International and Intercultural Communication Commons^™

Language Barriers In Accessing Healthcare Services For Refugees In The United States, Sadaf Khuram

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

Accessing healthcare is a pivotal aspect of refugees' integration into their host countries and significantly impacts their long-term health outcomes. The literature emphasizes the critical role of language proficiency in overcoming communication barriers within healthcare settings. This thesis, however, challenges the assumption that addressing language barriers alone is universally sufficient. It argues that the importance of language solutions is context-dependent, varying with the design of healthcare systems and the diverse needs and backgrounds of refugees. In some cases, focusing primarily on language barriers can divert resources from other critical areas, particularly when healthcare facilities have limited capacities or when services …

Exploring Cultural, Health, And Technology Intersections: A Focus On Migrant Experiences, Merna Mina, Sahij Gill

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Despite the plethora of theories and frameworks addressing culture, health, and technology adoption, there remains a notable absence of a unifying theory that comprehensively encompasses all three aspects, particularly concerning newcomers. The Health Belief Model, for example, underscores individual perceptions and attitudes toward health yet fails to consider the intricate interplay between cultural factors and technology adoption among immigrant populations. The Healthy Immigrant Effect, which posits that immigrants often exhibit better health outcomes than native-born individuals, does not mention the role of technology on health outcomes. Acculturation theories, while shedding light on the adaptation process, often fall short of explaining …

"Because They Recognized Us": Triangulated Perspectives Of Syrian Mothers' Resettlement Experiences In The Eastern United States., Kayte Thomas

Journal of Applied Disciplines

Research indicates that post-resettlement experiences can be particularly challenging for people with refugee status. Despite finding safety in and adjusting to their new home, former refugees have indicated that this time can be stressful and even traumatic. The current Syrian crisis has created the largest wave of refugees ever known, and Syrian women are amongst the most vulnerable. However, women’s needs and preferences are often not taken into consideration during the resettlement journey and when they are, there is no distinction between mothers and their childless counterparts. As social workers strive to empower the individual person within their environment, it …

Dysfunctional Warfare: The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine, Rob Johnson

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was based on false premises, faulty assumptions, and a weak strategy. As the conflict has unfolded, heavy losses have imposed a strain on available Russian manpower. The Russian army reached a culminating point outside Kyiv and has exhibited little sign of operational learning. By contrast, Ukrainians have fought an existential war, making good use of dispersed light infantry tactics with high motivation levels. Western support has allowed them to compensate for their deficiencies in armaments and munitions. This commentary also shows military and policy leaders how the political context continues to impose limitations on the Ukrainians.

“Invaders”: U.S. Right Wing Media’S Framing Of Muslim Immigrants, Faizullah Jan, Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah

Research, Publications & Creative Work

This study identifies and examines the framing patterns in the U.S. right-wing media coverage of the President Donald Trump administration’s ban on immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries. The study is directed by one research question: How did the right-wing media frame the ban on Muslim immigrants? A total of 53 articles (news stories, features, and opinion pieces) from two right-wing U.S. media outlets, Daily Caller and Breitbart News, were identified and included in the analysis. Framing theory served as a framework for the analysis of the data. Findings of this study show that the right-wing media used negative frames …

Syrian Crisis Representation In The Media: The Cnn Effect, Framing, And Tone, Savannah S. Day

Venture: The University of Mississippi Undergraduate Research Journal

Over the past seven years of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian refugees have been painted in a negative light by news media outlets around the world. History of media coverage regarding global humanitarian crises shows that with various tools and processes, media can shape public opinion and policy in whichever direction it desires, and oftentimes policymakers and the public are quick, as well as emotional, to react. In this paper, my objectives are to analyze specific examples of this CNN Effect phenomena within news coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis, as well as generally explain the negatively correlating relationship between …

Sharing Pictures, Bridging Barriers: The Use Of Photovoice To Increase Awareness Of Women Refugees Issues In Jakarta, Nissa Cita Adinia, Chandra Kirana

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

This paper is the implementation of Photovoice with women refugees from Roshan Learning Center, an education space for refugees and asylum seekers in Jakarta. Photovoice is one of participatory action research method which is designed to encourage participants to identify and represent their community strength and issues through photographs. This paper describes the result of Photovoice project done with 9 (nine) women refugees members of Roshan Learning Center, in Jakarta. The project aims to explore issues related to women refugees living in a metropolitan Jakarta. Jakarta is interpreted as a place full of social problems such as traffic and poverty. …

