Bridging Identities: Refugee Adolescents, Social Networks, and Adaptation in South Australian Schools

"To what extent are migrants facing identity crises when trying to adapt to South Australian life, and does this lead them on a path towards social isolation when they study in south Australian high schools?"

According to UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are around 82.4 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, with 35 million of these refugees being children. In the context of Australia, from January 2009 to December 2018, the nation has recognised or resettled 180,790 refugees, (where the numbers of minors have not been reported). The teenage years should be a time to establish a sense of self, and our role in a broader social context within a society, and this development is vital for a positive engagement within a social system (Adams and Marshall 1996). This paper will explore how the identity development of refugee adolescents will be affected by forced displacement - where the instability in their social environment and ethnicity does not automatically provide a clear social and identity role for these groups to adapt into. Chiefly, this paper is interested in the question of when these individuals are settled into a new environment, whether symptoms of this forced displacement will emerge as a form of psychological distress or trauma.

The method and methodology that will be undertaken includes:

-         Ethnographical investigation of the identity nature of refugees by considering their ethnic identity to determine the occurrence of identity crisis and instigate the chances of social isolation within this population.

-        In order to obtain a more focus data from the Australian refugee’s population, a quantitative observational method approached was designed as a form of survey. This allowed the research to have two sample groups (native Australian and refugees) for a clearer comparative investigation.

Despite the initial hypothesis of the researcher, the preponderance of the research has shown that the proportion of migrants that face identity crisis and social isolation is relatively commensurate with the Australian population, and therefore not a statistically unique problem to this social grouping.

                  This investigation will base the majority of its terminological definitions regarding identity, based on James D. Fearon’s definition from the Department of Political Science at Stanford University in 1999. He states, “identity means either (a) a social category, defined by membership rules and allegedly characteristic attributes or expected behaviours, or (b) a socially distinguishing feature that a person takes a special pride in or views as unchangeable but socially consequential (or, of course, both (a) and (b) at once)”.

                  Many refugees have a strong sense of ethnic identity which correlates to stable mental health and a sense of oneself, when resettling into a modern society[1]. Ethnic identity, which is a sub-categorisation within the broader umbrella of “identity”, refers to a broad range of social roles[2]. Social roles are the normative behaviour within a defined social category, which is expected from a particular group of individuals - for example, a mother with Afghan nationality is likely to have different roles and practices to raise a child to a mother with different geolocative ethnicity. Ethnic identity in this context provides a person with connective human networks. These connections then impart a sense of social belongingness which makes a person feel a part of a specific social group, where coexistence within these networks is harmonized and mutually understood[3]. Considering environmental changes, interaction within the refugee’s group does not require an immediate change of their fundamental social roles, in order to socialise and to be understood by their prior categories. Therefore, the road map towards environmental adaptation would not be severely enforced and can be adapted by the individual’s accord.

In the context of refugee resettlement, while integration into a new environment could feasibly cause an individual’s social network to be severely interrupted, a strong sense of ethnic identity provides the necessary social basis for a person to create new forms of social connections[4]. An example of this in the contemporary Australian setting is that refugee students often share, or can at least draw connections between each other’s understandings of their social role, prior to their integration. This shared, or adjacent, ethnic experience provides common ground described as a form of typological networking.  This term refers to how, as migrants try to learn the new language or cultural aspects of their new environment, a mutual respect and understanding, adopted by collectivistic passive/active attuite, unconsciously emerges. These new connections, it seems, provides a sense of ethnicity identity which helps the expansion of social networks and ameliorates against a sense of identity crisis.[5]

In a small survey conducted at a South Australian senior college with a large new-arrival cohort, 41 students, 17 Australian-born (Group A) and 24 refugees (Group B) were asked 20 questions regarding their attitude towards ethnic identity. Simple questions were devised that explored complex ideas such as state of identity, sense of self identification, prevalence of social network, and its quality, and the impact of trauma on identity distress occurrence. In this survey, 66% (16 students out of 23) of Group B showed a strong sense of ethnic identity and a higher level of adaptivity with a vast human’ network in comparison to Group A (see Fig 1). This finding, while on its own not indicative of the broader community, supports a more comprehensive study that found that good maintenance of ethnic identity is essential for “psychological adjustment”, “protect against harmful behaviour”, and “improve academic performance” (Walsh 2012). A large percentage of these refugees comes from a traditional society, in which identity emerges from a collectivism culture.[6] This backgrounding turns out to have benefits for mental health as long as the individuals have been raised within stable and healthy societies and cultural adaptivity is not damaged by trauma or contradiction of their identity negotiations by cultural differences in a new environment.

