Karen Youth Research Articles

Poetic resistance: Karen long-distance nationalism, rap music, and YouTube

This article investigates a concern among encamped elder Karen refugees (an ethnic minority from Myanmar) living along the Thai–Myanmar border that the youth are disconnected politically and culturally. I argue that Karen youth are creative, active participants reimagining and revitalising Karen politics and culture in their image. I explore how displaced youths have found a voice in Karen rap and how they express this voice in the digitally mediated lived space of YouTube. I consider YouTube as a lived space where citizenship is reimagined and long-distance nationalism is articulated. Finally, I contend that YouTube is transforming Karen youths’ political experiences and mobility and that they are actively political – just not in the way the elders expect.

The Americanization of Karen Refugee Youth: Exploring Attitudes Toward and Use of Methamphetamine.

Drug use among refugee populations is a concerning trend in many urban American cities. For instance, Omaha, Nebraska is home to an estimated 7,000 refugees from Myanmar, with at least 75% of those being Karen refugees. The purpose of this paper is to explore methamphetamine use among Karen adolescents in Omaha and to examine whether Karen youth bring their drug use habits with them from refugee camps or if they learn about drugs from their American peers. Two focus groups of Karen youth and two focus groups of Karen parents were conducted to examine methamphetamine use among this population. Findings suggest, like most youth, the Karen children were reluctant to disclose their own use of drugs, but they did see the use of methamphetamine and other drugs in their schools. It appears drug use among the Karen youth is acquired during the "Americanization" of these children in Omaha schools.

The Americanization of Karen Refugee Youth: Exploring Attitudes Toward and Use of Methamphetamine

Drug use among refugee populations is a concerning trend in many urban American cities. For instance, Omaha, Nebraska is home to an estimated 7,000 refugees from Myanmar, with at least 75% of those being Karen refugees. The purpose of this paper is to explore methamphetamine use among Karen adolescents in Omaha and to examine whether Karen youth bring their drug use habits with them from refugee camps or if they learn about drugs from their American peers. Two focus groups of Karen youth and two focus groups of Karen parents were conducted to examine methamphetamine use among this population. Findings suggest, like most youth, the Karen children were reluctant to disclose their own use of drugs, but they did see the use of methamphetamine and other drugs in their schools. It appears drug use among the Karen youth is acquired during the Americanization of these children in Omaha schools.

Health behaviors and goal setting among Karen youth

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe and compare the health behaviors of Karen youth with that of the other subpopulation seen at a Minnesota clinic. Design/methodology/approach Demographic information and data on health status, recommended health behaviors and goal-setting patterns were collected via a review of the medical records of patients seen at a family medicine residency clinic in St Paul, Minnesota during a one-year period (July 2015–June 2016). Data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Data on Karen patients were compared with data on other populations. Findings The study included 765 youths aged 3–17 years. The Karen youth in the study engaged in recommended health behaviors more frequently than their peers on almost every measure. There were statistically significant differences in the amount of sleep, intake of fruits and vegetables, screen time, number of active days per week and consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks between the Karen and their peers overall. Karen youth also reported consuming fewer sweets and fried or processed food than their peers, and they had lower BMI percentiles than other youth. Research limitations/implications The study relied on participant self-report, which is subject to potential inaccuracies in recall and reporting. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study detailing health behaviors of Karen youth in the USA. The findings suggest a window of opportunity to support and empower Karen families to maintain healthy habits in order to prevent the development of chronic disease in this community.

Reading the Ink Around Us: How Karen Refugee Youth Use Tattoos as an Alternative Literacy Practice

ABSTRACTThis work uses the lens of new literacy studies to examine the narratives told through the tattoos of Karen youth refugees living in the United States. This insight into a single ethnic group, currently under-represented in the literature, seeks to broaden teacher perspectives on what “counts” as literacy. This work is based on a series of interviews with Karen refugees and takes a sociocultural perspective on the ways living in a divided cultural and linguistic space shapes Karen youth’s literacy practices and is shaped by their out-of-school lives. Findings are explored in two thematic groups related to Karen youth tattooing: tattoos as expressions of solidarity and tattoos that signify remembering. Implications and discussion sections include ways that teachers may specifically begin to consider and utilize student tattoos and other alternative literacies in the classroom.

Karen Youth Transitions: Traditional Dance as a Vehicle for Identity Construction and Social Engagement

Abstract Date Presented 4/19/2018 This study of Karen youth from Burma who participated in traditional dance in the United States demonstrates the role occupational therapy practitioners can play in supporting identity construction through facilitation of culturally important occupations that enhance a sense of belonging and purpose. Primary Author and Speaker: Yda Smith Contributing Authors: Ellen Bromberg

A Pilot Study of a Teen Dating Violence Prevention Program With Karen Refugees.

While teen dating violence (TDV) prevention programs generally report changes in participants' attitudes and mixed findings about changes in behavior, little is known about the impact of TDV programs on ethnic minority youth. This study examined the effectiveness of Safe Dates, an evidence-based TDV prevention program, in educating 21 resettled Karen refugee youth from Burma. Findings indicated changes in attitudes toward violence occurred from pretest to follow-up. Years living in the United States was significantly related to pretest and posttest attitudes. More research about TDV is needed among Karen youth with attention given to the role of acculturation on TDV attitudes.

