SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF UKRAINIAN REFUGEES IN SWITZERLAND IN THE WAR’S FIRST YEAR: AGE, EDUCATION, AND GENDER PECULIARITIES
Keywords:
war, forced migration, online questionnaire, socio-demographic characteristics, age, educational and gender characteristics, migrant children, Ukrainian refugees, socio-economic problems, socio-cultural problems, socio-psychological problems
Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of the problems of adaptation of refugees from Ukraine who have found refuge in Switzerland. The objectif of the study was to examine the age, educational and gender peculiarities of Ukrainian refugees’ experience of two types of social and psychological problems: their own problems they faced after arriving in Switzerland and problems related to the adaptation of their minor children. Using the method of a social and psychological online survey in June-September 2022, a sample of 690 respondents (women – 93.6 %) aged 16 to 68 years was formed. Results. The gender, social, age and professional characteristics of the respondents were determined. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the main problems of Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland in the first year of the war was conducted. Their connection with socio-demographic factors, in particular, age, gender and level of education of Ukrainian refugees is shown. Two types of adult adaptation problems are identified: socio-economic (housing, work, finances, language, culture) and socio-psychological (negative emotions, experiences, conflicts, etc.), as well as three groups of problems related to children: their adaptation to the culture and education system of Switzerland; children’s mental health; communication and relationships with peers and parents. It is shown that, according to the set of statistically significant differences obtained, the gender factor is most closely related to the problems of adaptation of the respondents themselves, the age factor is the least influential, the age of parents is most closely related to the problems of adaptation of their children, and the least influential is the factor of their education. Conclusions. The target group of prevention and social and psychological support programs should be primarily women with higher education aged 36–45 who came to Switzerland with minor children, without knowledge of the official languages of Switzerland, who are experiencing employment problems and significant mental suffering related to the migration situation. The findings will be useful for organizations and professionals who provide assistance to Ukrainian refugees.
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2. Andrews J., Isański J., Nowak M., Sereda V., Vacroux A., Vakhitova H. Feminized forced migration: Ukrainian war refugees. Women’s Studies International Forum, 2023. Vol. 99. DOI: 10.1016/j.wsif.2023.102756.
3. Bouchard J.-P., Stiegler N., Padmanabhanunni A., Pretorius T.B. Psychotraumatology of the war in Ukraine: The question of the psychological care of victims who are refugees or who remain in Ukraine. Annales Médico Psychologiques, 2023. Vol. 181 (1). P. 8–11. DOI: 10.1016/j.amp.2022.04.005.
4. Bello B.G. A look at the “refugee crisis” across Europe: challenges, debates and projects. Partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth. 2016. URL: https://pjp-eu.coe.int/documents/42128013/47262325/Analytical+paper_Refugees_7sept.pdf/29daca6f-9d5a-4836-a259-7f2629289f1f (дата звернення: 01.08.2023).
5. Briskman L., Cemlyn S. Reclaiming humanity for asylum-seekers: A social work response. International Social Work, 2005. Vol. 48 (6). P. 714–724. DOI: 10.1177/0020872805056989.
6. Daure I. Psychologie et migration: Quel accompagnement pour les migrants et leur famille? Le Journal des Psychologues, 2020. Vol. 3 (375). P. 14. DOI: 10.3917/jdp.375.0014.
7. Cohen S., Kessler R.C., Gordon L.U. Strategies for measuring stress in studies of psychiatric and physical disorders. Measuring stress: A guide for health and social scientists / ed. by S. Cohen, R.C. Kessler, L.U. Gordon. New York. NY : Oxford University Press, 1995. P. 3–26. URL: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/psychology/stress-immunity-disease-lab/publications/scalesmeasurements/pdfs/cohen,-s-et-al-1995.pdf (дата звернення: 01.08.2023).
8. Esses V.M., Hamilton L.K., Gaucher D. The global refugee crisis: Empirical evidence and policy implications for improving public attitudes and facilitating refugee resettlement. Social Issues and Policy Review, 2017. Vol. 11 (1). P. 78–123. DOI: 10.1111/sipr.12028.
9. Fanfan D., Stacciarini J.-M.R. Social-ecological correlates of acculturative stress among Latina/o and Black Caribbean immigrants in the United States: A scoping review. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 2020. Vol. 79. P. 211–226. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2020.09.004.
10. Freedman J. Conflicts, “crisis,” and female refugees in Europe. Confluences Méditerranée, 2017. Vol. 103 (4). P. 31–39. DOI: 10.3917/come.103.0031.
11. Guichard L., Machado J., Maystadt J.F. The location of asylum seekers in Europe before and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. CESifo Forum. 2022. Vol. 23 (4). P. 21‒27. URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/CESifo-Forum-2022-4-guichard-machado-maystadt-ukrainian-refugee-crisis-july.pdf (дата звернення: 01.08.2023).
12. Ghumman U., McCord C E., Chang J.E. Posttraumatic stress disorder in Syrian refugees: A review. Canadian Psychology, 2016. Vol. 57 (4). P. 246–253. DOI: 10.1037/cap0000069.
13. Gonçalves J., de Amorim L.M., Neto M.L.R., Uchida R.R., de Moura A.T.M.S., Lima N.N.R. The impact of “the war that drags on” in Ukraine for the health of children and adolescents: Old problems in a new conflict? Child Abuse & Neglect, 2022. Vol. 128. DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105602.