Family Separation And The Impact Of Digital Technology On The Mental Health Of Refugee Families In The United States: Qualitative Study, Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah, Julia Meredith Hess, Jessica R. Goodkind

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Background: Conflicts around the world have resulted in a record high number of refugees. Family separation is a critical factor that impacts refugee mental health. Thus, it is important to explore refugees’ ability to maintain contact with family members across the globe and the ways in which they attempt to do so. It is increasingly common for refugees to use information and communication technologies (ICTs), which include mobile phones, the internet, and social media sites, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber, for these purposes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore refugees’ perceptions of the …

Becoming United Statesian: Experiences Of Newly Resettled Iraqi Refugees And Iraqi Immigrants, Bnar Mustafa

Institute for the Humanities Master's Papers, Projects, and Capstones

The differences between refugees’ dreams before and after coming to the United States of America is often shocking. One might ask, “Isn’t America the country of the refugees?” The United States is the largest nation built by refugees and immigrants, yet recently resettled refugees or “new Americans” struggle in multiple and overlapping ways to reach successful resettlement. Some of the challenges they face are inherent to resettlement, others come from the socialization process, and the interplay of human beings as they exist together. Language and culture shock are the natural struggles that any internationally-relocated person experiences. The challenges that stem …

Negotiating Identity, Home, And Belonging: Understanding The Experiences Of African Women Refugees Resettled In The United States, Consolata Nthemba Mutua

Communication ETDs

The purpose of this study is to examine how former African women refugees negotiate their identity, sense of belonging, and home in the context of transnational displacement. To explore this topic, I conducted in-depth interviews, participant observation, and focus group interviews with African women who came to the United States as refugees and who now live in two cities in the Southwestern and Midwestern United States. The resulting data was analyzed using both thematic and narrative analysis.

For this study, I recruited through a snowball/network sampling strategy a total of 20 former African women refugees and conducted 15 in-depth interviews, …

Into The Red: A Look Into The Reasons Why Refugees Decide To Flee, Settle Or Migrate To And From Morocco, Fadeelah E. Holivay

Master's Theses

This research paper explores some of the main reasons why refugees and asylum seekers, particularly from sub-Saharan African countries, embark on a journey and decide to settle, flee or migrate to and from Morocco. Because of this phenomenon, Morocco has seen a 96% increase of refugees migrating to the borders of Morocco each year for the past three years. Many say that this astonishing increase of migrants choosing Morocco is due to such factors as: wars breaking out regionally across central African and Middle Eastern countries causing them to flee; Morocco being a culturaly diverse francophone country whose laws and …

Negotiating Tensions Across Organizational Boundaries: Communication And Refugee Resettlement Organizations, Sarah Steimel

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Voluntary non-profit organizations play a critical role in mediating the transition of refugees into their new host communities in the United States. Furthermore, mediation is fundamentally a communicative phenomenon, as social services are provided in through communication between nonprofit workers and clients. Critically, for voluntary mediating organizations to create empowering spaces for refugees, communication is central. In this study, I emphasize the tensional processes inherent to mediating interactions and explore how refugee resettlement organizational staff members and refugee-clients describe and manage the communicative tensions which emerge when they interact with one another.

I conducted eighteen in-depth interviews with fifteen organizational …

Dialectic Tensions Experienced By Resettled Sudanese Refugees In Mediating Organizations, Sarah Steimel

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

An increasing number of global migrants are refugees who have fled religious, racial, ethnic, or other political persecution. As these refugee populations have grown, governmental and nonprofit organizations have emerged to help mediate the resettlement experience. The current study explores the dialectical tensions Sudanese refugees face in communicating with the organizations designed to make their resettlement successful. Sudanese refugees participated in semistructured interviews about their experiences communicating with mediating organizations. Four dialectical tensions emerged from participants’ stories about their communication in and with mediating organizations: (a) dissemination and dialogue, (b) emancipation and control, (c) empowerment and oppression, and (d) integration …

Transcribing Refugees: The Entextualization Of Asylum Seekers' Hearings In A Transidiomatic Environment, Marco Jacquemet

Communication Studies

This article explores the link between asylum seekers’ verbal performances and their transidiomatic entextualization by documenting the procedure through which asylum seekers’ claims are examined by judicial authorities and translated into a public record. Every year thousands of displaced people seek the protection of various European states by filing political asylum claims which are examined by national commissions. In their depositions, asylum seekers are interviewed by immigration o‰cials for approximately an hour. After this interview they are presented with a judgment: a short text that summarizes their story and spells out the commission’s decision on the case. The claim of …