Doctoral Dissertation Research: Refugee Incorporation and Social Services in the United States

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Refugees resettled to the U.S. benefit from immediate access to U.S. social services in ways that most immigrants do not. When refugees arrive, they initially receive refugee-specific services from their resettlement agency and then quickly transition to general welfare programs. Benefits such as food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) and Medicaid fill in the critical gaps not covered by resettlement assistance or eventual employment in entry-level jobs. Institutional factors matter in immigrant incorporation, yet we know little about how refugee-specific and general assistance programs differentiate the experience of arriving refugees. Refugee relationships to social services is further shaped by the city and state in which they are resettled. Decisions at the federal level disperse refugees to places that vary in their social policies and political climate. While the consequences of these decisions are felt at the local level by refugees, service providers, and communities, we know little about how refugee incorporation plays out in the approximately 350 destinations throughout the U.S. that receive refugees. This research examines resettlement in a diverse city with a history of immigration and a city that is not considered a traditional immigrant destination in order to understand the role of social services in refugee lives. Findings will contribute to discussion of how best to support refugees in localities across the U.S. and make the most efficient use of social services. This project uses participant observation and semi-structured interviews to examine the role of social service receipt in refugee lives as they incorporate into different resettlement contexts. Interviews in both cities focus on resettlement from the points of view of four key respondent subgroups. The project will conduct a total of 135 interviews to capture a multitude of perspectives on resettlement, including with: 1) 60 refugees from several countries of origin; 2) 40 representatives from local institutions (resettlement agencies, social service providers, local government, and schools); 3) 20 community members not formally employed to work with refugees; and 4) 15 interviews with national policymakers. Interviews will show how refugees interact with community institutions, how local communities respond to refugees, and how resettlement evolves beyond the walls of the resettlement agency. Observational and interview data will be analyzed and coded using Atlas.ti. This project will inform sociological theories on social service usage, new immigrant destinations, and refugee resettlement in the U.S.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.