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

重新安置到美国的难民可以立即获得美国的社会服务，而大多数移民则没有。当难民抵达时，他们首先从安置机构获得特定的服务，然后迅速过渡到一般福利计划。诸如食品券（补充营养援助计划或SNAP）和医疗补助等福利填补了重新安置援助或最终就业入门级工作所不涵盖的关键空白。制度因素在移民融入方面很重要，但我们对难民具体和一般援助计划如何区分抵达难民的经历知之甚少。难民与社会服务的关系进一步受到他们重新安置的城市和州的影响。联邦一级的决定将难民分散到社会政策和政治气候各不相同的地方。虽然难民、服务提供者和社区在地方一级感受到了这些决定的后果，但我们对美国大约350个接收难民的目的地的难民融入情况知之甚少。本研究考察了在一个有移民历史的多元化城市和一个不被认为是传统移民目的地的城市的重新安置，以了解社会服务在难民生活中的作用。调查结果将有助于讨论如何最好地支持美国各地的难民，并最有效地利用社会服务。该项目采用参与式观察和半结构化访谈的方法，研究在难民融入不同的重新安置环境时，接受社会服务在难民生活中的作用。在这两个城市进行的访谈侧重于从四个主要受访者分组的角度来看的重新安置问题。该项目共将进行135次访谈，以收集关于重新安置的各种观点，访谈对象包括：（1）来自几个原籍国的60名难民;（2）来自当地机构的40名代表（安置机构、社会服务提供者、地方政府和学校）;（3）20名未正式受雇从事难民工作的社区成员;和4）与国家决策者的15次访谈。访谈将展示难民如何与社区机构互动，当地社区如何应对难民，以及重新安置机构的围墙之外的重新安置如何演变。观察和访谈数据将使用EQUAS. ti进行分析和编码。该项目将告知社会学理论的社会服务使用，新移民的目的地，和难民安置在美国这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

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.