ABSTRACT
A central feature of the refugee experience is migration; that is, movement from a familiar place, ‘home’, to a different place, usually a foreign country and culture. The following chapter deals with issues shared by people who migrate, including refugees, and who therefore experience displacement and often contact with another culture as well. It will outline the factors that are associated with displacement and acculturation that impact on the process of adaptation to a new place. The chapter first examines two general theoretical frameworks relating to displacement and acculturation and then relates these to the specifics of the refugee situation in terms of the model outlined in Chapter 1 of this book. To this end pre-migration, trans-migration and post-migration factors will be considered and how they affect refugees’ ability to successfully accomplish the tasks faced in adapting to a different place and a different culture. These issues will be considered within an ecological perspective that takes account of personal factors embedded in the physical and the social environment, as detailed in Bronfenbrenner’s model of human development. Therefore, unlike Chapter 2, which focused on the effect of migration on individuals in terms of loss, grief and trauma, this chapter focuses more on the nature of interactions between individuals and their environments and the between-and withingroup processes as they affect adaptation. Issues will be discussed in terms applicable to all migrant populations as well as in relation to the refugee situation specifically.
