How American Attitudes about Race, Ethnicity, and Gender affect the Health and Wellbeing of Black-African Refugee Men in the United States A Qualitative Study
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Abstract
More than half of all refugees currently resettled in the United States are racial-ethnic-minority men. Yet
refugee health scholarship has not fully explored racial ethnic minority refugee men's encounters with resettlement environment norms about race, ethnicity and gender. This paper describes an intersectional-informed qualitative study of the daily stressors experienced by Black-African refugee men in the United States to explain how such experiences impact their health and wellbeing. These men’s life narratives illumi-nate how stigma and discrimination associated with race, ethnicity, gender affect their health and wellbeing during resettlement. These findings offer evidence that the realities of ethnic minority refugee men in the United States, while unique, can contribute to broader discourses about minority men’s health inequities.
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Jeremiah, R., Raygoza, A., Hernandez, X., & Brandon, C. (2021). How American Attitudes about Race, Ethnicity, and Gender affect the Health and Wellbeing of Black-African Refugee Men in the United States : A Qualitative Study. International Journal of Mens Social and Community Health, 4(1), e83-e91. https://doi.org/10.22374/ijmsch.v4i1.39
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References
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41. Robinson OC. Sampling in interview-based qualitative research: A theoretical and practical guide. Qual Res Psychol. 2014;11(1):25–41.
42. Bute JJ, Jensen RE. Narrative sensemaking and time lapse: Interviews with low-income women about sex education. Communicat Monographs. 2011;78(2):212–232.
43. Cannell CF, Miller PV, Oksenberg L. Research on interviewing techniques. Sociol Methodol 1981;12:389–437.
44. Roos G, Prättälä R, Koski K. Men, masculinity, and food: Interviews with Finnish carpenters and engineers. Appetite 2001;37(1):47–56.
45. Ager, A. Perspectives on the refugee experience. In: Ager A, ed. Refugees: Perspectives on the Experience of Forced Migration: London: Pinter Publications Limited; 1999:1–23.
46. Bailey PH, Tilley S. Storytelling and the interpretation of meaning in qualitative research. J Adv Nurs 2002;38(6):574–583.
47. Hitlin S, Johnson MK. Reconceptualizing agency within the life course: The power of looking ahead. Am J Soc 2015;120(5):1429–1472.
48. Lincoln YS, Denzin NK. Turning Points in Qualitative Research: Tying Knots in a Handkerchief. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press; 2003.
49. Salmona, Michelle, Eli Lieber, and Dan Kaczynski. Qualitative and mixed methods data analysis using Dedoose: A practical approach for research across the social sciences. Sage Publications, 2019.
50. McLellan, Eleanor, Kathleen M. MacQueen, and Judith L. Neidig. Beyond the qualitative interview: Data preparation and transcription. Field Methods 2003;15.1:63-84.
51. Leech, Nancy L., and Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie. An array of qualitative data analysis tools: A call for data analysis triangulation. School Psychol Quarter 2007;22.4: 557.
52. Williams, Michael, and Tami Moser. The art of coding and thematic exploration in qualitative research. Internat Management Rev 2019;15.1:45-55.
53. Lemon, Laura L., and Jameson Hayes. Enhancing trustworthiness of qualitative findings: Using Leximancer for qualitative data analysis triangulation. Qualitat Rep 2020;25.3:604–14.
54. Stuber, Jennifer, Ilan Meyer, and Bruce Link. Stigma, prejudice, discrimination and health. Soc Sci Med 1982;67.3:351.
55. Nghe, Linh T, James R. Mahalik, and Susana M. Lowe. Influences on Vietnamese men: Examining traditional gender roles, the refugee experience, acculturation, and racism in the United States. J Multicultural Counseling Dev 2003;31.4: 245–61.
56. Yigit, Ismail Hakki, and Andrew Tatch. Syrian refugees and Americans: Perceptions, attitudes and insights. Am J Qualitat Rese 2017; 1.1: 13–31.
2. Miller KE, Omidian P, Rasmussen A, Yaqubi A, Daudzai H. Daily stressors, war experiences, and mental health in Afghanistan. Transcult Psychiatry. 2008;45(4):611–638.
