IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/chinre/v12y2019i6d10.1007_s12187-019-9622-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Syrian Refugees Minors in Turkey. Why and how are they Discriminated Against and Ostracized?

Author

Listed:
  • Selcuk Besir Demir

    (Cumhuriyet University)

  • Volkan Ozgul

    (Cumhuriyet University)

Abstract

This qualitative study aims to explore the extent to which 8–15-year-old Syrian children in Turkey face discrimination and ostracism at school and in the community, as well as to reveal what they think about their life in Turkey. The study group was 22 Syrian refugee children, recruited using criteria sampling by taking into account such personal data as age, gender, school attendance and so forth. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data about their feelings. Two distinct forms of semi-structured interviews were conducted: One for the participants who attend school, and another for those who do not. The data from the semi-structured interviews were analysed using NVivo v10. The results of the study indicate that the participants encountered discrimination and ostracism in public places, such as schools, hospitals, parks and public transport. The participants consistently reported that they faced discriminatory acts such as humiliation and rejection by peers, while also witnessing attitudes of indifference by others. They also reported that they usually witnessed public apathy. Another major problem was that they are often exploited in workplaces (if they are working) and are paid less. The findings globally suggest that they suffer from widespread discrimination and ostracism. Therefore, a significant number of them have reported that they are mostly unhappy with life in Turkey and want to return to their home country.

Suggested Citation

  • Selcuk Besir Demir & Volkan Ozgul, 2019. "Syrian Refugees Minors in Turkey. Why and how are they Discriminated Against and Ostracized?," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(6), pages 1989-2011, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:12:y:2019:i:6:d:10.1007_s12187-019-9622-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-019-9622-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12187-019-9622-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12187-019-9622-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tuba Bircan & Ulaş Sunata, 2015. "Educational Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Turkey," Migration Letters, Migration Letters, vol. 12(3), pages 226-237, September.
    2. Stark, Lindsay & DeCormier Plosky, Willyanne & Horn, Rebecca & Canavera, Mark, 2015. "‘He always thinks he is nothing’: The psychosocial impact of discrimination on adolescent refugees in urban Uganda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 173-181.
    3. Montgomery, Edith, 2008. "Long-term effects of organized violence on young Middle Eastern refugees' mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(10), pages 1596-1603, November.
    4. Elitok, Secil Pacaci & Straubhaar, Thomas, 2010. "Turkey: Change from an emigration to an immigration and now to a transit migration country," HWWI Policy Papers 3-16, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sabine Andresen & Sascha Neumann & Ulrich Schneekloth, 2021. "How Children in Germany Experience Refugees: A Contribution From Childhood Studies," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(5), pages 2045-2064, October.
    2. Livia Hazer & Gustaf Gredebäck, 2023. "The effects of war, displacement, and trauma on child development," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arndt, Channing & Benfica, Rui & Thurlow, James, 2011. "Gender Implications of Biofuels Expansion in Africa: The Case of Mozambique," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 1649-1662, September.
    2. Selcuk Besir Demir, 2020. "Voices from Syrian Minors as Refugees: Expectations from the International Community," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(5), pages 1827-1845, October.
    3. Lynne McCormack & Brigitta Tapp, 2019. "Violation and hope: Refugee survival in childhood and beyond," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 65(2), pages 169-179, March.
    4. Mauro Braca & Domenico Berardi & Elisa Mencacci & Martino Belvederi Murri & Stefano Mimmi & Fabio Allegri & Fausto Mazzi & Marco Menchetti & Ilaria Tarricone, 2014. "Understanding psychopathology in migrants: A mixed categorical-dimensional approach," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 60(3), pages 243-253, May.
    5. Nicole Hynek & Arleta Franczukowska & Lydia Rössl & Günther Schreder & Anna Faustmann & Eva Krczal & Isabella Skrivanek & Isolde Sommer & Lukas Zenk, 2020. "A System Model of Post-Migration Risk Factors Affecting the Mental Health of Unaccompanied Minor Refugees in Austria—A Multi-Step Modeling Process Involving Expert Knowledge from Science and Practice," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-17, July.
    6. 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).
    7. Robinson, Jude & Chiumento, Anna & Kasujja, Rosco & Rutayisire, Theoneste & White, Ross, 2022. "The ‘good life’, personal appearance, and mental health of Congolese refugees in Rwanda and Uganda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    8. Sule Can & Taha Baran, 2023. "Orientalist Encounters at School: Security and Inclusion in the Education of Syrian Refugee Children in Istanbul," Journal of Economy Culture and Society, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 67(67), pages 35-54, June.
    9. Miller, Kenneth E. & Rasmussen, Andrew, 2010. "War exposure, daily stressors, and mental health in conflict and post-conflict settings: Bridging the divide between trauma-focused and psychosocial frameworks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 7-16, January.
    10. Meyer, Sarah R. & Meyer, Elizabeth & Bangirana, Clare & Mangen, Patrick Onyango & Stark, Lindsay, 2019. "Protection and well-being of adolescent refugees in the context of a humanitarian crisis: Perceptions from South Sudanese refugees in Uganda," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 79-86.
    11. María Alejandra Chávez Báez, 2021. "The legacy of violence: building or destroying trust? Evidence from Colombia's La Violencia," Documentos CEDE 19558, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    12. O'Toole Thommessen, Sara Amalie & Todd, Brenda K., 2018. "How do refugee children experience their new situation in England and Denmark? Implications for educational policy and practice," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 228-238.
    13. Sophie Yohani, 2015. "Applying the ADAPT Psychosocial Model to War-Affected Children and Adolescents," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(3), pages 21582440156, September.
    14. Inci Aksu Kargin, 2018. "An Assessment of the Refugees' Access to Labor and Housing Markets and Healthcare Services in Turkey from Syrian Refugees' Perspective," Border Crossing, Transnational Press London, UK, vol. 8(1), pages 220-236, January-J.
    15. Macarena Vallejo-Martín & Ana Sánchez Sancha & Jesús M. Canto, 2021. "Refugee Women with a History of Trauma: Gender Vulnerability in Relation to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, April.
    16. Balcilar, Mehmet & Nugent, Jeffrey B., 2019. "The migration of fear: An analysis of migration choices of Syrian refugees," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 95-110.
    17. John Walker & Daniyal Zuberi, 2020. "School-Aged Syrian Refugees Resettling in Canada: Mitigating the Effect of Pre-migration Trauma and Post-migration Discrimination on Academic Achievement and Psychological Well-Being," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 397-411, June.
    18. O'Toole Thommessen, Sara Amalie & Corcoran, Paula & Todd, Brenda K., 2017. "Voices rarely heard: Personal construct assessments of Sub-Saharan unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee youth in England," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 293-300.
    19. Giovanis, Eleftherios & Akdede, Sacit Hadi & Ozdamar, Oznur, 2024. "Socio-Cultural Influences on Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Syrian Migrants in Turkey," MPRA Paper 120906, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Gervais, Christine & Côté, Isabel & Pomerleau, Andréanne & Tardif-Grenier, Kristel & de Montigny, Francine & Trottier-Cyr, Renée-Pier, 2021. "Children’s views on their migratory journey: The importance of meaning for better adaptation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:12:y:2019:i:6:d:10.1007_s12187-019-9622-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.