Narratives of the Past and Present: Young Refugees' Construction of a Family Identity in Exile

Abstract

Little attention has been given to the ‘refugee experience’ of children who follow their parents in escaping violence. This study examines how the experiences of violence become important events in the lives of a group of young refugees who were born in the Middle East, but escaped with their parents to Denmark ten years ago. On the basis of a narrative analysis the study shows that the adolescents' experience of being a refugee is greatly influenced by the stories of the past narrated about the family, and the internal relations and conflicts within the families. Adolescent refugees who have grown up with violence in their family relations experience greater difficulties in creating new homes in exile than adolescents whose memories of violence are connected with a narrative of the historical persecution and suffering of their family and people.