3. Riley A, Varner A, Ventevogel P, Taimur Hasan MM, Welton-Mitchell C. Daily stressors, trauma exposure, and mental health among stateless Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Transcult Psychiatry. 2017;54(3):304-331. doi:10.1177/1363461517705571
4. Galderisi S, Heinz A, Kastrup M, Beezhold J, Sartorius N. Toward a new definition of mental health. World Psychiatry. 2015;14(2):231-233. doi:10.1002/wps.20231
5. Meekosha H. What the Hell are You? An Intercategorical Analysis of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Disability in the Australian Body Politic. Scand J Disabil Res. 2006;8(2-3):161-176. doi:10.1080/15017410600831309
6. Nghe LT, Mahalik JR, Lowe SM. Influences on Vietnamese Men: Examining Traditional Gender Roles, the Refugee Experience, Acculturation, and Racism in the United States. J Multicult Couns Devel. 2003;31(4):245-261. doi:10.1002/j.2161-1912.2003.tb00353.x
7. Seglem KB, Oppedal B, Roysamb E. Daily hassles and coping dispositions as predictors of psychological adjustment. Int J Behav Dev. 2014;38(3):293-303. doi:10.1177/0165025414520807
8. Krogstad JM, Radford J. Key facts about refugees to the U.S. Pew Research Center. 2017:30.
9. Crosby D, Brazelton SR. The disadvantages of African American and Somali men in the US criminal justice system. Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men. 2017;6(1):99–120.
10. Anderson M. A rising share of the US Black population is foreign-born. Pew Research Center Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping the World. 2015;(9):1–31.
11. Crenshaw K. Intersectionality and identity politics: Learning from violence against women of color. Feminist Theory: A Reader. 1995:533–542.
12. Collins PH. Gender, black feminism, and black political economy. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 2000;568(1):41–53.
13. hooks b. Marginality as a site of resistance. Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures. 1990;4:341–343.
14. Collins PH, Bilge S. Intersectionality. New York: Wiley; 2016.
15. Hankivsky O, Christoffersen A. Intersectionality and the determinants of health: A Canadian perspective. Crit Public Health. 2008;18(3):271–283.
16. Marmot M, Allen JJ. Social determinants of health equity. Am J Public Health. 2014;104(suppl 4): S517–S519.
17. Griffith DM. Centering the margins: Moving equity to the center of men’s health research. Am J Men’s Health. 2018;12(5):1317–1327.
18. Griffith DM, Bruce MA, Thorpe RJ Jr, eds. Men’s Health Equity: A Handbook. New York: Routledge; 2019.
19. Griffith DM, Ellis KR, Allen JO. An intersectional approach to social determinants of stress for African American men: Men’s and women’s perspectives. Am J Men’s Health. 2013;7(suppl 4):19S–30S.
20. Robertson S. Understanding Men and Health: Masculinities, Identity and Well-Being. New York: McGraw-Hill Education; 2007.
21. Steel Z, Silove D, Brook R, Momartin S, Alzuhair B, Susljik I. Impact of immigration detention and temporary protection on the mental health of refugees. Br J Psychiatry. 2006;188(1):58–64.
22. Terheggen MA, Stroebe MS, Kleber RJ. Western conceptualizations and Eastern experience: A cross-cultural study of traumatic stress reactions among Tibetan refugees in India. J Trauma Stress. 2001;14(2):391–403.
23. Fawzi, MCS, Pham T, Lin L, Nguyen TV, Ngo D, Murphy E, Mollica RF. The validity of posttraumatic stress disorder among Vietnamese refugees. J Trauma Stress. 1997;10(1):101–108.
24. Carlson EB, Rosser-Hogan R. Trauma experiences, posttraumatic stress, dissociation, and depression in Cambodian refugees. Am J Psychiatry. 1991;148(1):1548–1551.
25. Westermeyer J, Bouafuely M, Neider J, Callies A. Somatization among refugees: An epidemiological study. Psychosomatics. 1989;30(1):34–43.
26. Riley A, Varner A, Ventevogel P, Taimur Hasan MM, Welton-Mitchell C. Daily stressors, trauma exposure, and mental health among stateless Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Transcult Psychiatry. 2017;54(3):304–331.
27. Gorst-Unsworth C, Goldenberg E. Psychological sequelae of torture and organised violence suffered by refugees from Iraq: Trauma-related factors compared with social factors in exile. Br J Psychiatry. 1998;172(1):90–94.
28. Glaser BG, Strauss AL. Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. New York: Routledge; 2017.
29. Silverman, D. Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook. Los Angeles: Sage Publications; 2013.
30. Patton, MQ. Qualitative Research. Wiley Online Library; 2005.
31. Munley, Patrick H. Erikson's theory of psychosocial development and career development." Journal of Vocational Behavior 1977;10(3):261-69.
