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Santé psychologique des demandeurs d’asile dans un contexte politique défavorable : perspectives d’intervenants sociaux sur les réformes du système de protection des réfugiés
Abstract
Résumé
Ce projet de recherche empirique visait à explorer les conséquences des réformes fédérales du système de protection des réfugiés sur la santé psychologique des demandeurs d’asile à Montréal, notamment à travers l’offre de services d’aide à cette population. Les intervenants sociaux interrogés ont fait ressortir plusieurs manières dont ces réformes accentuent les difficultés post-migratoires des demandeurs d’asile, notamment par l’insuffisance des ressources d’aide psychosociale et le discours anti-réfugié véhiculé dans la population. Ces résultats reflètent la nécessité d’investir adéquatement dans les ressources d’aide à cette population et de promouvoir le développement, dans la société d’accueil, d’une vision respectueuse de la réalité et des droits des demandeurs d’asile.
Au printemps 2019, l’Équipe de recherche en partenariat sur la diversité culturelle et l’immigration dans la région de Québec (ÉDIQ) a tenu un colloque lors du 87 e congrès de l’ACFAS, intitulé « Interactions et trajectoires d’insertion dans les régions du Québec : stratégies des immigrants et des institutions ». Regrouper dans ce colloque des acteurs issus des milieux de pratique (santé et services sociaux, emploi et éducation) et des chercheurs nous a permis d’engager un dialogue entre les savoirs des praticiens et ceux issus de divers horizons universitaires (travail social, géographie, psychologie, relations industrielles, ethnologie, sages-femmes), permettant du même coup l’émergence d’un regard transversal et multidisciplinaire sur des enjeux complexes. À cet égard, la mise en relation des stratégies élaborées par les institutions et les structures locales d’accueil des nouveaux arrivants avec celles déployées par ces derniers cherchait à favoriser l’élaboration de recommandations en matière de politiques sociales, de pratiques d’intervention et de services, en adéquation avec les besoins spécifiques et changeants de la population. Ce numéro se compose de six articles issus des présentations offertes lors du colloque.
Background: There is growing evidence of the impact of post-migration factors on the mental health of refugees. To date, few UK studies have been conducted.
Aims: The study investigated the relationship between trauma, post-migration problems, social support and the mental health of refugees and asylum seekers.
Methods: Refugees and asylum seekers (n = 47) were recruited mainly from clinical settings. Self-report measures of post-migration problems, mental health problems and social support were completed in an interview.
Results: Bivariate associations were identified between increased symptoms and number of traumas, adaptation difficulties, loss of culture and support and confidant support. In multivariate analyses post-migration problems were significantly associated with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and emotional distress. There was no significant association of symptoms and number of traumas or social support.
Conclusions: The results suggest that clinical services should provide holistic interventions within a phased approach when working with refugees and asylum seekers. At a policy level, the results suggest the need for asylum policies that reduce post-migration problems and provide support for refugees and asylum seekers.
This article analyses how the present system for the integration of asylum seekers in Canada, as seen in policies and in actual practice, either facilitates or impedes the integration of asylum seekers right from the moment of their arrival in Quebec. The authors examine how advocates from community organizations perceive the obstacles inherent to the temporary status of asylum seekers. The article further analyses the political dynamics that are entangled in social activities where asylum seekers and members of the host community interact. The study is based on data and results from a literature review and interviews conducted with advocacy groups and representatives of the various levels of government.
This article is a summary of the literature currently available in peer-reviewed journals and edited books regarding the coping
skills that are utilised by East African refugees. The most common coping skills included faith/religion or other belief systems,
social support, and cognitive reframing or finding meaning in the situation. Hope for the future, especially through education,
was a common theme among younger refugees, in particular those who were resettled in a Western country. Additional research
into the experiences of refugee women, refugees who have not been resettled into Western countries, specific refugee groups,
and studies utilising qualitative methodologies are suggested.
The effects of trauma on refugees are long-lasting, both physically and mentally. The primary objective of this paper is to
broaden the scope of theoretical knowledge on refugee trauma by building on refugee, Post-Colonial, Trauma and Feminist theories,
and emphasizing refugee trauma as a consequence of multiple historical, social and political constraints which are embedded
in the personal experiences of refugees. By incorporating these various theories, the author proposes an integrated model
to aid service providers in identifying the various trauma factors associated with refugees, as well as to facilitate the
development of efficient service delivery mechanisms for this population.
