Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T01:56:50.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 17 - Family-School Relationships in Supporting Refugee Children’s School Trajectories

from Part III - Intersectoral Psychosocial Interventions in Working with Refugee Families

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2020

Lucia De Haene
Affiliation:
University of Leuven, Belgium
Cécile Rousseau
Affiliation:
McGill University, Montréal
Get access

Summary

Schools can play a key role in helping refugee families manage the transition into the host society. When considering how best to support refugee children, schools should first consider how accessible they are to refugee families in the community and what tools and skills they may need to carry out a holistic assessment given the myriad complexities that this population can present with. Schools should maintain a family lens as they are likely to be well placed to facilitate refugee families feeling a sense of belonging in their host country as well as signposting them to other services if any additional needs become apparent. Refugee children would benefit from schools carrying out comprehensive assessments of their learning needs and cognitive abilities in order to optimise provision and support. Mental health interventions for refugee children have been studied in schools and include assisting parenting in a new environment as well as supporting everyday living skills.

Type
Chapter
Information
Working with Refugee Families
Trauma and Exile in Family Relationships
, pp. 277 - 291
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Fazel, M., Reed, R. V., Panter-Brick, C. and Stein, A., Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in high-income countries: Risk and protective factors. The Lancet, 379(9812) (2012), 266–82.Google Scholar
Tyrer, R. A. and Fazel, M., School and community-based interventions for refugee and asylum seeking children: A systematic review. PLoS One, 9(2) (2014), e89359.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sullivan, A. L. and Simonson, G. R., A systematic review of school-based social-emotional interventions for refugee and war-traumatized youth. Review of Educational Research, 86(2) (2016), 503–30.Google Scholar
Fazel, M., A moment of change: Facilitating refugee children’s mental health in UK schools. International Journal of Educational Development, 41 (2015), 255–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fazel, M., Hoagwood, K., Stephan, S. and Ford, T., Mental health interventions in schools in high-income countries. The Lancet Psychiatry, 1(5) (2014), 377–87.Google Scholar
Fazel, M., Patel, V., Thomas, S. and Tol, W., Mental health interventions in schools in low-income and middle-income countries. The Lancet Psychiatry, 1(5) (2014), 388–98.Google Scholar
May, S., Rapee, R. M., Coello, M., Momartin, S. and Aroche, J., Mental health literacy among refugee communities: Differences between the Australian lay public and the Iraqi and Sudanese refugee communities. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 49(5) (2014), 757–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gladwell, C. and Chetwynd, G., Education for Refugee and Asylum Seeking Children: Access and Equality in England, Scotland and Wales (London: UNICEF, 2018). www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Access-to-Education-report-PDF.pdfGoogle Scholar
McBrien, J. L., Educational needs and barriers for refugee students in the United States: A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 75(3) (2005), 329–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, H. R., Minhas, R. S. and Paxton, G., Learning problems in children of refugee background: A systematic review. Pediatrics, 137(6) (2016), e20153994–e20153994.Google Scholar
Arnot, M. and Pinson, H., The Education of Asylum-Seeker and Refugee Children (Cambridge, UK: Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, 2005). www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/arnot/AsylumReportFinal.pdfGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, J. and Willott, J., The aspiration and access to higher education of teenage refugees in the UK. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 37(5) (2007), 671–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanbonmatsu, L., Kling, J. R., Duncan, G. J. and Brooks-Gunn, J., Neighborhoods and academic achievement results from the Moving to Opportunity experiment. Journal of Human Resources, 41(4) (2006), 649–91.Google Scholar
Sigona, N. and Hughes, V., No Way out, No Way in: Irregular Migrant Children and Families in the UK: Executive Summary (Oxford: ESRC Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, 2012).Google Scholar
