This project examines refugees' experiences of insecure housing and perceptions of home in the U.S. Many scholars of migration have focused on the resettlement experiences of refugees, including access to housing, yet refugees' experiences with housing in the U.S. remain largely undocumented. The following analyzes a case study of an apartment fire that displaced 16 refugee families in Dallas, Texas. Based on 18 in-depth interviews with tenants and members of refugee support organizations and non-profits who responded to the fire, this study reconstructs the events surrounding the fire to explore refugees' perceptions of housing conditions in a low-income neighborhood. This case study contributes to research on housing in two important ways. First, insecure housing conditions preceded the fire at Oakland Place and overall perceptions of housing quality varied among respondents. I find that case managers and members of refugee support organizations identify refugees' housing conditions as insecure, yet refugees express positive feelings about their homes, emphasizing community relations over building quality. Additionally, members of refugee support organizations and non-profits blamed the property manager of Oakland Place for insecure conditions experienced by refugees and perceived the manager as a barrier in refugees' lives. Second, I find that understandings of housing insecurity are shaped by meanings of home, which focus on familial and community-based relationships, and a place for survival. These ideas of home are not mutually exclusive, as refugees often defined home in more than one way.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1707344 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Fessenden, Deborah June |
| Contributors | Barnes, Donna, Sobering, Katherine, Yancey, George |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | v, 38 pages, Text |
| Rights | Public, Fessenden, Deborah June, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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