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A qualitative approach was taken to explore Canadian Congolese refugees’ experience of war trauma recovery. Six volunteers (three men and three women), who self-identified as traumatized by their experience of war in Congo and had lived in Canada for less than ten years, participated in in-depth interviews. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach to analysis, a core construct of Surviving War was identified. A hierarchical model of surviving war was developed that subsumed all other categories. By extrapolating principles from this model, a theory of Surviving War was developed which identifies factors that contribute to surviving war. Limitations of the current research are presented along with suggestions for further research. Recommendations for professionals working with a refugee population are also presented.

A qualitative approach was taken to explore Canadian Congolese refugees’ experience of war trauma recovery. Six volunteers (three men and three women), who self-identified as traumatized by their experience of war in Congo and had lived in Canada for less than ten years, participated in in-depth interviews. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach to analysis, a core construct of Surviving War was identified. A hierarchical model of surviving war was developed that subsumed all other categories. By extrapolating principles from this model, a theory of Surviving War was developed which identifies factors that contribute to surviving war. Limitations of the current research are presented along with suggestions for further research. Recommendations for professionals working with a refugee population are also presented.

In this thesis I explore the effects of the recent introduction of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the post-conflict and postsocialist discourse of Croatian psychiatry. In recent years Croatian psychiatrists have been faced with a significant increase in the number of reported cases of various types of war-related disorders. PTSD, in particular, is spreading among the population of veterans from Croatia’s Homeland War that lasted from 1991 to 1995. To explore the effects of the introduction of PTSD to the discourse of Croatian psychiatry I am raising the following questions: (1) how was the diagnostic category of PTSD introduced; (2) how are Croatian war veterans encouraged to communicate their traumatic experiences; (3) how are ideas about the effective treatment of PTSD reproduced, transformed, and resisted by individual medical practitioners? In the final analysis, I argue that PTSD in Croatian psychiatry is constituted in a way that makes it both a medically recognizable form of emotional suffering and an instrument in post-conflict governmentality.

La thèse identifie les lacunes et les défauts de mise en œuvre des instruments juridiques internationaux applicables dans le contexte des conflits armés (les Conventions de Genève de 1949 et le Statut de la Cour Pénale Internationale) en ce qui concerne la question de la protection du droit à la sante mentale. Une solution pour une meilleure protection de ce droit est proposée, visant à amender les instruments juridiques internationaux en la matière par une nouvelle disposition qui incrimine distinctement les violations du droit à la sante mentale pendant la guerre. La recherche met en évidence la gravite des conséquences de la violation du droit à la sante mentale dans le cadre des conflits armés, en montrant le lien de causalité entre les traumas produits par ces conflits, l'apparition de troubles psychiques, la modification des standards de la normalité dans une collectivité et la prédisposition accrue à des comportements antisociaux. La thèse avance une hypothèse qui explique l'augmentation des taux de criminalité après la guerre par le rôle des traumas psychiques de la population suite aux conflits armes. / The thesis identifies the gaps and shortcomings regarding the implementation of international legal instruments applicable in the context of armed conflict (the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Statute of the International Criminal Court) in what concerns the protection of the right to mental health. A solution for a better protection of this right is proposed, consisting in amending the relevan international legal instruments with a distinct new provision criminalizing the violations of the rightto mental health during armed conflicts.The research highlights the serious consequences of violating the right to mental health during wartime, showing the causal link between the trauma produced by the conflict, the development of mental disorders, the changes of the "normality" standards of communities and the increased occurrence of antisocial behavior. The thesis proposes a hypothesis that explains the amplification of crime rates after the war by the influence of the psychological trauma suffered by the respective population as a consequence of armed conflict.

Prior study of Craiglockhart War Hospital has focused on the hospital's two most famous patients, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, along with the work of the psychotherapist W. H. R. Rivers. Craiglockhart's literary culture is studied in detail for the first time in this thesis and the hospital's therapeutic ethos used as a framework by which the creative work produced at the hospital can be examined. This thesis argues that the British Army's lack of consensus regarding the best treatment of war neuroses facilitated the development of Craiglockhart's expressive culture, in which patients were encouraged both to articulate their wartime memories and return to purposeful activity. The hospital's magazine, The Hydra, is examined at length; both in terms of its links to the wider genre of wartime soldier publications and as a telling document of the hospital's therapies in action. Owen and Sassoon's time at the hospital is also discussed, with particular emphasis on the hospital's central importance in Owen's poetic development and its troubling legacy in the post-war life of Sassoon. Finally, readers are introduced to George Henry Bonner, a patient of the hospital whose creative work is discussed here for the first time. This study makes clear the fact that, for the hospital's literary-minded patients, creative endeavour was an ideal means by which to negotiate the movement away from repression to the articulation of their wartime experiences.

Abstract  In 2011, the war broke out in Syria, affecting a significant portion of the Syrian population. Many have been forced to flee the war in search of a safe and secure life. However, those who have left Syria have also left their loved ones behind and carry with them the traumas of war. The main purpose of this essay is to examine the challenges that Syrian refugees diagnosed with PTSD face when they arrive in Sweden. The essay is based on qualitative research methodology and semi-structured interviews with six Syrian refugees. The results of the essay identify the significance of war traumas for these refugees and their negative impact on their ability to integrate into Swedish society. The lack of access to specialized psychiatric care and communication barriers exacerbates the situation and emphasize the importance of a person-centered approach in healthcare. Gender differences are highlighted, where both men and women face unique challenges based on their cultural norms and experiences. Special emphasis is placed on the need for targeted interventions to address the needs of Syrian refugee women, who are at increased risk of gender-based violence and psychological distress.   The essay contributes to a better understanding of the specific challenges that Syrian refugees with PTSD face in Sweden and underscores the importance of designing adequate support and care programs to meet their needs.