Porter, M. and Haslam, N., Predisplacement and postdisplacement factors associated with mental health of refugees and internally displaced persons: A meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 294(5) (2005), 602–12.Google Scholar
Kaplan, I., Stolk, Y., Valibhoy, M., Tucker, A. and Baker, J., Cognitive assessment of refugee children: Effects of trauma and new language acquisition. Transcultural Psychiatry, 53(1) (2016), 81109.Google Scholar
Almqvist, K. and Broberg, A. G., Mental health and social adjustment in young refugee children 3½ years after their arrival in Sweden. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38(6) (1999), 723–30.Google Scholar
Minhas, R. S., Graham, H., Jegathesan, T., Huber, J., Young, E. and Barozzino, T., Supporting the developmental health of refugee children and youth. Paediatrics and Child Health, 22(2) (2017), 6871.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vega, D., Lasser, J. and Afifi, A. F. M., School psychologists and the assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Contemporary School Psychology, 20(3) (2016), 218–29.Google Scholar
Nykiel-Herbert, B., Iraqi refugee students: From a collection of aliens to a community of learners –the role of cultural factors in the acquisition of literacy by Iraqi refugee students with interrupted formal education. Multicultural Education, 17(3) (2010), 214.Google Scholar
O’Higgins, A., Analysis of care and education pathways of refugee and asylum-seeking children in care in England: Implications for social work. International Journal of Social Welfare, 28(1) (2018), 5362. DOI:http://10.1111/ijsw.12324Google Scholar
Rousseau, C., Drapeau, A. and Corin, E., School performance and emotional problems in refugee children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 66(2) (1996), 239–51.Google Scholar
Usman, L. M., Communication disorders and the inclusion of newcomer African refugees in rural primary schools of British Columbia, Canada. International Journal of Progressive Education, 8(2) (2012).Google Scholar
Bronstein, I. and Montgomery, P., Psychological distress in refugee children: A systematic review. Clinical Child Family Psychology Review, 14(1) (2011), 4456.Google Scholar
Huemer, J., Karnik, N. S., Voelkl-Kernstock, S., Granditsch, E., Dervic, K., Friedrich, M. H. et al., Mental health issues in unaccompanied refugee minors. Child Adolescent Psychiatry & Mental Health, 3(1) (2009), 13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lustig, S. L., Kia-Keating, M., Knight, W. G., Geltman, P., Ellis, H., Kinzie, J. D. et al., Review of child and adolescent refugee mental health. Journal of American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 43(1) (2004), 2436.Google Scholar
Fazel, M. and Stein, A., The mental health of refugee children. Archive of Disease in Childhood, 87(5) (2002), 366–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daud, A. and Rydelius, P.-A., Comorbidity/overlapping between ADHD and PTSD in relation to IQ among children of traumatized/non-traumatized parents. Journal of Attention Disorder, 13(2) (2009), 188–96.Google Scholar
Perfect, M. M., Turley, M. R., Carlson, J. S., Yohanna, J. and Saint Gilles, M. P., School-related outcomes of traumatic event exposure and traumatic stress symptoms in students: A systematic review of research from 1990 to 2015. School Mental Health, 8(1) (2016), 743.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M., Beckett, C., Castle, J., Colvert, E., Kreppner, J. and Mehta, M., Effects of profound early institutional deprivation: An overview of findings from a UK longitudinal study of Romanian adoptees. European Journal of Development Psychology, 4(3) (2007), 332–50.Google Scholar
Szymanski, K., Sapanski, L. and Conway, F., Trauma and ADHD – association or diagnostic confusion? A clinical perspective. Journal of Infant, Child, Adolescent Psychotherapy, 10(1) (2011), 51–9.Google Scholar
Wong, P., Selective mutism: A review of etiology, comorbidities, and treatment. Psychiatry (Edgmont), 7(3) (2010), 23.Google ScholarPubMed
Kira, I., Lewandowski, L., Yoon, J., Somers, C. and Chiodo, L., The linear and nonlinear associations between multiple types of trauma and IQ discrepancy indexes in African American and Iraqi refugee adolescents. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, 5(1) (2012), 4762.Google Scholar
Kaplan, I., Effects of trauma and the refugee experience on psychological assessment processes and interpretation. Australia Psychology, 44(1) (2009), 615.Google Scholar
Georgas, J., Weiss, L. G., Van de Vijver, F. J. and Saklofske, D. H., eds., Culture and Children’s Intelligence: Cross-Cultural Analysis of the WISC-III (Elsevier, 2003).Google Scholar
Gorard, S., See, B. H. and Davies, P., The Impact of Attitudes and Aspirations on Educational Attainment and Participation (York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2012).Google Scholar
