Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T12:46:46.180Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trauma and Children: A Refugee Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2015

Jabrulla Shukoor
Jabrulla Shukoor*
Affiliation:
Clinical and Detention Services Coordinator, Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors, 286 Beaufort Street, Perth, Western Australia6000
*
address for correspondence: Jabrulla Shukoor, Registered Psychologist, Clinical and Detention Services Coordinator, Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors, 286 Beaufort Street, Perth, Western Australia6000. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress affects both the mental and physical health of individuals, giving rise to various psychological disturbances. The neurological effects of these disturbances are similar across age groups, irrespective of race or culture. However, the perception of psychological disturbances differs from culture to culture depending on issues such as the stigma that attaches to mental illness and the ability or willingness to seek assistance. While much research has been undertaken on the impact of trauma on both adults and children, research to explore the effect of trauma on people in the context of their various cultures, especially people of refugee background, remains at an early stage. Mental health professionals working with refugees encounter various challenges. They range from dealing with resistance by individuals to the notion of counselling itself, to barriers such as the perceived stigma that prevents some individuals from acknowledging mental health problems. Other challenges in providing mental health services in such cases are contributed to by government policies and the limited resources available. All this exacerbates the mental health of traumatised parents and caregivers, and has a ripple effect on their children, who exhibit the effects of trauma in their own ways. This paper aims to highlight and discuss these issues through the presentation of two case studies, suggest a workable recovery model, possible ways to deal with the challenges, and to propose recommendations for working with non-Western children and their families.

Keywords

traumarefugeechildrencounsellingchallengesstigma
Type
Conference Proceedings
Information
Children Australia , Volume 40 , Issue 3: INTERPRETING NEUROSCIENCE, CREATING EVIDENCE - A COLLECTION OF AUSTRALIAN BASED TRAUMA INFORMED RESEARCH AND PRACTICE , September 2015 , pp. 188 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

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

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Antshel, K. M., & Joseph, G. R. (2006). Maternal stress in nonverbal learning disorder: a comparison with reading disorder. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 39 (3), 194–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chang, C. Y. (2003). Counselling Asian Americans. In Vacc, N. A., DeVaney, S. B., & Brendel, J. M., (Eds.), (Counselling multicultural and diverse populations: Strategies for practitioners. (4th ed., pp. 73–92). New York: Brunner-Routledge.Google Scholar
D’Andrea, W., Ford, J., Stolbach, B., Spinazzola, J., & Van Der Kolk, B. A. (2012). Understanding interpersonal trauma in children: Why we need a developmentally appropriate trauma diagnosis. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 82 (2), 187–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Immigration and Border Protection. (2014). Immigration detention and community statistics summary. Retrieved from http://www.immi.gov.au/managing-australias-borders/detention/_pdf/immigration-detention-statistics-march2014.pdf.Google Scholar
Fazel, M., Reed, R. V., Pather-Brick, C., & Stein, A. (2012). Mental health of displaced refugee children resettled in high-income countries: Risk and protective factors. Lancet, 379 (9812), 266–282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fazel, M., & Stein, A. (2002). The mental health of refugee children. Archives of Disease in Child, 87 (5), 366–370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ford, J. D., & Courtois, C. A. (2013). Defining and understanding complex trauma and complex traumatic stress disorders. In Courtois, C. A. & Ford, J. D. (Eds.), Treating complex traumatic stress disorders: An evidence-based guide (pp. 13–30). New York: Guildford.Google Scholar
Gillies, D., Taylor, F., Gray, C., O’Brien, L., & D’Abrew, N. (2012). Psychological therapies for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 12 (12), 1–21.Google Scholar
Johnson, L. R., & Sandhu, D. S. (2010). Treatment planning in a multicultural context: some suggestions for counselors and Psychotherapists. In Leach, M. M. & Aten, J. D. (Eds.), Culture and the therapeutic process: A guide for mental health professionals (pp. 117–156). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kaplan, I. & Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture. (1998). Rebuilding shattered lives. Parkville, Vic: Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc.Google Scholar
McFarlane, C. A., & Kaplan, I. (2012). Evidence-based psychological interventions for adult survivors of torture and trauma: a 30-year review. Transcultural Psychiatry, 49 (34), 539–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mehraby, N. (1999). Therapy with refugee children. The Child Psychoanalytic Gazette, 45–66.Google Scholar
Nadeem, E., Lange, J. M., Edge, D., Fongwa, M., Belin, T., & Miranda, J. (2007). Does stigma keep poor young immigrant and U.S.-born Black and Latina women from seeking mental health care? Psychiatric Services, 58 (12), 1547–1554.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nasser-McMillan, S. C. (2003). Counselling Arab Americans. In Vacc, N. A., DeVaney, S. B., & Brendel, J. M. (Eds.), Counselling multicultural and diverse populations: Strategies for practitioners (4th ed., pp. 117–139). New York: Brunner-Routledge.Google Scholar
Paniagua, F. A. (2010). Assessment and diagnosis in a cultural context. In Leach, M. M. & Aten, J. D. (Eds.), Culture and the therapeutic process: A guide for mental health professionals. (pp. 65–98). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Tyrer, R. A., & Fazel, M. (2014). School and community-based interventions for refugee and asylum seeking children: a systematic review. Plos One, 9 (2), e89359–e89359. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089359.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2014). UNHCR Asylum Trends 2013: Levels and trends in industrialized countries. Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/5329b15a9.html.Google Scholar
Vandiver, B. J., & Duncan, L. E. (2010). Toward practicing culturally sound counseling: a synthesis of current clinical research and experience. In Leach, M. M. & Aten, J. D. (Eds.), Culture and the therapeutic process: A guide for mental health professionals (pp. 255–300). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Walker, S. (2005). Culturally competent therapy: Working with children and young people. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar