Background: A war broke out in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992 and lasted until 1995. The war had devastating consequences for people's mental health as they were exposed to several traumatic experiences during the war. Studies show that mental illness is prevalent in war refugees several years after they have experienced war and resettled in a new country. Previous traumatic experiences and the socio-economic conditions that arise after migrating to a foreign country are two factors that increase the risk of mental illness among war refugees. Aim: The aim in this study is to understand war refugees' experiences of social support in Sweden. Method: This is a qualitative interview study with eight war refugees from Bosnia- Herzegovina who fled to Sweden during or after the war in the 90’s. Results/conclusion: The social support mentioned in these eight statements has been categorized in different systems. Additionally, risk- and protective factors have been identified and placed in the systems. The following six systems were identified: family, immediate vicinity, employment, government agency/organization/agencies, professionals and other. Having a supportive and present family was found to increase resistance to various types of risk factors when migrating to a foreign country. Additionally, it was found that socializing with people of the same ethnic background could be both a risk- and a protective factor. Even employment served as a protective factor as the refugees' focus was on work and not their trauma. It was also found that some agencies acted as protective factors and some as risk factors, depending on which refugee was asked. All refugees mentioned specific professionals who helped with interpretation, among other things, these persons acted as protective factors. It was also found that old age, limited language skills and discrimination based on prejudices about Bosnian refugees acted as risk factors. These risk- and protective factors affected the war refugees' mental health and their integration and adaptation to Sweden as a new home country. All in all, we see that Sweden has been a haven for refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina and enabled a second chance for refugees from Bosnia- Herzegovina.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-118979 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Crnalic, Zinajda, Culum, Elmedina |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för socialt arbete (SA) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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