1. Refugee Identity During Re-settlement and Beyond Kiran Sidhu Education 856

2. Why This Topic? World Refugee Day Saturday June 20 th this year The program I teach in—funded by CIC and caters to new immigrants and refugees Hussein—new student last school year

3. Identity Formation Erik Erikson: developmental psychologist Lifespan theory of identity development Identity formation is a continuous process, the result of a dynamic interaction of the individual with their social and cultural environment Identity crisis and confusion occurs when our psychodynamic balance is disturbed when young people realize their social and personal identities are inadequate for adulthood

4. What About Refugees? How can someone handle issues of identity formation while encountering a radical cultural-contextual exchange? If Erikson is right, then a contextual shift altering one’s social roles and status and/or interpersonal relationships ought to threaten one’s sense of sameness and continuity Thus, refugees settling in a new country are at a greater risk of experiencing identity problems such as distress and crisis than their non-immigrant peers This is particularly true because refugees’ sense of continuity is difficult to maintain Refugees are likely to experience an identity crisis when resettling in host countries as they try to balance the elements of both their home and host cultures

5. The Research “Managing Identity in the Face of Resettlement” York University 50 Karen refugees from Burma (Myanmar) who have resettled in London, Ontario 24 male, 26 female refugees between the ages of 18 and 45 Refugee camp in Thailand Comparison group: Canadian-born members from the refugees’ host communities All participants volunteered to be part of the research Self-administered questionnaire

6. The Questionnaire Refugee group assigned adjectives to describe themselves in the past (while in home country), in the past (while in the refugee camp in Thailand), at the current time, and what they expect to be like in 10 years Canadian group assigned adjectives to describe themselves 10 years ago, 5 years ago, currently, and in 10 years’ time Also asked to describe themselves at home, work, and school Asked to mark the degree of turbulence of past, present and projected future issues with identity starting from age 12

7. Results Canadian sample had significantly higher consistency between their past and current selves Karen refugees had a lower sense of continuity between their past and current selves Identity crisis scores were higher for the refugee sample, particularly during the time they had newly arrived in Canada and their projected future selves Karen participants experienced higher levels of identity distress compared to Canadians, especially when related to social and personal identity; identity resolution was delayed for refugees when work identity was concerned Why? In the refugee camps, many of the Karen refugees were teachers, nurses, and medical laboratory technicians, but these skills and qualifications were not recognized in Canada, where the jobs reserved for refugees keep them isolated from larger society Author suggests Canada adopt policies aimed at helping refugees cope with their unique circumstances as refugees encountering resettlement obstacles

8. Be Compassionate Be patient with refugee students and parents—it takes time to re-settle Don’t be so quick to label students who seem different Don’t be so quick to judge refugee parents for not being as prepared as other parents of students in your class Imagine having to go through adolescence again!