Browsing by Person "Strang, Alison"

Now showing 1 - 19 of 19

A Jordanian case study: the implementation of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings
(2008) Horn, Rebecca; Strang, Alison
This case study describes the use of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings in Jordan. The fieldwork was carried out 17-27 August 2008 in Jordan and involved discussions with representatives of humanitarian organisations and UN agencies in Amman and Zarqa. This paper describes the ways in which the guidelines have been disseminated in Jordan and how they have 'added value' within the context of the Iraqi refugee crisis in Jordan. It also describes the factors that have hindered the full implementation of the guidelines.
A Kenyan case study: implementation of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings
(2008) Horn, Rebecca; Strang, Alison
This case study describes the use of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Kenya. The fieldwork was carried out 14-25 July 2008, and involved discussions with representatives of humanitarian organisations, UN agencies and government departments in Nairobi, Eldoret and Nakuru. It describes the ways in which the guidelines have been disseminated in Kenya, how they have 'added value' in that context, as well as the factors that have hindered the full implementation of the guidelines in Kenya.
Help seeking, trust and intimate partner violence: Social connections amongst displaced and non-displaced Yezidi women and men in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq
(BMC, 2020-08-28) Strang, Alison; O'Brien, Oonagh; Sandilands, Maggie; Horn, Rebecca; Funding for the study was provided by Tearfund UK
Background: Conflict and displacement impact the social fabric of communities through the disruption of social connections and the erosion of trust. Effective humanitarian assistance requires understanding the social capital that shapes patterns of help seeking in these circumstances - especially with stigmatised issues such as violence against women (VAW) and intimate partner violence (IPV).
'I want to participate.' Transition experiences of new refugees in Glasgow
(Taylor & Francis, 2017-08-16) Strang, Alison; Baillot, Helen; Mignard, Elodie
The particular case of transition from the uncertain position of an asylum seeker to a refugee with statutory rights is used to explore the interaction of structure and agency in refugees' lived experience of integration in super-diversity. Analysis draws on data generated through the 'Holistic Integration Service', available to all new refugees in Scotland from 2013 to 2016. Case data from 1885 households, interviews (n-=-24) and focus groups with refugees and service providers (n-=-13) showed that refugees' desire to be independent was thwarted by inaccessible systems that were insensitive to language and cultural barriers, and the cumulative demands of transition. The transition experiences of living in hostels and B&B accommodation; racism; poverty and disruption of social networks undermined effective integration. Evidence suggests that the experiences of transition disrupt settlement and disempower refugees creating a dependency on cultural mediation and advocacy for access to statutory rights and services. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on Scotland’s Refugees: Sudden-onset isolation in a neglected population group.
(Queen Margaret University, 2021-09-14) Vidal, Nicole L.; Salih, Maleeka; Strang, Alison; Sagan, Olivia; Smith, Cameron
This report summarises the findings of a rapid COVID-19 response research project led by the Institute for Global Health and Development at Queen Margaret University, working with support from the Scottish Refugee Council and Scottish Local Authorities. The research cohort were refugees and asylum seekers receiving services from either the Scottish Refugee Council or Local Authorities and their respective partners.Vidal
Indicators of integration: a conceptual analysis of refugee integration (version 5.7): a report to the Home Office on behalf of Michael Bell Associates
(Queen Margaret University, 2001) Ager, Alastair; Strang, Alison; O'May, Fiona; Garner, Paul
Insights into integration pathways: new Scots and the Holisitic Integration Service
(Scottish Refugee Council, 2015-06) Strang, Alison; Baillot, Helen; Mignard, Elodie
Evaluation report of year two of the Holistic Integration Service, offering up to twelve months support to people who have been granted Refugee Status, Humanitarian Protection, or Discretionary Leave to Remain following an asylum claim in Scotland.