KeywordsRefugee trauma-Theoretical analysis of trauma-Historical-Social and political location of trauma
This study focused on the effects of precarious status on the well-being of fifteen participants with particular attention to their attempts to claim services, their feelings of belonging and sense of social support, and the effects of parents' status on children. It investigates ways in which the status of one family member can affect the well-being of the entire family. Those who had children reported that the family's status disadvantaged their children, whether they were Canadian or foreign-born, as parents' status was used to justify denying children rights to which they are entitled by international, national, and provincial laws. The paper challenges approaches to citizenship and immigration status that fail to consider the implications of legal status for a person's primary social units and networks.
In this article we report research findings from a qualitative study of social support for immigrants and refugees in Canada. We focus on challenges from the perspectives of 137 service providers and policymakers in health and immigrant settlement who participated in in-depth interviews and focus groups in three Canadian cities. Results show that social support is perceived to play an important role in immigrant settlement and to have a positive impact on immigrant health, although immigrants face many systemic challenges. Systemic issues--limited resources, lack of integration of policies and programs and narrow service mandates--also limit service providers' abilities to meet newcomer's needs. This research suggests that changes in public discourse about immigrants' contributions, improved governance and service coordination, and a holistic, long-term perspective are important to more effectively support immigrant settlement and to promote immigrant health and well being.
Based on the findings of an exploratory study on support systems and help-seeking experiences of thirty-six survivors of war and Forture, this article presents their experiences with two supportive resources, formal mental health services and community peer groups. The aim of this article is to discuss factors that shape survivors’ use of mental health services as well as the functions and benefits of community peer groups.
Cet article s’interesse au sort des demandeurs d’asile au moment ou ils se reinstallent en cultivant l’espoir de s’integrer un jour a la societe canadienne. Il porte aussi sur certains des principaux elements du processus de determination du statut de refugie qui se sont averes des obstacles a l’integration a long terme a la societe d’accueil. Dans ce contexte, les habiletes et les connaissances particulieres a chacune des cultures constituent un niveau d’intervention aupres des demandeurs d’asile. Cependant, en plus d’etre conscients des enjeux propres a la culture et au pays d’origine, les intervenants doivent saisir le sens de la migration. La migration, qu’elle soit volontaire (immigrants) ou forcee (refugies et demandeurs d’asile), constitue une experience douloureuse qui comporte toujours une rupture avec le passe. Le travail social peut jouer un role fondamental dans un processus qui sert a retisser les liens sociaux.
• Summary: This article provides a critique of the epidemiological research that currently informs mental health social work with asylum seekers. Most of the literature that currently informs social work practice with asylum seekers with mental health difficulties comes from psychiatric studies which are largely underpinned by a medical model.
• Findings: It is argued that aetiological accounts, predominantly deriving from psychiatry and based largely on biological causation, are untenable. A more comprehensive model is presented, which considers both biological causation and a social perspective and locates the mental health difficulties experienced by asylum seekers in a much wider context. The model is further divided into pre-, post- and migratory stress factors.
• Application: The aim is to provide social work with a practical tool to make sense of the mental health difficulties faced by asylum seekers, help in the development of assessment tools, and help multidisciplinary agencies to define the roles and remit of staff as well as contribute towards the development of policy and practice.
This article explores the role of social work with asylum-seekers in the UK and Australia. It raises the questions of the contradictions for the profession in the light of increasingly repressive policies in both countries. Comparing the policies in the two countries, questions are asked about current social work engagement and the potential for an enhanced role.
French
Cette recherche examine le rô le du service social auprè s des demandeurs d'asile au Royaume-Uni et en Australie. Elle met en relief les contradictions auxquelles la profession est confronté e en raison de l'intensification des politiques ré pressive dans les deux pays. Aprè s avoir comparé les politiques dans les deux pays, l'auteur pose des questions sur le niveau d'engagement actuel du service social et les possibilité s d'un roô le accru.
Spanish
Se explora el papel que ejerce el trabajo social en la cuestión de bùsqueda de asilo en Gran Bretaña y Australia. Se examinan las contradicciones con las que se enfrenta la profesión, a la luz de medidas, cada vez má s represivas, existences en ambos paises. Comparando las políticas de los dos paises, se cuestiona el papel presente del trabajo social y la posibilidad que tenga de jugar un papel cada vez má s importante.
English
This article explores some of the most salient of the oppressions that are directly related to international and Canadian immigration policy discourses and practices. A conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between social justice and oppression in social work practice is introduced. This will determine the issues that need to be addressed by social work practitioners.