32. Akram, Susan M. The aftermath of September 11, 2001: The targeting of Arabs and Muslims in America. Arab Studies Quarter 2002:61-118.
33. Livengood, Jennifer S., and Monika Stodolska. The effects of discrimination and constraints negotiation on leisure behavior of American Muslims in the post-September 11 America. J Leisure Res 2004; 36.2:183-208.
34. Abu-Ras, W. Abu-Bader. The impact of the September 11. 2001 attacks on the well-being of Arab Americans in New York city. J Muslim Mental Health 2008;3:217-239.
35. Leonard, Karen. American Muslims, before and after September 11, 2001. Economic and Political Weekly (2002):2293-2302.
36. Suri, H. Purposeful sampling in qualitative research synthesis. Qualitative Research Journal. 2011;11(2):63–75.
37. Boddy CR. Sample size for qualitative research. Qualitative Market Research. 2016; 19(4):426–432.
38. Morse JM. Strategies for sampling. In: Morse JM, ed. Qualitative Nursing Research: A Contemporary Dialogue. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1991.
39. Trotter RT II. Qualitative research sample design and sample size: Resolving and unresolved issues and inferential imperatives. Prev Med. 2011;55(5):398–400.
40. Goodkind JR, Hess JM, Isakson B, LaNoue M, Githinji A, Roche N, Vadnais K, Parker DP. Reducing refugee mental health disparities: A community-based intervention to address postmigration stressors with African adults. Psychol Serv. 2014;11(3):333–346.
41. Robinson OC. Sampling in interview-based qualitative research: A theoretical and practical guide. Qual Res Psychol. 2014;11(1):25–41.
42. Bute JJ, Jensen RE. Narrative sensemaking and time lapse: Interviews with low-income women about sex education. Communicat Monographs. 2011;78(2):212–232.
43. Cannell CF, Miller PV, Oksenberg L. Research on interviewing techniques. Sociol Methodol 1981;12:389–437.
44. Roos G, Prättälä R, Koski K. Men, masculinity, and food: Interviews with Finnish carpenters and engineers. Appetite 2001;37(1):47–56.
45. Ager, A. Perspectives on the refugee experience. In: Ager A, ed. Refugees: Perspectives on the Experience of Forced Migration: London: Pinter Publications Limited; 1999:1–23.
46. Bailey PH, Tilley S. Storytelling and the interpretation of meaning in qualitative research. J Adv Nurs 2002;38(6):574–583.
47. Hitlin S, Johnson MK. Reconceptualizing agency within the life course: The power of looking ahead. Am J Soc 2015;120(5):1429–1472.
48. Lincoln YS, Denzin NK. Turning Points in Qualitative Research: Tying Knots in a Handkerchief. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press; 2003.
49. Salmona, Michelle, Eli Lieber, and Dan Kaczynski. Qualitative and mixed methods data analysis using Dedoose: A practical approach for research across the social sciences. Sage Publications, 2019.
50. McLellan, Eleanor, Kathleen M. MacQueen, and Judith L. Neidig. Beyond the qualitative interview: Data preparation and transcription. Field Methods 2003;15.1:63-84.
51. Leech, Nancy L., and Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie. An array of qualitative data analysis tools: A call for data analysis triangulation. School Psychol Quarter 2007;22.4: 557.
52. Williams, Michael, and Tami Moser. The art of coding and thematic exploration in qualitative research. Internat Management Rev 2019;15.1:45-55.
53. Lemon, Laura L., and Jameson Hayes. Enhancing trustworthiness of qualitative findings: Using Leximancer for qualitative data analysis triangulation. Qualitat Rep 2020;25.3:604–14.
54. Stuber, Jennifer, Ilan Meyer, and Bruce Link. Stigma, prejudice, discrimination and health. Soc Sci Med 1982;67.3:351.
55. Nghe, Linh T, James R. Mahalik, and Susana M. Lowe. Influences on Vietnamese men: Examining traditional gender roles, the refugee experience, acculturation, and racism in the United States. J Multicultural Counseling Dev 2003;31.4: 245–61.
56. Yigit, Ismail Hakki, and Andrew Tatch. Syrian refugees and Americans: Perceptions, attitudes and insights. Am J Qualitat Rese 2017; 1.1: 13–31.