Adopting the Ecological Contextual Model of Acculturation and Adjustment (Birman, 1994; Trickett, 1996) and the Stress and Coping paradigm (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1986, 1991), the present thesis explored the psycho-social, work, and marital adjustment of 200 established older middle-aged refugees from the Former Yugoslavia living in the Ottawa area. More specifically, three studies were conducted to examine specific stressors and resources of relevance to the adjustment of Former Yugoslavian men and women, across the following three distinct life domains: psycho-social, work, and marital. Study I explored the potential buffering effects of interpersonal trust on the relational growth of Former Yugoslavian refugees. Results demonstrated that interpersonal trust moderated the negative effects of war-related trauma on the relational growth of Former Yugoslavian women. No such buffering effect was found for the men. Study II investigated Former Yugoslavians' work adjustment by exploring the influence of pre-migratory work-related expectations-outcome congruence, occupational mobility, work stress (general and discrimination), as well as personal (education, English language proficiency) and social resources (support at work) on their work satisfaction and distress. Results indicated that different factors emerged as significant predictors of work satisfaction and work distress for Former Yugoslavian men and women. Study III explored the potential moderating role of marital resilience on the relationship between marital stress (general and acculturative) and marital adjustment. Results showed that marital resilience moderated the negative effects of marital stress on the marital adjustment of Former Yugoslavian women. No protective effect of marital resilience was found for the men. Taken together, the results of the three studies provide support for the relevance and importance of studying the stress, resources, and adjustment of refugees across contexts and gender. Given that important gender differences were found in different adaptational domains, the need to study further the impact of gender in refugees is reinforced. The findings are discussed within the current gender and migration literatures as well as the multidimensional theories of cross-cultural adjustment. Theoretical, research, and clinical implications were presented, along with recommendations for future research.

Adopting the Ecological Contextual Model of Acculturation and Adjustment (Birman, 1994; Trickett, 1996) and the Stress and Coping paradigm (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1986, 1991), the present thesis explored the psycho-social, work, and marital adjustment of 200 established older middle-aged refugees from the Former Yugoslavia living in the Ottawa area. More specifically, three studies were conducted to examine specific stressors and resources of relevance to the adjustment of Former Yugoslavian men and women, across the following three distinct life domains: psycho-social, work, and marital. Study I explored the potential buffering effects of interpersonal trust on the relational growth of Former Yugoslavian refugees. Results demonstrated that interpersonal trust moderated the negative effects of war-related trauma on the relational growth of Former Yugoslavian women. No such buffering effect was found for the men. Study II investigated Former Yugoslavians' work adjustment by exploring the influence of pre-migratory work-related expectations-outcome congruence, occupational mobility, work stress (general and discrimination), as well as personal (education, English language proficiency) and social resources (support at work) on their work satisfaction and distress. Results indicated that different factors emerged as significant predictors of work satisfaction and work distress for Former Yugoslavian men and women. Study III explored the potential moderating role of marital resilience on the relationship between marital stress (general and acculturative) and marital adjustment. Results showed that marital resilience moderated the negative effects of marital stress on the marital adjustment of Former Yugoslavian women. No protective effect of marital resilience was found for the men. Taken together, the results of the three studies provide support for the relevance and importance of studying the stress, resources, and adjustment of refugees across contexts and gender. Given that important gender differences were found in different adaptational domains, the need to study further the impact of gender in refugees is reinforced. The findings are discussed within the current gender and migration literatures as well as the multidimensional theories of cross-cultural adjustment. Theoretical, research, and clinical implications were presented, along with recommendations for future research.

Adopting the Ecological Contextual Model of Acculturation and Adjustment (Birman, 1994; Trickett, 1996) and the Stress and Coping paradigm (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1986, 1991), the present thesis explored the psycho-social, work, and marital adjustment of 200 established older middle-aged refugees from the Former Yugoslavia living in the Ottawa area. More specifically, three studies were conducted to examine specific stressors and resources of relevance to the adjustment of Former Yugoslavian men and women, across the following three distinct life domains: psycho-social, work, and marital. Study I explored the potential buffering effects of interpersonal trust on the relational growth of Former Yugoslavian refugees. Results demonstrated that interpersonal trust moderated the negative effects of war-related trauma on the relational growth of Former Yugoslavian women. No such buffering effect was found for the men. Study II investigated Former Yugoslavians' work adjustment by exploring the influence of pre-migratory work-related expectations-outcome congruence, occupational mobility, work stress (general and discrimination), as well as personal (education, English language proficiency) and social resources (support at work) on their work satisfaction and distress. Results indicated that different factors emerged as significant predictors of work satisfaction and work distress for Former Yugoslavian men and women. Study III explored the potential moderating role of marital resilience on the relationship between marital stress (general and acculturative) and marital adjustment. Results showed that marital resilience moderated the negative effects of marital stress on the marital adjustment of Former Yugoslavian women. No protective effect of marital resilience was found for the men. Taken together, the results of the three studies provide support for the relevance and importance of studying the stress, resources, and adjustment of refugees across contexts and gender. Given that important gender differences were found in different adaptational domains, the need to study further the impact of gender in refugees is reinforced. The findings are discussed within the current gender and migration literatures as well as the multidimensional theories of cross-cultural adjustment. Theoretical, research, and clinical implications were presented, along with recommendations for future research.