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This study explores the disconnection that exists between refugee policy developers and those whom they intend to benefit by bringing the voices of refugees and their supporters into community discussions on policies and practices that directly affect the refugee resettlement experience. The purpose of their involvement was to help ensure that resettlement activities were relevant to their needs. In an effort to make the findings as generalizable as possible, the researcher applied techniques of Participatory Action Research (Carr & Kemmis, 1986) within a Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) methodological framework. Community consultations involving a total of 86 refugees, refugee claimants and their supporters in three cities were conducted during the period that Canada was responding to post-9/11 concerns for national security with its first implementation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Findings from those consultations were triangulated with data from interviews with 29 service providers, government officials and individual refugees, as well as documentary evidence from scholarly research, government publications and mass media sources. Implications for further policy development were then developed from that process. Findings from the research suggest that the potential for unexpected policy outcomes can be reduced if culturally sensitive community consultations, in the preferred language of the community, are incorporated in policy development and implementation processes. These findings can contribute to building local community capacities to increase the effectiveness of resettlement activities and improving their sustainability by inviting those who have the most to benefit take ownership of them.

This study explores the disconnection that exists between refugee policy developers and those whom they intend to benefit by bringing the voices of refugees and their supporters into community discussions on policies and practices that directly affect the refugee resettlement experience. The purpose of their involvement was to help ensure that resettlement activities were relevant to their needs. In an effort to make the findings as generalizable as possible, the researcher applied techniques of Participatory Action Research (Carr & Kemmis, 1986) within a Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) methodological framework. Community consultations involving a total of 86 refugees, refugee claimants and their supporters in three cities were conducted during the period that Canada was responding to post-9/11 concerns for national security with its first implementation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Findings from those consultations were triangulated with data from interviews with 29 service providers, government officials and individual refugees, as well as documentary evidence from scholarly research, government publications and mass media sources. Implications for further policy development were then developed from that process. Findings from the research suggest that the potential for unexpected policy outcomes can be reduced if culturally sensitive community consultations, in the preferred language of the community, are incorporated in policy development and implementation processes. These findings can contribute to building local community capacities to increase the effectiveness of resettlement activities and improving their sustainability by inviting those who have the most to benefit take ownership of them.

No description available.

This study explores the disconnection that exists between refugee policy developers and those whom they intend to benefit by bringing the voices of refugees and their supporters into community discussions on policies and practices that directly affect the refugee resettlement experience. The purpose of their involvement was to help ensure that resettlement activities were relevant to their needs. In an effort to make the findings as generalizable as possible, the researcher applied techniques of Participatory Action Research (Carr & Kemmis, 1986) within a Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) methodological framework. Community consultations involving a total of 86 refugees, refugee claimants and their supporters in three cities were conducted during the period that Canada was responding to post-9/11 concerns for national security with its first implementation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Findings from those consultations were triangulated with data from interviews with 29 service providers, government officials and individual refugees, as well as documentary evidence from scholarly research, government publications and mass media sources. Implications for further policy development were then developed from that process. Findings from the research suggest that the potential for unexpected policy outcomes can be reduced if culturally sensitive community consultations, in the preferred language of the community, are incorporated in policy development and implementation processes. These findings can contribute to building local community capacities to increase the effectiveness of resettlement activities and improving their sustainability by inviting those who have the most to benefit take ownership of them. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Changing national policies in recent years represent an unprecedented attack on refugee resettlement in the United States. In this period of political and social uncertainty, understanding the barriers to refugee economic integration is more critical than ever. Following a review of existing literature on refugee resettlement and economic integration, this research assesses experiences of refugee employment in Dallas, Texas—one of the cities that resettles the most new refugees nationwide—through investigating the experiences of four key populations: resettled individuals themselves (including refugees, asylees, and SIVs), resettlement caseworkers, third-party staffing agencies, and the management/HR staff of refugee employers. These diverse perspectives will assist in understanding the structural constraints that shape refugee employment services, as well as the interaction of these various individuals and organizations as parts of a dynamic system. The project also aims to explore employers' experiences of hiring refugees and working with resettlement programs, as the perspectives of entrepreneurs and the business community are those most likely to influence the attitudes of legislators and encourage renewed support of resettlement in Texas. The conclusion of this study offers recommendations for how resettlement organizations can navigate the ambiguities of a resettlement system driven by neoliberal economics and a push for rapid employment while supporting clients' successful economic integration and avoiding the exploitative work relationships that have come to characterize refugee employment in many areas.