French
Cet article examine quelques-uns des facteurs d'oppression les plus évidents qui se dégagent du discours et des pratiques de l'immigration canadienne et internationale. On y établit un cadre conceptuel pour faciliter la compré- hension de la relation entre justice sociale et oppression dans la pratique du travail social. Ce cadre permet de définir les questions dont doivent tenir compte les intervenants du travail social.
Spanish
En este artículo se exploran algunos de los factores má s importantes de opresió n relacionados directamente con las prá cticas y discursos de la polí- tica canadiense e internacional de inmigració n. Ser introduce un marco conceptual para entender la relació n entre la justicia social y la opresió n en la prá ctica del trabajo social. Esto determinará los temas que necesitan ser abordados por los practicantes de trabajo social.
This paper examines the potential for advocacy in social care services supporting refugees and asylum seekers, drawing on evidence and material from a service development intervention for staff working in a local refugee support and advice service in the UK. Different approaches to advocacy are discussed in relation to the needs and experiences of refugees and the aims of the service. The training model and service profile (the case study) is outlined and the issues raised by the intervention analysed, with case examples provided. The accompanying discussion suggests ways to develop effective advocacy work with refugees and asylum seekers in both statutory and voluntary support and advice services.
This paper introduces a theoretical framework to fill a gap in our understanding of refugeeness. Based on material gathered from a series of interviews undertaken as part of an exploratory study completed in Montreal, Canada, refugee claimant subjectivity is empirically explored by examining the social construction of refugees' subjectivity in three major spheres of life: work, family and state. Within this theoretical perspective two linked research questions are addressed, namely: (1) What is the impact of refugee policy on refugee claimants? and (2) How is their subjectivity altered by the refugee determination process? The objective is to understand the impact of a particular discourse on an individual's subjectivity in relation to that discourse. Refugee claimant subjectivity is analysed through those conscious thoughts and emotions expressed by subjects, their way of understanding their refugee claimant subjectivity and their social world, in large part defined by Canadian refugee policy.
Social workers and medical practitioners, particularly those in general practice, provide services for individuals who experience social exclusion. Access to medical, health and social care services has been identified as problematic for refugees and asylum seekers, reflecting their marginalised status within society. It is widely accepted that multi‐agency responses and working together are key requirements in improving access to services and promoting social inclusion; however, achieving this across professional and agency boundaries often remains challenging. Joint planning and training have been suggested as being important in improving communication, leading to more flexible and creative services.This paper describes the genesis and implementation of a series of innovative inter‐professional workshops for medical and social work students, focussing specifically on marginalised groups. Learning and teaching input was developed by, and came from, service users and qualified medical, health and social work practitioners. The paper focuses particularly on the sessions relating to refugees and asylum seekers. The content and structure of the sessions are discussed and students' responses are reported. The implications for future inter‐professional learning and practice in relation to socially excluded groups are highlighted.
Canada and the United Kingdom have pedigrees in offering asylum; however, research in both countries has demonstrated widespread poverty amongst asylum seekers and a high risk of homelessness. Focusing on case examples drawn from 60 in-depth interviews with refugees in Toronto and London, this paper shows how national and local structures shape pathways to homelessness, and how refugees interpret their homlessness in the context of their flight from persecution, reception, and settlement.
Social work practitioners are increasingly confronted with couples and families who have come from war-torn countries. Refugees may have experienced genocide, organized violence, ethnic wars, displacement, and losses of various kinds. Such experiences will often be carried through the post-migratory period and obscure legitimate individual and family processes that are often evaluated through a psychopathology lens. In this context, there is a pressing need to be attentive to refugee situations around the world and to issues related to forced migration and its impact on families. In an attempt to fill the gap in the literature on intervention with refugee families, this article presents two of the most compelling aspects of the refugee experience that can have a lasting impact on families and couples: premigration traumatic events and their potential impact on the refugee resettlement experience, and postmigration social and psychological experiences. The concept of “trauma” is presented within the context of resettlement of asylum seekers and refugees. Key stressors documented as having an impact on the long-term well-being of individuals, families, and communities who have been touched by war and conflict are outlined. Multiple-family group intervention is discussed as one of the promising approaches for helping families cope with pre- and postmigration trauma.