Traditional Dance as a Vehicle for Identity Construction and Social Engagement after Forced Migration

The Karen are the largest non-Burman ethnic group in Burma. After decades of violence in their homeland, hundreds of thousands have fled into refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. Over 73,000 Karen have been resettled in the United States. Karen youth in urban areas of the United States have been participating in traditional Karen dance, practicing and performing regularly. This study explored the reasons Karen youth choose to engage in this activity. Interviews were conducted and were analyzed using grounded theory qualitative research methods that were constructivist in nature. One over-arching theme, “If You Don’t Know Your Culture, You Don’t Know Who You Are”, and four sub-themes emerged from the data. Results demonstrate that group members are highly invested in maintaining their social engagement with their Karen community and find strength in Karen identity maintenance. This study demonstrates that those forced to migrate to a foreign country may face challenges to their sense of identity and belonging when immersed in a society that is unfamiliar to them. Local agencies can play an important role in the adaptation process by facilitating participation in meaningful activities that provide in-group social connections and opportunities to participate in familiar culturally relevant activities.

Exploring dating practices and acceptability of a dating violence program with Karen youth

ABSTRACTTeen dating violence (TDV) negatively impacts the health of youth in the United States and internationally, but we know little about dating violence among resettled refugee adolescents in the United States. We conducted a focus group with six Karen refugee youth to learn about dating practices and determine acceptability of a TDV prevention program curriculum, as a first step in addressing TDV in this community. Five themes emerged from the youth’s discussion related to: (1) gender roles, (2) dating practices, (3) healthy vs. unhealthy relationships, (4) acceptability of a TDV prevention program, and (5) acculturation. Findings indicate that gender roles and parents play important roles in youth’s views on dating practices. Youth shared the importance of communication in healthy relationships. Results indicated that Karen youth will likely participate in a TDV prevention program but acculturation may influence participants’ level of sharing. Future research is needed to examine the effects of a prevention program with this population.

Co-creating the Dialogic: How a Participatory Action Research Project Promoted Second Language Acquisition of Karen Youth

Co-creating the Dialogic: How a Participatory Action Research Project Promoted Second Language Acquisition of Karen Youth

Sexual and reproductive health needs and risks of very young adolescent refugees and migrants from Myanmar living in Thailand

BackgroundThe very young adolescent (VYA) population age 10–14 years is often neglected in the field of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) research due to the combined sensitivity of the topic and the young age group, resulting in little data about the SRH needs and concerns of VYA. In 2013, the Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC), Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Adolescent and Reproductive Health Network (ARHN) and Karen Youth Organization (KYO) implemented qualitative participatory research to explore the SRH needs and risks of VYA. The study was conducted in Mae Sot town and Mae La refugee camp, both in Thailand, with migrant populations and refugees, respectively.MethodsA total of 22 focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with 176 participants. FGD were implemented with girls and boys aged 10–16, and adults in both settings. The FGD with 10–14 year olds included community mapping and photo elicitation interviews. These activities gathered information about their own perspectives, experiences and values regarding SRH, as well as SRH risks. The FGD with 15–16 year olds and adults focused on their perspectives regarding the SRH needs and risks of VYA.ResultsFourteen (64%) of FGD were conducted in Mae Sot town, and 8 (36%) were conducted in Mae La refugee camp.Schools, youth centers and religious institutions were identified as key locations for obtaining SRH information. Schools are most promising, but access to schools is unequal between boys and girls. Parents can provide support and education to adolescents if they are supported to do so and if trust and comfort can be built between adolescents and parents around SRH.ConclusionsTo a large degree, the same themes emerged from both locations, in terms of the awareness of body changes and puberty, the centrality of peer influences, and the value of education. These findings call for rigorous study of youth-directed programs and policies that meaningfully involve key influential adults identified by vulnerable young adolescents and utilize the specific places young adolescents, themselves, voice as being critical settings for obtaining information on SRH issues.

Karen Youth transitions at the Thai-Myanmar border

ABSTRACTThis article examines youth transitions within a context of forced migration including rural areas in Eastern Myanmar and temporary shelters for displaced persons at the Thai-Myanmar border, as well as a Jesuit education project in Chiang Mai province. The study is informed by a life course approach that emphasizes the interlinkage between individual biographies and socio-political developments. Drawing on qualitative research methods such as participant observation, participatory research methods, essay writing and informal interviews, research data highlight the pivotal role of formal education even in a context of war and displacement. Making the vertical transition from one school stage to the next gives meaning and structure to the lives of the displaced youth who participated in this study and shapes their horizontal transitions between different geographical and social spaces along the Thai-Myanmar border. In this respect the study suggests that within the continuum of displacement at the Thai-Myanmar border ethnicity and citizenship status, coupled with social relations and individual skills for institutional networking, predominantly shape young Karen womeńs and meńs pursuit for education, as well as their decisions to interrupt their studies for transition to work.

The Karen resettlement story: A participatory action research project on refugee educational experiences in the United States

This study discusses Karen refugees and their education experiences in the United States via a participatory action research. A White male American English tutor and three adolescent Karen brothers took a road trip and visited with the Karen diaspora communities throughout the United States. Researchers in collaboration designed the study, collected qualitative data (interviews, participant observations, artifacts), and analyzed the data and identified five challenges facing Karen youth in- and out-of school: English language divide, parental involvement in their children’s schooling, bullying, gangs, and gender. We discuss how involvement in such a participatory action research can promote new awareness and agency for minority youth. Furthermore, we suggest ways for teachers, school administrators, and community members to help refugee youth better adapt to their communities and schools.

Digital Escapes? ICTs, Settlement and Belonging among Karen Youth in Melbourne, Australia

Digital Escapes? ICTs, Settlement and Belonging among Karen Youth in Melbourne, Australia