ABSTRACT
Children in refugee camps, and particularly those with disabilities, face unique challenges in accessing education and are at high risk of being marginalised. Best practices suggest that main-streaming is the optimal strategy for serving students with disabilities. This study examines the extent to which mainstreaming in a refugee camp helps to promote children's prosocial behaviours, taking into account their emotional and behavioural problems. In Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, researchers collected data from the parents of children currently enrolled in special needs education centres (n=65) and from those formerly enrolled at these facilities who transitioned to mainstream classrooms (n=81). Children in mainstream schools functioned better in terms of prosocial behaviours, but this relationship disappeared when factoring in children's emotional and behavioural difficulties. In the context of a refugee camp, mainstreaming alone is not likely to help children's psychosocial and educational functioning, which requires dedicated supports, appropriate facilities and infrastructure, and a dual focus on disability-specific and disability-inclusive initiatives.
Subject(s)
Refugee Camps , Schools , Child , Humans , KenyaABSTRACT
PURPOSE: While many studies address immigrant integration, few focus on the adjustment process for unaccompanied immigrant children in foster care in the United States- and even fewer look at community level prevention and intervention strategies for positive youth adjustment. This study uses a human rights framework to examine community level facilitators- both prevention and interventions- that aid the adjustment for unaccompanied immigrant children in foster care as they navigate life in the US. METHOD: Seventy-nine service providers that work with unaccompanied immigrant children participated in 22 focus groups/interviews. Open coding was used to create a codebook, and then data were qualitatively analyzed using deductive and axial coding. RESULTS: The major prevention strategies for community adjustment include welcoming communities and inter-agency collaborations. The major intervention strategies for systems level adjustment include community relationships, access to healthcare, and the church as an institution. DISCUSSION: Implications include advocating for funding and programming to support mentors for every child, advocating for welcoming policies, and engaging unaccompanied immigrant children in research using participatory approaches.
ABSTRACT
Unaccompanied minors, or "newcomer youths," come to the United States from Mexico and Central America to escape violence and persecution, and to seek financial and academic opportunities. Many newcomer youths arrive with gaps in their formal education attributed to the immigration process and the heterogeneity of their pre-U.S. lives. Once they are enrolled in the U.S. school system, many educators struggle to accommodate the academic needs of these students. Drawing on the framework of social and cultural capital, this article aimed to expand the current knowledge on the experiences of Latino unaccompanied youths in the U.S. school system. A thematic analysis of semistructured interviews with 30 newcomer students and 10 key informants revealed six themes: socialización con los demás compañeros (getting along with the other students); poca confianza (little trust); no sé lo que decían (I do not know what they were saying); it is a hard landing; education, interrupted; and estoy agradecido (I am grateful). The article offers suggestions for school social workers and educators on how to promote academic success, student resilience, and school connectedness for a vulnerable youth population.
