Jungle Tracks: Unleashing the power of stories to heal from refugee trauma

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-124
Author(s):  
Pearl Fernandes ◽  
Yvette Aiello ◽  
Emma Pittaway
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Affect Regulation ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Grief And Loss ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Therapeutic Engagement ◽  
Post Traumatic Growth ◽  
Initial Resistance

AbstractChildren and young people from refugee backgrounds witness and experience multiple traumatic incidents in the context of their refugee journeys that often remain unspoken because of the inherent challenge to think and talk about these experiences. In addition, they encounter ongoing trials when transitioning to their new homes which place them at risk. Jungle Tracks was developed in 2002 to facilitate therapeutic engagement with refugee children and young people in schools, within a preventative framework. It is a collection of five short stories that have been composed to mirror multiple traumas and cumulative struggles including grief and loss, displacement, discrimination, disempowerment, difficulties with sleep and affect regulation. Whilst communicating in a non-threatening manner, the stories encourage the reader/listener to connect and make meaning of their traumas by identifying with the protagonists in the stories. Jungle Tracks not only bypasses initial resistance but also leverages the power of stories to instil hope and unleash innate healing forces. This paper aims to provide an overview of the Jungle Tracks programme and the results of an initial evaluation of the implementation of Jungle Tracks. This was initiated to provide direction for future research and development of the programme. It was concluded that when children and young people are given the opportunity to process and make meaning of their past traumatic experiences, it can assist them to heal and recover and also offer them the potential for post traumatic growth.

scholarly journals Analysis and critique of ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: A green paper’: Some implications for refugee children and young people

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-350
Author(s):  
Pat Cox ◽  
Jane March McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Green Paper ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Health And Well Being

Adopting a children’s rights perspective, a critique and analysis underpinned by documentary research methodology was undertaken in order to assess the extent to which the government’s Green Paper (Department of Health and Social Care and Department of Education, 2017. Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paper (accessed 7 December 2017)) addresses the mental health and well-being needs of refugee children and young people in England and Wales, identifying strengths, limitations and challenges for future policy and practice. Findings suggest that there is much of potential benefit to refugee children and young people’s future mental health and well-being. However, a paradigm shift, explicit in implications, scale and time frame, will be required, if the Green Paper is to achieve those changes in attitudes, practice and service delivery which it anticipates. We argue that this Green Paper’s overarching challenge is that it is premised on Western-centric models in its understanding of the experiences of refugee children and young people, and management of trauma and mental health. It fails to recognize the meanings and significance of culture, and of diversity and difference, and the need to invest in all communities in facilitating engagement and support for children and young people’s mental health issues.

Practitioner competencies for working with refugee children and young people: A scoping review

2021 ◽  
pp. 136346152110437
Author(s):  
Clemence Due ◽  
Emma Currie
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Asylum Seeker ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Ability To Work ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Holistic Approaches ◽  
Key Competencies ◽  
Work Done

Research indicates that refugee and asylum seeker children and young people often require specialised psychological support. Competencies have been established as helpful in guiding the training, education and ongoing professional development of practitioners working in specialised areas. To date there has been no comprehensive review of the literature concerning practitioner competencies for working with refugee or asylum seeker children and young people. This scoping review therefore aimed to synthesise all literature regarding practitioner competencies that are considered important for working in the area of mental health with refugee and asylum seeker children and young people. Literature was sourced from PsycINFO, Scopus, and PubMed. Studies were included if they: a) were published in peer-reviewed journals, b) were published in English, c) were published in the last 25 years, d) collected primary data, e) related to children and/or young people (defined as aged under 25) with refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds, and f) discussed practitioner competencies (in relation to refugee or asylum seeker children or young people). Nine articles met criteria and a deductive thematic analysis identified six key competencies: 1) knowledge of the complexity of needs of refugees; 2) use of holistic approaches; 3) ability to work in co-ordination with others in the child's network; 4) ability to build therapeutic relationships; 5) seeking feedback; and 6) cultural competency. Further empirical research that directly aims to identify practitioner competencies, from both the practitioner and client perspective, will support the challenging work done by practitioners working with refugee and asylum seeker children and young people.

scholarly journals Non-Formal Education of Children and Young People by Physical Activity

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alma Paškevičė ◽  
Jūratė Požėrienė
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Young People ◽  
Informal Education ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
The Body ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
Refugee Children ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
External Motivation

Research background. Physical activity is considered to be one of the most important opportunities for the realization of non-formal education, considering the groups of the most vulnerable persons, i.e. refugee children and young people. Physical activity and sport shape the development of human mobility and at the same time develop and strengthen all systems of the body. So the question arises, how does the development of personality occurs in the process of non-formal education? How is physical activity recognized through internal and external training / motivation factors? The above-mentioned aspects form the basis for the scientific problem of this study. The article analyses the contextualization of non-formal education development, deepens the basis of internal and external motivation in order to reveal informal education of refugee children and youth through physical activity.The aim was to analyse the non-formal education of refugee children and youth through physical activity.Method. The method of scientific literature analysis was used in the study.Results and conclusions. When analysing the development of personality in the process of non-formal education, the conclusion is that non-formal education has its own origins and history, in which a flexible curriculum is suitable and freely available to such a target group as refugees. There is also a factor of internal and external motivation in the educational process, which could address the shortcomings of teaching / learning motivation, the difficulties of social adaptation, which is important in the analysis of non-formal education of refugees.Keywords: non-formal education, refugees, physical activity, children and youth. 

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