14. Fang Y., Raat H., Windhorst D.A., Fierloos I.N., Jonkman H., Hosman C.M.H., Crone M.R., Jansen W., van Grieken A. The Association between Stressful Life Events and Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Children 0–7 Years Old: The CIKEO Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022. Vol. 19 (3). DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031650.
15. Henkelmann J.R., de Best S., Deckers C., Jensen K., Shahab M., Elzinga B., Molendijk M. Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in refugees resettling in high-income countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis. BJPsych Open, 2020. Vol. 6 (4). DOI: 10.1192/bjo.2020.54.
16. Herasymenko H.V., Pozniak O.V. Gender aspects of labor migration of the population of Ukraine. Demography and Social Economy, 2006. № 1. P. 46–54. URL: http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/11655 (дата звернення: 01.08.2023).
17. Hollows A. Working with Asylum Seekers and Refugees: What to Do, What Not to Do and How to Help Sarah Crowther. The British Journal of Social Work, 2021. Vol. 51 (7). P. 2861–2862. DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcaa048.
18. Hou W.K., Liu H., Liang L., Ho J., Kim H., Seong E., Bonanno G.A., Hobfoll S.E., Hall B.J. Everyday life experiences and mental health among conflict-affected forced migrants: A meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2020. Vol. 264. P. 50–68. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.165.
19. Hudson V. Europe’s man problems: Migrants skew heavily male – and that’s dangerous. Politico Magazine, 2016, January 05. URL: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/europe-refugees-migrant-crisis-men-213500 (дата звернення: 01.08.2023).
20. Kolly-Shamne A.V. Socio-psychological online survey of Ukrainian forced migrants in the first months of the war in 2022: General characteristics of the study and methodological aspects of data collection on Facebook. Scientific Bulletin of Mukachevo State University. Series “Pedagogy and Psychology”. 2022. Vol. 8 (3). P. 53–66. URL: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7e2e/65a346ae59322ada9e3416074f8c3f19a4d4.pdf. DOI: 10.52534/msu-pp.8(3).2022. 53-66 (дата звернення: 01.08.2023).
21. Lenferink L.I.M., Liddell B.J., Byrow Yu., O’Donnell M., Bryant R.A., Mau V., McMahon T., Benson G., Nickerson A. Course and predictors of posttraumatic stress and depression longitudinal symptom profiles in refugees: A latent transition model. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2022. Vol. 146. P. 1–10. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.12.009.
22. Mak J., Zimmerman C., Roberts B. Coping with migration-related stressors – a qualitative study of Nepali male labour migrants. BMC Public Health, 2021. Vol. 21 (1). DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-11192-y.
23. Mackenzie Davey K., Jones C. Refugees’ narratives of career barriers and professional identity. Career Development International, 2020. Vol. 25 (1). P. 49–66. DOI: 10.1108/CDI-12-2018-0315.
24. Nyabvudzi T.G., Chinyamurindi W.T. Career development barriers in the post-settlement phase amongst women refugees: Implications for human capital development. Gender Questions, 2020. Vol. 8 (1). DOI: 10.25159/2412-8457/6413.
25. Popham C.M., McEwen F.S., Karam E., Fayyad J., Karam G., Saab D., Moghames P., Pluess M. The dynamic nature of refugee children’s resilience: a cohort study of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. 2022. Vol. 31, June 15. DOI: 10.1017/S2045796022000191.
26. Safak-Ayvazoglu A., Kunuroglu F., Yagmur K. Psychological and socio-cultural adaptation of Syrian refugees in Turkey. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 2021. Vol. 80. P. 99–111. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2020.11.003.
27. Scherer N., Hameed S., Acarturk C., Deniz G., Sheikhani A., Volkan S., Örücü A., Pivato I., Akıncı İ., Patterson A., Polack S. Prevalence of common mental disorders among Syrian refugee children and adolescents in Sultanbeyli district, Istanbul: Results of a population-based survey. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. 2020. Vol. 29, December 10. DOI: 10.1017/S2045796020001079.
28. Schiess-Jokanovic J., Knefel M., Kantor V., Weindl D., Schäfer I., Lueger-Schuster B. The boundaries between complex posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters and post-migration living difficulties in traumatised Afghan refugees: A network analysis. Conflict and Health. 2022. Vol. 16 (1). DOI: 10.1186/s13031-022-00455-z.
29. Spaas C., Verelst A., Devlieger I., Aalto S., Andersen A.J., Durbeej N., Hilden P.K., Kankaanpää R., Primdahl N.L., Opaas M., Osman F., Peltonen K., Sarkadi A., Skovdal M., Jervelund S.S., Soye E., Watters C., Derluyn I., Colpin H., De Haene, L. Mental health of refugee and non-refugee migrant young people in European secondary education: The role of family separation, daily material stress and perceived discrimination in resettlement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 2022. Vol. 51. P. 848–870. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-021-01515-y.
30. Verelst A., Spaas C., Pfeiffer E., Devlieger I., Kankaapää R., Peltonen K., Vänskä M., Soye E., Watters C., Osman F., Durbeej N., Sarkadi A., Andersen A., Primdahl N.L., Derluyn I. Social determinants of the mental health of young migrants. European Journal of Health Psychology. 2022. Vol. 29 (1). P. 61–73. DOI: 10.1027/2512-8442/a000097.
31. Wypych M., Bilewicz M. Psychological toll of hate speech: The role of acculturation stress in the effects of exposure to ethnic slurs on mental health among Ukrainian immigrants in Poland. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. 2022. January 31. DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000522.
Published
2023-11-02
Pages
42-54
Section
SECTION 3 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY; PSYCHOLOGY OF SOCIAL WORK
