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Emerging paradigms in the mental health care of refugees

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  • Watters, Charles

Abstract

Over the past decade the approaches adopted towards the mental health care of refugees by a range of national and international healthcare organisations have been the subject of a sustained and growing critique. Much of this critique has focused on the way in which Western psychiatric categories have been ascribed to refugee populations in ways which, critics argue, pay scant attention to the social, political and economic factors that play a pivotal role in refugees' experience. Rather than portraying refugees as "passive victims" suffering mental health problems, critics have argued that attention should be given to the resistance of refugees and the ways in which they interpret and respond to experiences, challenging the external forces bearing upon them. In this paper a range of issues concerning the mental health care of refugees will be examined. These include the role of psychiatric diagnosis in relation to refugees' own perceptions of their need and within the context of general health and social care provision. In examining services the emergence of new paradigms in mental health care is identified. These include the growth of holistic approaches that take account of refugees' own experiences and expressed needs and which address the broader social policy contexts in which refugees are placed. A three-dimensional model for the analysis of the interrelationship between "macro" level institutional factors in the mental health of refugees and the individual treatment of refugees within mental health services is proposed.

Suggested Citation

  • Watters, Charles, 2001. "Emerging paradigms in the mental health care of refugees," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(11), pages 1709-1718, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:52:y:2001:i:11:p:1709-1718
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    Cited by:

    1. O'Donnell, Alexander W. & Stuart, Jaimee & O'Donnell, Karlee J., 2020. "The long-term financial and psychological resettlement outcomes of pre-migration trauma and post-settlement difficulties in resettled refugees," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    2. Carl Stempel & Nilofar Sami & Patrick Marius Koga & Qais Alemi & Valerie Smith & Aida Shirazi, 2016. "Gendered Sources of Distress and Resilience among Afghan Refugees in Northern California: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Scott, Penelope, 2014. "Black African asylum seekers’ experiences of health care access in an eastern German state," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(3), pages 134-147.
    4. Coffey, Guy J. & Kaplan, Ida & Sampson, Robyn C. & Tucci, Maria Montagna, 2010. "The meaning and mental health consequences of long-term immigration detention for people seeking asylum," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 2070-2079, June.
    5. Hadi Farahani & Natalie Joubert & Janet Carter Anand & Timo Toikko & Mohamad Tavakol, 2021. "A Systematic Review of the Protective and Risk Factors Influencing the Mental Health of Forced Migrants: Implications for Sustainable Intercultural Mental Health Practice," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-25, September.
    6. Leah S. Branam & Ismail Yigit & Sipal Haji & Jennifer Clark & Jessica M. Perkins, 2023. "Kurdish Refugee Beliefs about Mental Health and Help-Seeking: A Community-Engaged Research Study in Tennessee," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-12, January.
    7. Henriëtte E. van Heemstra & Willem F. Scholte & Angela Nickerson & Paul A. Boelen, 2021. "Can Circumstances Be Softened? Self-Efficacy, Post-Migratory Stressors, and Mental Health among Refugees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-9, February.
    8. Hinton, Devon E. & Rasmussen, Andrew & Nou, Leakhena & Pollack, Mark H. & Good, Mary-Jo, 2009. "Anger, PTSD, and the nuclear family: A study of Cambodian refugees," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1387-1394, November.
    9. Parkinson, Sarah E. & Behrouzan, Orkideh, 2015. "Negotiating health and life: Syrian refugees and the politics of access in Lebanon," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 324-331.
    10. Ruth Abraham & Lars Lien & Ingrid Hanssen, 2018. "Coping, resilience and posttraumatic growth among Eritrean female refugees living in Norwegian asylum reception centres: A qualitative study," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 64(4), pages 359-366, June.
    11. Michael Savic & Anna Chur-Hansen & Mohammad Afzal Mahmood & Vivienne M Moore, 2016. "‘We don’t have to go and see a special person to solve this problem’: Trauma, mental health beliefs and processes for addressing ‘mental health issues’ among Sudanese refugees in Australia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(1), pages 76-83, February.
    12. Laura Smith & Ha Hoang & Tamara Reynish & Kim McLeod & Chona Hannah & Stuart Auckland & Shameran Slewa-Younan & Jonathan Mond, 2020. "Factors Shaping the Lived Experience of Resettlement for Former Refugees in Regional Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-18, January.
    13. Um, Mee Young & Chi, Iris & Kim, Hee Jin & Palinkas, Lawrence A. & Kim, Jae Yop, 2015. "Correlates of depressive symptoms among North Korean refugees adapting to South Korean society: The moderating role of perceived discrimination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 107-113.

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    Keywords

    Refugees Mental health PTSD;

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