IntagraRef: Local communities and refugees, fostering social integration
(Institute for International Health and Development, 2008) Losi, N.; Strang, Alison
Integration or isolation? Refugees’ social connections and wellbeing
(Oxford University Press, 2019-06-29) Strang, Alison; Quinn, Neil
The Indicators of Integration framework—a conceptual framework defining core domains of refugee integration—has had a significant impact on the discourse surrounding refugee integration and a major role in shaping policy, practice and academic debate. Drawing on an innovative participatory mapping approach, this study examined the social connections of isolated single refugee men from Iran and Afghanistan (highlighted as particularly marginalized) and the implications for their mental health and wellbeing. Findings indicated very low levels of contact with family, local friends or local services, difficulties establishing trust and few opportunities for reciprocal relationships. The article makes an important contribution to the field of refugee integration in a number of ways. It suggests that the role of trust should be made explicit within the Indicators of Integration framework and be included as a ‘Facilitator’ of integration. It challenges Putnam’s simple binary distinction between bonding and bridging relationships and suggests a new conceptualization based on a continuum between bonds and bridges. It offers theoretical innovation by bringing together the concept of reciprocity with Hobfoll’s resource-conservation model to offer new insights into the way domains of the Framework interact. Its important contribution is in critiquing Putnam’s reliance on the idealization of community solidarity and suggesting conceptualizations of integration must be informed by the impact of intersecting but differentiated communities. Two key priorities emerge for policy and practice: enabling asylum seekers and refugees to develop sufficient close bonding relationships and finding more effective ways of building knowledge and trust of relevant resources and services.
Integration or isolation?: Mapping social connections and well-being amongst refugees in Glasgow
(Queen Margaret University; NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde; Positive Mental Attitudes, 2014) Strang, Alison; Quinn, N.
Having all these different relationships - that helps you progress.- (Iranian refugee participant, discussion group 3) Government, policy makers and service providers across Scotland are committed to promoting inclusion and equality in health and well-
Pathways and Potentialities: the role of social connections in the integration of reunited refugee families
(Queen Margaret University, 2020) Baillot, Helen; Kerlaff, Leyla; Dakessian, Arek; Strang, Alison
A QMU- Led Review of the Healing Neighbourhoods Project: Final Report
(Queen Margaret University, 2021-09) Kerlaff, Leyla; Strang, Alison
Refugee integration: Emerging trends and remaining agendas
(OUP, 2010-12) Strang, Alison; Ager, Alastair
This paper uses the foundation of the conceptual framework proposed by Ager and Strang (2004a, 2008) to reflect on the focus and findings of papers in this special issue on refugee integration and other recent work. Arguing that 'mid-level theory' of the sort presented in the framework provides a strong basis for structuring academic debate and dialogue with practitioners and policymakers, we identify four key issues that although of some current interest warrant further attention. First, we consider recent evidence from Europe and elsewhere on how prevailing notions of nationhood and citizenship determine understandings of integration, and argue that this powerfully shapes the social space available to refugees with regard to 'belonging'. Second, we note the wide adoption of concepts of social capital in framing components of social connection in the context of integration, but suggest greater attention is paid to the manner in which bonds, bridges and links establish forms of reciprocity and trust in social relations. Third, we examine the notion that integration is a 'two way' process, and suggest how this might be expanded to embrace the multiplicity and fluidity of social meaning and identity. Fourth, we reflect on Hobfoll's (1998) work on 'resource acquisition spirals' as a basis for effectively conceptualizing the dynamic interplay between factors mapped by the framework in shaping trajectories of integration. The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Refugee integration: local perspectives in contrasting European contexts.
(2008) Strang, Alison; O'Brien, Oonagh
The role of trust in health-seeking for non-communicable disease services in fragile contexts: A cross-country comparative study
(Elsevier, 2021-10-09) Arakelyan, Stella; Jailobaeva, Kanykey; Dakessian, Arek; Diaconu, Karin; Caperon, Lizzie; Strang, Alison; Bou-Orm, Ibrahim; Witter, Sophie; Ager, Alastair
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) disproportionately affect people living in fragile contexts marked by poor governance and health systems struggling to deliver quality services for the benefit of all. This combination can lead to the erosion of trust in the health system, affecting health-seeking behaviours and the ability of individuals to sustain their health. In this cross-country multiple-case study, we analyse the role of trust in health-seeking for NCD services in fragile contexts. Our analysis triangulates multiple data sources, including semi-structured interviews (n=102) and Group Model Building workshops (n=8) with individuals affected by NCDs and health providers delivering NCD services. Data were collected in Freetown and Makeni (Sierra Leone), Beirut and Beqaa (Lebanon), and Morazán, Chalatenango and Bajo Lempa (El Salvador) between April 2018 and April 2019. We present a conceptual model depicting key dynamics and feedback loops between contextual factors, institutional, interpersonal and social trust and health-seeking pathways. Our findings signal that firstly, the way health services are delivered and experienced shapes institutional trust in health systems, interpersonal trust in health providers and future health-seeking pathways. Secondly, historical narratives about public institutions and state authorities’ responses to contextual fragility drivers impact institutional trust and utilisation of services from public health institutions. Thirdly, social trust mediates health-seeking behaviour through social bonds and links between health systems and individuals affected by NCDs. Given the repeated and sustained utilisation of health services required with these chronic diseases, (re)building and maintaining trust in public health institutions and providers is a crucial task in fragile contexts. This requires interventions at community, district and national levels, with a key focus on promoting links and mutual accountability between health systems and communities affected by NCDs.
