceptions of depression and access to healthcare and support services. Results Findings indicated that many of the influences on help-seeking were also present in the general population and women from ethnic minority populations, with the exception of migration experiences; but that women from a AS&R may experience more of these barriers, exacerbating inequality in access to and engagement with healthcare. Conclusion Further research is needed to provide more detailed insight into the experiences of asylum seeking and refugee women to identify ways that barriers in help-seeking can be addressed.