                  It is important to be cognisant of the relationship between identity and trauma, which have been observed to be closely correlated to one another. Erick Erikson, who introduced the Identity Development Theory, believed ‘identity develops by overcoming trauma in life’. However, if the trauma is not resolved and is maladapted to, and seen as normality, it can be integrated into everyday life, and become part of one’s identity. Christiane Bakopanos from Foundation House, with 21 years of experience, explains the adaptivity of trauma from a young age; she states, “when the mother is fleeing a war in the country or any stressful event, ... there are changes in the mother’s body that affect the infant. ... a child in school may appear unsettled or naughty ... there might be a trace of early trauma which affects the child behaviour”. This adaptivity would prevent a person to create a new social network which might lead to social isolation.

As outlined, integration into a new environment can negatively impact each individual's social network, however, strong ethnic communities in the host country can be a great stimulator for the creation of new social networks. It is important to acknowledge, however, that since cultural beliefs have been damaged by forced displacement (Ida Kaplan 2020), some adolescents' exploration of their ethnic identity will resolve in a distrustful pathway in regards to their home culture's fundamental social roles (Alperin, R.M 2016). Thus, a severe form of identity distress will appear, which can cause community fragmentation, identity crisis, and in some cases, individuals might go through a process of identity negotiation (see Fig 2). 

                  A key finding of this paper is that positive correlation in relation to successful identity negotiation is that the chance to study and career availability in Australia has a significant positive effect on a successful process of identity negotiation, which decrease the chances of identity crisis. This is because a set of social practices in the work and educational environment can encourage a set of social role and belongingness in the social setting, and individuals can categorize themselves within a specific social group and develop an individualistic identity. This will resolve in a feeling of comfort, group acceptances and membership, which seemingly increase self-esteem and improve work/educational identity (Butch 2006). These work and educational identity prevent the formation of identity crisis by giving individuals a sense of purpose. By referring back to the typological networking and including the reformation of identity by negotiation, the collectivistic attitude would transfer into an individualistic attitude.  This is further supported by research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research which conducted a focus group involving migrants and their thoughts about identity formation, environmental opportunities and their effects on a personal sense of purpose. These individuals have shown a positive outlook regarding their opportunity to study, however, many of these participants showed great concern about unemployment and its effects on their mental health. This is confirmed by the college survey results, where it could be observed that 70% of Group B participants have concerns regarding career availability.

                  Something to be wary of, and that may increase the chances of an identity crisis, is that although the Australian education system lays the opportunity for educational rights, a transition from education to a workplace is more complex due to many barriers. A report provided by Fairfield Multicultural Interagency, Refugee Council of Australia, have looked through this issue with depth, and as Shukufa Taheri states, “the main national employment program, Jobactive, is failing both refugee and migrant jobseekers and the wider Australian community”. This liability is not only subjected to refugee/migrant group, and seemingly it is commensurate across the national population. However, by considering migrant circumstances, it has to be acknowledged that it has a more significant consequence on this particular group’s future and mental health. Furthermore, as these individuals struggle with a sense of oneself and belonging in a new space, it is vital for their identity negotiation the opportunity to study and work to prevent the formation of identity crisis which might lead to social isolation.

Although, on the surface, it might seem that new refugee populations are at a higher risk of identity crisis and social isolation, this does not appear to be borne out by the research. A healthy and secure identity is vital for a person’s mental health, and it is a requirement for adaptation to a new environment. In the context of refugees, while integration may interrupt the refugee’s fundamental social role, a proud ethnic identity can positively increase a person’s social network and belongingness by typological networking with a collectivist attitude. One thing to take into consideration is that the traumatic events and forced displacement that refugee migrants often experience can still disrupt the positive effects of ethnic identity, which can lead to a disconnection from society and could be considered a form of identity crisis. Ameliorating against this risk is the opportunity to work and study in the host country, which can give these individuals a sense of purpose and improve the process of identity negotiation, decreasing the chances of isolation. Therefore, as the chances of an identity crisis and social isolation might rise within the Australian’s refugee population, the pathway towards overcoming these adversities are provided to some degree by the nation.  In conclusion, the proportion of migrants that face identity crisis and social isolation is relatively commensurate with the Australian population, and therefore not a statistically unique problem to this social grouping. References

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