1. Separated children seeking asylum -psychological responses to approaching 18
Gillian Hughes
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Child and Family Refugee Team
Our team & who we see – proportion are refugee adolescents without parents

2. Of all the referrals to the child and family refugee team for separated children seeking asylum:
80% are aged 17.
The rest are newly arrived children/ young people
What is going on? Will talk about what is going on psychologically for these young people, how related to identity.
How we might helpfully respond – as people offering support within the health, social care and legal systems.
Talk about a particular approach our team have used

3. Psychological well being & functioning
Stories lived & told
Psychological well being & functioning
IDENTITY
Huge emphasis on trauma – more complex

4. Stories told about separated children seeking asylum and by them
Foucault (1980) – social discourses shape our relationships with each other, and the rules governing social behaviour (legal system, govt. policy).
Negative discourses about refugees become ‘internalised’ (White & Epston,1990)
Attitudes in the media about asylum seekers shape voters wishes: ‘dole scroungers’ and ‘illegal immigrants’, which influences govt. policy. Needs of the labour market dictate the messages govt. are giving out.

5. Approaching 18 … Context creates negative definitions of identity:
Right to be in UK being questioned
Not being believed in court
Re-telling traumatic stories, ‘victim’ identity
Public discourses ‘bogus asylum seekers’ ‘dole scroungers’
People often arrive at our service suicidal – negative discourses internalised & identity crisis

6. Approaching 18…cont. Loss of aspects reinforcing positive identity:
Loss of hopes for the future - access to education, future career
Loss of foster families
Loss of social support networks – child services, school friends & teachers.
Potential loss of British identity and friends
British identity – adapt eg. Afghani boys don’t show affection publically

7. How to respond?
Narrative approach – Put people in touch with hopes, aspirations, values for living
Emphasise ‘subjugated narratives’ (White, 2005), stories of survival
Witness, name, and highlight injustice, (Martín-Baró, 1996) - place distress in context to avoid ‘internalising discourses’
Narrative approach – help people know how to go on
Subjugated narratives – journeys to UK, extraordinary stories of survival
Community resilience – eg. ‘barking like a dog’ (Pashtun)
Spreading the news eg. court reports

8. How to respond?.....cont.
‘Community resilience’ – how do people practice resilience and how developed in context of history & culture (Ungar, 2005)
Audience for preferred stories - ‘spreading the news’, (Freedman & Combs, 1996)
Based in community settings
Individual sessions to manage responses to trauma

9. Group for Afghani young people (separated adolescents seeking asylum)
‘Tree of Life’ narrative
metaphor
(Ncube & Denborough, 2008)
Hopes and aspirations (branches),
resilience/ abilities (trunk),
social and cultural history of these (roots)
Location
Forest of life, Storms of life – injustices, struggles

10. Comments from young people who attended the narrative group
Before, I was hopeless and now I am thinking ‘yes, I can do it!’
The best thing was it gave me encouragement to carry on and not give up
It felt good to share ideas with others about hopes for the future
It gave me hope meeting others in the same position

11. But… Attendance, punctuality Hard coming after school/college, tired
Didn’t like coming to Tavistock
What would have made the difference?
Difference – natural place, outside; fun; doing something together
Voice, tell their stories
Richmond Park

12. Richmond Park Young people create their own story Shared experience
Fun (picnic, football)
A document to share with others – ‘spreading the news’ (Freedman & Combs, 1996)
Hand held cameras, prompts

13. Film made by the young people

14. What the day enabled ‘Richmond Park was fantastic, fantastic….’
Gave the young people a voice
‘I got to interview my friends. We talked about how to help people who have just arrived in the UK. It was good.’

15. What the day enabled….cont.
Environment that connected them with home
‘It was a natural place because when we used to live back in Afghanistan, we lived in the countryside… It reminded me of what we had. And we talked about how life was there and when we came here, how life is here.’
‘We changed a lot. I feel much better because I haven’t been for a long time outside of London. When I’m in London, I just feel bored, tired. This was much better. You get some new fresh air because when I came back I was saying ok, I’m fresh now, I can do whatever I want.’

16. What the day enabled….cont.
Fun, created sense of community
‘I also liked taking pictures - a lot of good memories from there. It was nice.’
‘Everyone had a good time. When we came back, we went to one of my friend’s house, and we stayed there and talked about the things that we did. And we had pictures from there, on our mobile phones – a lot of pictures, a lot of memories. We all talked about it afterwards.’

17. What next? How we can use film – facilitate different ways of talking
Use of film