American Journal of Community Psychology
Volume 61, Issue 3-4, 2018, Pages 332-343

Ecological Networks and Community Attachment and Support Among Recently Resettled Refugees (Article)

Soller B. , Goodkind J.R. , Greene R.N. , Browning C.R. , Shantzek C.
  • a Department of Sociology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
  • b Department of Sociology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
  • c Department of Sociology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States
  • d Department of Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
  • e Department of Sociology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States

Abstract

Interventions aimed at enhancing mental health are increasingly centered around promoting community attachment and support. However, few have examined and tested the specific ecological factors that give rise to these key community processes. Drawing from insights from the ecological network perspective, we tested whether spatial and social overlap in routine activity settings (e.g., work, school, childcare) with fellow ethnic community members is associated with individuals’ attachment to their ethnic communities and access to social resources embedded in their communities. Data on routine activity locations drawn from the Refugee Well-Being Project (based in a city in the Southwestern United States) were used to reconstruct the ecological networks of recently resettled refugee communities, which were two-mode networks that comprise individuals and their routine activity locations. Results indicated that respondents’ community attachment and support increased with their ecological network extensity—which taps the extent to which respondents share routine activity locations with other community members. Our study highlights a key ecological process that potentially enhances individuals’ ethnic community attachment that extends beyond residential neighborhoods. © Society for Community Research and Action 2018

Author Keywords

Community attachment Mental health Ecological networks Refugee Sense of community

Index Keywords

refugee demography mental health human wellbeing Refugees middle aged Emotional Adjustment social support neighborhood Residence Characteristics United States Humans psychology male case report Acculturation female drawing clinical article cultural factor Article psychological adjustment adult Social Environment human experiment emotional attachment child care
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85044469116&doi=10.1002%2fajcp.12240&partnerID=40&md5=037dc45d7354318c89a0c291cab6e344
DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12240
ISSN: 00910562
Cited by: 2
Original Language: English