Large numbers of refugees enter into U.S. public schools each year, and school leaders are held accountable for their achievement. School leaders must find ways to support the needs of all of their students despite their race, socioeconomic status, proficiency in English, ability levels, and nationality. The purpose of this study was to examine what refugee parents, teachers of refugee students, and administrators who have refugee students in their schools perceived as factors affecting the performance of refugee students. School leaders need this information regarding these perceived factors to be able to make sound decisions regarding instructional practices with refugee students that assist them in being successful in school. This phenomenological, qualitative study was designed to use focus group interviews with refugee parents, teachers, and administrators to learn more about and engage in meaningful dialog about this increasingly present population of students in order to investigate academic strategies and programs that parents, teachers, and administrators feel would help refugee students achieve at higher rates. The setting for this study was a school division in central Virginia with approximately 50,000 students—approximately 2,900 of them as English language learners. The researcher used purposeful sampling to select participants for focus groups. Each focus group—a group of refugee parents who had children in various levels, groups of teachers of refugee students separated by level (elementary and secondary), and a group of administrators with refugees in their school (a combined group of elementary and secondary administrators)—was comprised of five to seven members. The following were areas noted by seven out of seven (100%) parents as affecting the performance of refugee students: communication, communication with parents, cultural differences, parental involvement, homework, and resources and materials. Six out of seven (86%) parents noted the following as affecting the performance of refugee students: language barrier, previous schooling, relationships, peer relationships, and translated documents. The following were noted by six out of six (100%) elementary teachers as possible factors affecting the performance of refugee students: community support, cultural differences, parental involvement, past experiences, relationships, resources and materials, and staff development. Five out of six (83%) elementary teachers perceived the following as affecting the performance of refugee students: communication with parents and peer relationships. Four out of six (67%) elementary teachers perceived the following as affecting the performance of refugee students: communication, previous schooling, politics, and student to teacher relationships. The following were noted by five out of five (100%) secondary teachers as possible factors affecting the performance of refugee students: cultural differences, past experiences, and resources and materials. Four out of five (80%) secondary teachers perceived the following as affecting the performance of refugee students: community support, politics, relationships, staff development, being informed of when students were arriving, and teacher strategies. Three out of five (60%) secondary teachers perceived the following as affecting the performance of refugee students: language barrier, PTSD, peers relationships, student to teacher relationships, and sensitivity training. Five out of five (100%) administrators perceived parental involvement to be a factor that affects the performance of refugee students. Four out of five (80%) administrators perceived the following as affecting the performance of refugee students: communication, communication with parents, community support, cultural differences, language barrier, past experiences, and resources and materials. Three out of five (60%) administrators perceived the following as affecting the performance of refugee students: communication with students, visiting school, interpreters, translated documents, and staff development. These data suggest that school leaders have work to do regarding meeting the needs of refugee students so that they can be successful in public schools. / Ed. D.

Faculty of Humanities School of Social Sciences 0318773x dzinesag@social.wits.ac.za / In the past three decades several African countries including Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa witnessed the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of troops, repatriation and resettlement of ex-combatants, refugees and/or internally displaced people (DDRRR) in a post-conflict setting. DDRRR processes affect and are affected by post-conflict peace building. However, current research on how DDRRR and peace building are intertwined and how DDRRR contributes to post-conflict peace building is still in its infancy. This thesis is a comparative study of how the nature of armed conflict, conflict terminating peace agreements and the conceptual, political, socio-economic and institutional frameworks under which DDRRR occurred influenced and impacted on the process in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. The three countries experienced different but novel DDRRR processes. Britain and the Commonwealth played a pivotal role in Zimbabwe’s conflict termination and immediate post-liberation struggle DDRRR. In Namibia, DDRRR was implemented under a United Nations peacekeeping context. DDRRR was internally originated, locally owned and state-managed in South Africa from the early 1990s to the present. This was an accompaniment, and also a result, of a negotiated transition to democracy following no serious military engagement. Zimbabwe’s DDRRR was implemented during the Cold war era unlike in Namibia and South Africa. The study intersects these contextually different DDRRR case studies. It analyses the country-specific DDRRR programmes and strategies and evaluates their differential contribution to the broader peace building and reconstruction process. The thesis will then isolate applicable and practical determinants for successful post-conflict DDRRR for posterity based on a comparative examination of the three distinct cases.

Recently Pittsburgh has experienced a noticeable increase in the number of incoming refugees, which has put added pressure on local service providers to develop more efficient resettlement practices. While female refugee's experiences have been largely ignored, this study attempts to better understand the gender-specific needs of female refugees who resettle and integrate into Pittsburgh. I used Ager and Strang's (2004) Indicators of Integration framework, with a focus on the indicators of "employment," "social bridges," "language and culture," and "rights and citizenship," and adapted it to a gendered perspective to analyze data from two focus group sessions with 11 refugee women from Liberia, Bhutan, Burma, Iraq, and Morocco. I used an exploratory, inductive methodology to identify common themes, including women's changing roles within families and the importance of social connections. A better understanding of women's needs will help inform the local refugee-serving agencies create more gender-inclusive services. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy / MA; / Thesis;