Children and Youth Services Review
Volume 77, 2017, Pages 18-26

Acculturation stress and social support for young refugees in regional areas (Article)

Joyce L. , Liamputtong P.*
  • a School of Psychology and Public Health, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe UniversityVictoria, Australia
  • b School of Science and Health, Western Sydney UniversityNew South Wales, Australia

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss acculturation stress and social capital experienced by Congolese young refugees in regional Australia. Seventy percent of Australia's humanitarian entrants are young people; many settle in regional areas. However, the perspectives of young refugees in regional areas have received little attention. Qualitative in-depth interviewing and photo elicitation methods were conducted with sixteen Congolese young people. Findings revealed that these young people experienced unique acculturation stress including language problems, a lack of employment opportunities and difficulties accessing further education, impacting on their integration into Australian society. However, they relied on a range of social support from their friends, family, their ethnic community and the wider regional community to cope with these issues. This social support helped to strengthen their social capital and enhance their wellbeing. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd

Author Keywords

qualitative research Acculturation stress Social support Congolese regional resettlement Young refugees Social capital

Index Keywords

education stress wellbeing Congolese (Kinshasa) social capital social support refugee language attention cultural factor Australia qualitative research employment human friend family human experiment

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85017314235&doi=10.1016%2fj.childyouth.2017.03.016&partnerID=40&md5=430733f48ac759bb33bbfd7b49fd9bf2

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.03.016
ISSN: 01907409
Cited by: 7
Original Language: English