Matching Items (2)
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- All Subjects: Sense of Community
- Creators: Klimek, Barbara
Description
Resettled refugees face numerous challenges including unsafe living conditions, loss of permanent shelter, adjustment to a new culture, loneliness, and separation from family, friends, and community. Of particular importance is the lack of a feeling of sense of community (SOC) within their new surroundings. SOC is not only worthwhile as an outcome of its own, but may also predict additional positive outcomes such as resilience and cultural adjustment. Literature has shown participation in sport can develop youth positively and build social skills, while studies in other regions of the world have also found a sport team setting to be a place for immigrants to experience SOC. In this study, I use a congruent mixed methods approach to both explore the experience of SOC for youth refugees in a soccer club, and examine the relation of SOC to resilience and cultural adjustment. Using photo-elicitation and semi-structured interviews with 11 youth participants, the qualitative portion of the study explored SOC among youth participants. Findings note the presence of SOC as matched to theoretical frameworks both specific to sport, and to a more general theory of SOC. Further data were collected through questionnaires distributed to club members. Results from the quantitative analysis indicate a significant positive relation between SOC and resilience, and SOC and perceived acculturation. This study’s contribution is to illustrate how refugee youth in a sport club in the United States experience SOC, and the impact of that SOC. Results suggest practical implications for sport managers who wish to provide positive sport experiences for youth refugees.
ContributorsFader, Nina (Author) / Legg, Eric (Thesis advisor) / Larsen, Dale (Committee member) / Klimek, Barbara (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Looking into the school community cohesion and how refugee youth integrate into schools is important when addressing refugee resettlement issues at large. It is important that school community identity (SCI) formation for refugee high school youth is understood in order to develop school programs that can better assist integration process of refugee families. Looking at high school refugee youth from Arizona a model was created that better displays the specifics this study found when dealing with this population. Unlike non-refugee high school youth, refugee youth do not develop school community cohesion through voice, resonance, or empowerment like other studies have shown. This study shows that they must first develop a SCI before they can have a strong school community presence. School community identity is an important first step that facilitates sense of school community. Two focus groups were down at the Somali American United Council, and from these two groups four common themes surfaced: faculty support, emotional security, cultural understanding, and partnership/collaboration. Using these themes a refugee school identity model was created to represent the data collected. The participants in the focus group often told stories and used phrases that indicated a lack of identity in their school, and no claims to a need of a voice within their school community was mentioned. This indicates that refugee students need an identity within their school community before they will express a need for voice or influence.
ContributorsReiswig, Clinton Gene (Author) / Klimek, Barbara (Thesis director) / Zayas, Luis (Committee member) / Sambe, Pape (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Social Work (Contributor)
Created2015-05