Doctoral Dissertation Research: Fostering Belonging and Assimilation Among recently Arrived Refugees

如何支持被收养国的难民同化是一个全球性的挑战。尤其是美国，是来自世界各地的大量难民和移民的第二故乡。这个博士论文项目考察了来自战乱地区的难民是如何到达、同化和贡献美国社会的，并发展了对难民同化的理解，这一理解可推广到其他难民目的地环境。这项研究扩大了对难民为建立对收容社会的归属感和信任而制定的战略、重新安置进程对难民融入和同化的影响以及难民在影响其本国社会的政治变化与和平方面的跨国影响的了解。研究结果为国际社会、联合国、其他国际组织和美国政策制定者提供了便利难民重新安置以及移民和同化进程的信息。该论文研究项目对研究生进行了科学数据收集和分析方法的培训，并培养了来自服务不足背景的研究人员未来进行科学研究的能力。为了研究伴随着难民重新安置的人口和社会转型，并衡量影响社区参与和融入收容社会的社会和经济因素，研究人员采用了半结构化访谈、参与者观察和在线民族志等定性研究方法。这项研究的发现有助于关于跨民族主义、移民人类学和难民研究的辩论。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The challenge of how to support refugee assimilation in their adopted countries is a global one. The United States, in particular, is the adopted home of a large number of refugees and immigrants from all over the world. This doctoral dissertation project examines how refugees from war-torn regions arrive, assimilate, and contribute to U.S. society and develops an understanding of refugee assimilation that is generalizable to other refugee destination contexts. The research broadens an understanding of strategies refugees develop to create a sense of belonging and trust in host societies, the impact of the resettlement process on refugee integration and assimilation, and the transnational impact of refugees in influencing political change and peace in their home societies. Research findings inform the international community, the United Nations, other international organizations, and U.S. policy makers to facilitate refugee resettlement and the immigration and assimilation process. The dissertation research project trains a graduate student in methods of scientific data collection and analysis and builds capacity for future scientific research of a researcher from an underserved background. To study the demographic and social transitions that accompany refugee resettlement and to measure the social and economic factors that impact community participation and assimilation into host societies, the researchers engage qualitative research methods of semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and online ethnography. Findings from this research contribute to debates on transnationalism, the anthropology of migration, and refugee studies.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.