This volume explores the philosophical underpinnings, history, and key elements of five qualitative inquiry approaches: narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. Using an accessible and engaging writing style, author John W. Creswell compares theoretical frameworks, methodologies in employing standards of quality, strategies for writing introductions to studies, the collection and analysis of data, narrative writing, and result verification. New to the Second Edition: (a) Brings the philosophical and theoretical orientations to the beginning of the book: This change helps ground students in the foundational thinking behind these methods much earlier. (b) Gives broader coverage of narrative research: Creswell expands one of the original five approaches from "Biography" to "Narrative," thus exploring a wider range of narrative opportunities--biography still being one of them. (c) Offers a much deeper discussion of interpretive approaches: This edition places much more emphasis on interpretive and postmodern perspectives such as feminism, ethnicity, and critical theory. (d) Provides more specific steps for doing research within each approach: Creswell discusses the actual procedure for each approach and includes the types of qualitative research within each of the five approaches. (e) Illustrates phenomenology and ethnography: The Second Edition contains two new, recent sample journal articles: one covering a phenomenological study, the other covering ethnographic study. (f) Includes additional examples: The author provides examples from the field of human services to enhance the already robust examples from education, sociology, and psychology. Intended Audience: This is a useful text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in introductory qualitative research methods across the social, behavioral, and health sciences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Although it is only a minority of displaced and persecuted people globally who seek refuge in ‘Western’ countries, they meet an increasingly hostile reception. This paper focuses on the situation facing children seeking asylum with or without their families in Britain and Australia, and the implications for children's rights and for social work. The policy background and its racist foundations in both countries are outlined. Despite geopolitical differences, there are unnerving parallels. Legislative changes and policy complexity signal increasingly punitive attitudes towards asylum seekers. The situation of children and families in the community is discussed in terms of the exclusion of asylum seekers from basic rights, and specific issues for separated children. Even more damaging is the incarceration of children and families in detention centres, and the emerging research is explored. In both countries there is widespread flouting of children's rights, and children also feature as pawns in ideological contests. However, they also act autonomously and illustrate an inclusive model of citizenship. The role of social workers in the statutory and voluntary sectors is considered, and the paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges for social work of avoiding collusion with repressive policies and actively promoting human rights.
This article explores the issues and dilemmas that arise when social workers attempt to work with African refugee and asylum seeking children and their families. There is a complex interplay between social workers’ skills and knowledge in this area and the prevailing social attitudes towards these groups of service users. By initially setting the context of mass movement of peoples from situations of danger in their countries of origin, the discussion highlights the key issues and shows the tensions of practice intervention in this area. Drawing on a small-scale research study with social workers and discussions with immigration officers and workers in voluntary agencies working with refugees and asylum seekers, the article draws some conclusions about the lessons that can be learnt in order to improve practice.
Recent years have seen a consensus emerge on the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the general population. No such consensus exists for refugees, although the rate of PTSD among refugees is 10 times that of the general population. We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trial of treatment of PTSD among refugees and asylum-seekers. We rated trials with a risk of bias table and drew conclusions about the evidence for individual therapies. Ten randomized, controlled trials (n = 528) met our search criteria. Trials were small, and allocation concealment and blinding were inadequate. No treatment was firmly supported, but there was evidence for narrative exposure therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Future trials should evaluate interventions that are developed within refugees' cultures, based on a local understanding of trauma and psychological distress.
Projet de loi C-31- Loi modifiant la Loi sur l'immigration et la protection des réfugiés, la Loi sur des mesures de réforme équitables concernant les réfugiés, la Loi sur la sûreté du transport maritime et la Loi sur le ministère de la Citoyenneté et de l'Immigration
- Québec Barreau Du
Brief for submission to the House of Commons Committee on Bill C-4, the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act
- J Cleveland
- C Rousseau
- R Kronick
L’instant du danger. Réflexions d’un psychanalyste et témoignages sur l’exil forcé
- M Peterson
Le projet de loi C-31: Une violation injustifiée des droits des personnes en danger
- N Des Rosiers
- N Et
- Mendelsohn Aviv
« Adaptation psychologique post-migratoire des demandeurs d’asile dans un contexte politique défavorable : perspectives d’intervention ». Projet d’études indépendant pour l’obtention de la maîtrise en travail social
- Lacroix-Sarradet
« Réfugiés et demandeurs d'asile mexicains à Montréal : actes de citoyenneté au sein de l'espace nord-américain ?
- P Martin
- A Lapalme
- M R Gutman
Mémoires déposés lors du mandat « Consultations particulières et auditions publiques sur les documents intitulés Vers une nouvelle politique québécoise en matière d’immigration, de diversité et d’inclusion
- Médecins Du
- Monde Canada
État des lieux national de la prise en charge et de la prise en compte de la santé mentale des réfugiés et demandeurs d’asile au sein du dispositif national d’accueil
- M Vignal
- M Et
- Geny-Benkorichi