Hill, N. E., Castellino, D. R., Lansford, J. E., Nowlin, P., Dodge, K. A. and Bates, J. E., Parent academic involvement as related to school behavior, achievement, and aspirations: Demographic variations across adolescence. Child Development, 75(5) (2004), 1491–509.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, N. E. and Tyson, D. F., Parental involvement in middle school: A meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. Developmental Psychology, 45(3) (2009), 740–63.Google Scholar
Goldenberg, C., Gallimore, R., Reese, L. and Garnier, H., Cause or effect? A longitudinal study of immigrant Latino parents’ aspirations and expectations, and their children’s school performance. American Educational Research Journal, 38(3) (2001), 547–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kao, G. and Thompson, J. S., Racial and ethnic stratification in educational achievement and attainment. Annual Review of Sociology, 29 (2003), 417–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roubeni, S., De Haene, L., Keatley, E., Shah, N. and Rasmussen, A., ‘If we can’t do it, our children will do it one day’: A qualitative study of West African immigrant parents’ losses and educational aspirations for their children. American Educational Research Journal, 52(2) (2015), 275305.Google Scholar
Bitew, G., Ferguson, P. and Dixon, M., Ethiopian-Australian students’ experience of secondary schooling in the Australian education system in the state of Victoria. Australasian Review of African Studies, 29(1–2) (2008), 7891.Google Scholar
Correa-Velez, I., Gifford, S. M. and Barnett, A. G., Longing to belong: Social inclusion and wellbeing among youth with refugee backgrounds in the first three years in Melbourne, Australia. Social Science & Medicine, 71(8) (2010), 1399–408.Google Scholar
Barber, B. K., McNeely, C. A., El Sarraj, E., Daher, M., Giacaman, R., Arafat, C. et al., Mental suffering in protracted political conflict: Feeling broken or destroyed. PLoS One, 11(5) (2016), e0156216.Google Scholar
Gans, H. J., First generation decline: Downward mobility among refugees and immigrants. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32(9) (2009), 1658–70.Google Scholar
Raffaetà, R., Migration and parenting: Reviewing the debate and calling for future research. International Journal of Migrant Health and Social Care, 12(1) (2016), 3850.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riggs, E., Yelland, J., Szwarc, J., Wahidi, S., Casey, S. and Chesters, D., Fatherhood in a new country: A qualitative study exploring the experiences of Afghan men and implications for health services. Birth, 43(1) (2016), 8692.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smokowski, P. R. and Bacallao, M. L., Acculturation and aggression in Latino adolescents: A structural model focusing on cultural risk factors and assets. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(5) (2006), 657–71.Google Scholar
Rousseau, C., Beauregard, C., Daignault, K., Petrakos, H., Thombs, B. D. and Steele, R., A cluster randomized-controlled trial of a classroom-based drama workshop program to improve mental health outcomes among immigrant and refugee youth in special classes. PLoS One, 9(8) (2014), e104704.Google Scholar
Fazel, M., Garcia, J. and Stein, A., The right location? Experiences of refugee adolescents seen by school-based mental health services. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 21(3) (2016), 368–80.Google Scholar
Brown, F. L., de Graaff, A. M., Annan, J. and Betancourt, T. S., Annual research review: Breaking cycles of violence – a systematic review and common practice elements analysis of psychosocial interventions for children and youth affected by armed conflict. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(4) (2017), 507–24.Google Scholar
Colucci, E., Szwarc, J., Minas, H., Paxton, G. and Guerra, C., The utilisation of mental health services by children and young people from a refugee background: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 7(1) (2014), 86108.Google Scholar
Fenta, H., Hyman, I. and Noh, S., Mental health service utilization by Ethiopian immigrants and refugees in Toronto. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 194(12) (2006), 925–34.Google Scholar
Pottie, K., Dahal, G., Georgiades, K., Premji, K. and Hassan, G., Do first generation immigrant adolescents face higher rates of bullying, violence and suicidal behaviours than do third generation and native born? Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 17(5) (2015), 1557–66.Google Scholar
Lim, S. J. J. and Hoot, J. L., Bullying in an increasingly diverse school population: A socio-ecological model analysis. School Psychology International, 36(3) (2015), 268–82.Google Scholar
