5 research outputs found
âItâs the God factorâ: A qualitative study of Syrian Muslimsâ post-war religious meaning-making
Objective: Religious meaning-making may facilitate psychological adjustment to even the
most extreme traumatic stressors, including war and forced displacement. Yet few studies
have examined the religious meaning-making trajectories of refugees and none from an
Islamic perspective. Method: This qualitative cross-sectional study investigated Syrian
Muslimsâ post-war meaning-making experiences, guided by Parkâs (2010) meaning-making
model. Results: Thirty-three Syrian Muslim refugees living in Portugal were interviewed
eight years after the onset of the war. Thematic analysis was used to explore cognitive
reappraisal processes informed by Islam. Key results suggest: the recurrent nature of
meaning-making throughout refugeesâ displacement trajectories; religious struggles as a key
determinant of religious meaning-making; meaning-making as dynamic trajectories with no
clear end; place of settlement as a source of meaning; and the ability of Islam to withstand
extreme challenges and provide a last-resort narrative, even for those individuals with
severely eroded beliefs. Findings highlight the need for practitioners in host countries to
incorporate faith and religious traditions in the provision of care.info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio
Assessing meaning violations in Syrian refugees: A mixedâmethods crossâcultural adaptation of the Global Meaning Violations ScaleâArabV
Refugees are disproportionately affected by extreme traumatic events that can
violate core beliefs and life goals (i.e., global meaning) and cause significant
distress. This mixed-methods study used an exploratory sequential design to
assess meaning violations in a sample of Syrian refugees living in Portugal. For
this purpose, we cross-culturally adapted the Global Meaning Violations Scale
(GMVS) for use with Arabic-speaking refugees. In total, 43 war-affected Syrian adults participated in the two-phase study. Participants completed measures
of trauma and narrated violations as they filled out the newly adapted GMVSArabV. GMVS-ArabV validity evidence based on response processes was investigated through Phase 1 focus groups (FGs; n = 2), whereas data from Phase 2
cognitive interviews (n = 38) were used to preliminarily explore the measureâs
internal structure through descriptive statistics as well as culture- and traumainformed content evidence through thematic analysis. The results suggested
highest goal (M = 3.51, SD = 1.46) and lowest belief (M = 2.38, SD = 1.59) violations of educational goals and religious beliefs, respectively. Themes related to
stressors, item formulation, response scale, and the global meaning construct
suggested that (a) beliefs and goals can be differentially violated by different
stressors; (b) much like war trauma, including torture, daily stressors can additionally shatter pretrauma global meaning; and (c) refugees reappraise meaning and suffer violations anew throughout their migration journeys. The GMVSArabV offers a promising tool for exploring shattered cognitions in refugees and
informs evidence-based approaches to trauma recovery and psychological adjustment in postmigration settings (the Arabic abstract and keywords are available
in the Supplementary Materials).Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
âThe War Made Me a Better Personâ: Syrian Refugeesâ Meaning-Making Trajectories in the Aftermath of Collective Trauma
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Open AccessArticle
âThe War Made Me a Better Personâ: Syrian Refugeesâ Meaning-Making Trajectories in the Aftermath of Collective Trauma
by Lisa Matos 1,*ORCID,Pedro A. Costa 1ORCID,Crystal L. Park 2ORCID,Monica J. Indart 3 andIsabel Leal 1
1
William James Center for Research, ISPAâInstituto UniversitĂĄrio, 1149-041 Lisbon, Portugal
2
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
3
Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Alessandra Talamo and Camilla Modesti
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(16), 8481; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168481
Received: 6 July 2021 / Revised: 3 August 2021 / Accepted: 6 August 2021 / Published: 11 August 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Refugees across Communities: Health and Place Attachment in Resettlement)
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Abstract
The centrality of the collective to Syrian identity and the ability of war to disrupt community ties have led to significant violations of Syriansâ pre-war assumptions about themselves, the world, and their place in the world. Guided by the integrated meaning-making model, this qualitative cross-sectional study assessed Syrian refugeesâ meaning trajectories through their reappraisals of the war, attempts to repair community-informed shattered meanings, and those processesâ outputs (i.e., meanings-made) and outcomes (i.e., perceived psychological adjustment). We conducted semi-structured cognitive interviews with 39 Syrian war-exposed adults living in urban communities across Portugal, most of whom were beneficiaries of higher education programs for refugees. Interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis. Results suggest that the war severely disrupted Syriansâ sense of collective self, and that they repeatedly engaged in search for meaning, appraisals of the war, and reappraisals of shattered beliefs, life goals, and sense of purpose, both during wartime and in resettlement. In Portugal, despite persistent negative beliefs about the collective and ongoing and distressing searches for meaning, participantsâ lived experiences concomitantly informed positive meaning reappraisals, including progressive restoration of worldviews, new opportunities for self-realization, and newly-found purpose, leading to perceived psychological benefits and growth. These findings suggest that meaning-making is both a trajectory and a dynamic process, informed by place and sociopolitical context. Clinical work to facilitate adaptive meaning-making and meaning-informed psychosocial interventions that help restore refugeesâ shattered beliefs about safety, predictability, trust, and belonging, may be helpful directions to promote positive psychological adjustment and improve long-term integration prospects in refugees.Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
âIâm Going to Tell You Something I Never Told Anyoneâ: Ethics- and Trauma-Informed Challenges of Implementing a Research Protocol with Syrian Refugees
As research subjects, refugees have numerous potential vulnerabilities. This study aimed to examine the ethics- and trauma-informed challenges of implementing a mental health research protocol with Syrian refugees living in Portugal. Guided by the integrated meaning-making model, the research project âJourneys in Meaningâ employed a mixed-methods cross-sectional design to explore posttraumatic cognitive processing in refugees using two phases of data collection: two focus groups (Phase 1) to test the protocol and 39 in-depth individual interviews (Phase 2) to implement the protocol. Results examine the strategies used to address the following: methodological challenges related to protocol design, participant recruitment, and language; ethics- and trauma-informed challenges aimed at minimizing harm and maximizing benefit to participants that followed social justice principles; and perceived compassion fatigue on the part of the researcher following repeated empathetic exposure to traumatic content. Findings suggest the need for adaptive approaches to research with refugee populations that challenge strict compliance with the traditional principles of âdo no harmâ and researcher neutrality, and that accommodate individual and community complexities