Rupture and liminality: Experiences of Scotland's refugee population during a time of COVID-19 lockdown
(Elsevier, 2023-08-11) Vidal, Nicole L.; Sagan, Olivia; Strang, Alison; Palombo, Gianluca
The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had profound effects on refugees. In migrating to seek safety, refugees demonstrate resilience, resourcefulness and the ability to adapt to stressful situations. However, social distancing and self-isolation measures greatly impacted these individuals as they stand to risk the most from interruptions to integration. In this paper, we examine the implications of increased loneliness and isolation for refugees’ experiences with integration. We argue, using original interview data, that the demands placed on some refugees through extremely harsh circumstances can leave many even more vulnerable, as was evident in extreme during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The findings of this study pertain to the refugee pandemic experience in relation to loneliness, hopelessness and, more so: agency, resilience and post-traumatic growth. In recognising that rupture and liminality are intrinsically linked to feelings of loneliness, mental wellbeing, or its erosion, the paper demonstrates the complexity of loneliness and its potential to cause long-term damage to mental and physical health. Our findings suggest the importance of an approach to integration that recognises the unique needs of refugees. Where emotionally supportive social networks are weak or absent, it must be a priority to enable meaningful connections with other trusted human beings.
‘Step by step’: the role of social connections in reunited refugee families’ navigation of statutory systems
(Informa UK Limited, 2023-01-25) Baillot, Helen; Kerlaff, Leyla; Dakessian, Arek; Strang, Alison
For asylum route refugees, the existence and persistence of structural barriers to navigating statutory systems are well-documented. Even when initial barriers are overcome, further transitions may disrupt refugees’ lives. One such is the arrival in the UK of family members from whom they had been separated during their flight from persecution. This paper draws upon data gathered using a Social Connections Mapping Tool methodology with reunited refugee families to make three contributions to the field of refugee studies. Firstly, families’ accounts of navigating statutory systems confirm the multi-directionality of integration. Refugees’ efforts to build and leverage social links proceed differentially across key statutory domains and cannot alone overcome systems barriers that require adaptation on the part of public services. Secondly, our findings contribute to scholarship that critiques the division of social relationships into categories of bonds, bridges and links, and the distinctions made between these based on ethnicity or nationality. Rather, refugees’ social relationships are more appropriately understood as a fluid continuum, with their nature and purpose subject to change. Finally, refugee families’ descriptions of settling in the UK highlight the influence of time on integration and the importance to refugees of re-building independence in a new country context.
Understanding Integration: A Conceptual Framework
(2008-06) Ager, Alastair; Strang, Alison
Integration has become both a key policy objective related to the resettlement of refugees and other migrants, and a matter of significant public discussion. Coherent policy development and productive public debate are, however, both threatened by the fact that the concept of integration is used with widely differing meanings. Based on review of attempted definitions of the term, related literature and primary fieldwork in settings of refugee settlement in the UK, the paper identifies elements central to perceptions of what constitutes 'successful' integration. Key domains of integration are proposed related to four overall themes: achievement and access across the sectors of employment, housing, education and health; assumptions and practice regarding citizenship and rights; processes of social connection within and between groups within the community; and structural barriers to such connection related to language, culture and the local environment. A framework linking these domains is presented as a tool to foster debate and definition regarding normative conceptions of integration in resettlement settings. The Author [2008]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Walking a tightrope between policy and scholarship: reflections on integration principles in a hostile environment
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2024-07-26) Phillimore, Jenny; Morrice, Linda; Strang, Alison
The term ‘integration’ has received considerable academic attention, much of it critical. Yet it continues to be widely used in policy and practice to capture the processes of change that occur following migration from one country to another. In an environment of increasing hostility and anti-migrant sentiment, we outline the process of working with the UK Home Office and a wide range of stakeholders to revise the original Home Office Indicators of Integration framework [Ager and Strang (2008). “Understanding Integration: A Conceptual Framework.” Journal of Refugee Studies 21: 166–191]. We directly engage with some of the key criticisms of integration by offering four core, co-developed principles: shared responsibility, context, multi-dimensionality and multi-directionality. We believe these principles cut through the institutional cultural bias of policymakers and offer a new framework for thinking about integration policy, practice and scholarship. Our work underlines the importance of scholars taking the opportunity to engage with policy and to present scientific evidence as a mechanism to confront hostile immigration practices and address the social injustices that usually accompany migration.