Hjern, A., Rajmil, L., Bergström, M., Berlin, M., Gustafsson, P. A. and Modin, B., Migrant density and well-being: A national school survey of 15-year-olds in Sweden. European Journal of Public Health, 23 (2013), 823–8.Google Scholar
Slobodin, O. and de Jong, J. T. V. M., Family interventions in traumatized immigrants and refugees: A systematic review. Transcultural Psychiatry, 52(5) (2015), 723–42.Google Scholar
Chafouleas, S. M., Koriakin, T. A., Roundfield, K. D. and Overstreet, S., Addressing childhood trauma in school settings: A framework for evidence-based practice. School Mental Health, 6(1) (2018), 114.Google Scholar
Hoover, S. A., Sapere, H., Lang, J. M., Nadeem, E., Dean, K. L. and Vona, P., Statewide implementation of an evidence-based trauma intervention in schools. School Psychology Quarterly, 33(1) (2018), 44.Google Scholar
Santiago, C. D., Lennon, J. M., Fuller, A. K., Brewer, S. K. and Kataoka, S. H., Examining the impact of a family treatment component for CBITS: When and for whom is it helpful? Journal of Family Psychology, 28(4) (2014), 560.Google Scholar
Peltonen, K. and Punamäki, R., Preventive interventions among children exposed to trauma of armed conflict: A literature review. Aggressive Behaviour: Official Journal of the International Society for Research on Aggression, 36(2) (2010), 95116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bjørknes, R. and Manger, T., Can parent training alter parent practice and reduce conduct problems in ethnic minority children? A randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science, 14(1) (2013), 5263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Osman, F., Flacking, R., Schön, U.-K. and Klingberg-Allvin, M., A support program for Somali-born parents on children’s behavioral problems. Pediatrics, 139(3) (2017), e20162764.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knox, L., Guerra, N. G., Williams, K. R. and Toro, R., Preventing children’s aggression in immigrant Latino families: A mixed methods evaluation of the Families and Schools Together program. American Journal of Community Psychology, 48(1–2) (2011), 6576.Google Scholar
Osman, F., Klingberg-Allvin, M., Flacking, R. and Schön, U.-K., Parenthood in transition: Somali-born parents’ experiences of and needs for parenting support programmes. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 16(1) (2016), 7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sack, W. H., Clarke, G. N. and Seeley, J., Posttraumatic stress disorder across two generations of Cambodian refugees. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(9) (1995), 1160–6.Google Scholar
van Ee, E., Kleber, R. J., Jongmans, M. J., Mooren, T. T. M. and Out, D., Parental PTSD, adverse parenting and child attachment in a refugee sample. Attachment and Human Development, 18(3) (2016), 273–91.Google Scholar
Ward, C. and Geeraert, N., Advancing acculturation theory and research: The acculturation process in its ecological context. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8 (2016), 98104.Google Scholar
Walsh, S. D., De Clercq, B., Molcho, M., Harel-Fisch, Y., Davison, C. M., Madsen, K. R. et al., The relationship between immigrant school composition, classmate support and involvement in physical fighting and bullying among adolescent immigrants and non-immigrants in 11 countries. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(1) (2016), 116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pieloch, K. A., McCullough, M. B. and Marks, A. K., Resilience of children with refugee statuses: A research review. Canadian Psychology, 57(4) (2016), 330.Google Scholar
Merrill Weine, S., Ware, N., Hakizimana, L., Tugenberg, T., Currie, M., Dahnweih, G. et al., Fostering resilience: Protective agents, resources, and mechanisms for adolescent refugees’ psychosocial well-being. Adolescent Psychiatry (Hilversum), 4(4) (2014), 164–76.Google Scholar
Stermac, L., Clarke, A. K. and Brown, L., Pathways to resilience: The role of education in war-zone immigrant and refugee student success. In Fernando, C. and Ferrari, M., eds., Handbook of Resilience in Children of War (New York: Springer, 2013), pp. 211–20.Google Scholar
Trentacosta, C. J., McLear, C. M., Ziadni, M. S., Lumley, M. A. and Arfken, C. L., Potentially traumatic events and mental health problems among children of Iraqi refugees: The roles of relationships with parents and feelings about school. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 86(4) (2016), 384–92.Google Scholar
Panter-Brick, C., Grimon, M.-P. and Eggerman, M., Caregiver-child mental health: A prospective study in conflict and refugee settings. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55(4) (2014), 313–27.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×