Project title:
Addressing the impact of racial trauma on young refugee people
“it is fundamental that research explicitly incorporate an understanding of racism because of its pervasive nature.”
Researcher:
Dr Arif Mahmud
School of Education, Centre for Learning, Teaching and Human Development
University of Roehampton
Project proposal:
In mental health and youth development research, racism has not been explicitly presented as a risk factor. It is fundamental that research explicitly incorporate an understanding of racism because of its pervasive nature, interpersonally, institutionally, and culturally, which influences the wellbeing of young refugee people (YRP).
YRP experience racism in many forms and levels. At the interpersonal level, racism can be expressed as violent, bigoted, overt actions; “polite” aversion; and racial micro-aggressions. Institutionally, racism is embedded in policies, practices, and priorities that reinforce benefits of Whiteness at the detriment of minoritised groups, correlated with a reduction of access to necessary resources and opportunities. At the cultural level, racism maintains white supremacy through socialisation in distorted perceptions. These experiences of racism and racial trauma have been linked to psychological distress and severe health and wellbeing disparities among YRP, including higher morbidity and mortality rates.
This project will explore how YRP understand and experience racism in their everyday lives and the impact this has on their mental health; the project aims to conduct semi-structured interviews with 18-24-year-olds because of the high prevalence of racism in this age group. It aims to shed light on factors that may influence differences in the impacts of racism by focusing on the intersectionality of individual and system level variables, including economic and social factors, access to health and social services, cultural practices. Subsequently, the project aims to co-produce with YRP and relevant stakeholders an intervention to support YRP with racism experience to minimise its negative impact.
Photo by Jurien Huggins on Unsplash
Themes:
Enabling transformational change
Encouraging the arts
Seeking justice
Promoting wellbeing
Nurturing rooted communities
Thinking globally
Amplifying voices