ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the significance of home in understanding the refugee situation as well as the impact such exploration can have on our psychological approach to and work with refugees. Moreover, the development of an understanding of home in the context of refugees will provide a new perspective within which to locate the debate on refugee trauma and other related issues, thus arriving at an enriched comprehension of the complexities involved in the therapeutic care for refugees. Refugees are defined not as a group of people exhibiting any specific psychological condition but merely as people who have lost their homes. The literature on the nature, aetiology, diagnosis, socio–political parameters of trauma, especially with reference to refugee trauma, are enormous and the debates endless. The idea of refugee trauma is based on a relatively new understanding of trauma. Returning to the idea of trauma as “wound”, it may be useful to ponder on an important recent development in medical traumatology.
