Karama means dignity: Ecological factors affecting adaptation to displacement among Syrian refugees living in Jordan

People who have been displaced to Jordan by the ongoing conflict in Syria may face multiple challenges including exposure to conflict, forced migration, as well as ongoing daily stressors such as lack of access to basic rights and resources. This thesis explores the ways in which the discipline of clinical psychology may be prepared to assist members of the Syrian refugee community to respond to these challenges. Following initial examination of academic literature regarding cross-cultural validity of psychological constructs, a theoretical model was generated from qualitative synthesis of psychosocial needs reported by Syrians in Jordan, obtained through systematic search of grey literature. Three field work trips to Jordan were undertaken between 2013-2016 in which the author conducted interviews with Syrian and Jordanian psychosocial workers who were key informants regarding factors affecting uptake and implementation of psychosocial services for Syrian refugees in Jordan. Grounded theory analysis generated a model describing how the crisis has led to changes in attitudes to mental health care within the community. The Community Readiness Model was used to understand community level stage of change to guide implementation of a participatory action program to train local psychosocial workers in clinical psychology skills. Finally, an ecological framework was employed to build a theoretical model to guide future research and practice with displaced communities. Throughout, the analysis was shaped by the emergence of key concepts used by participants to describe reactions to the crisis of conflict and displacement including Karama (dignity) and Sadme (shock). The foregrounding of these concepts is integrated into an ecological framework which may help to broaden the scope of clinical psychology formulation to include more of issues of central importance to members of the Syrian refugee community in Jordan

Four Passages to Information Use Related Phenomena in Bachelor Theses at the Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences

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