Refugees In Denmark Research Articles

Risk of Psychosis Among Refugees

This systematic review and meta-analysis is, to date, the first and most comprehensive to focus on the incidence of nonaffective psychoses among refugees. To assess the relative risk (RR) of incidence of nonaffective psychosis in refugees compared with the RR in the native population and nonrefugee migrants. PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase databases were searched for studies from January 1, 1977, to March 8, 2018, with no language restrictions (PROSPERO registration No. CRD42018106740). Studies conducted in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Canada were selected by multiple independent reviewers. Inclusion criteria were (1) observation of refugee history in participants, (2) assessment of effect size and spread, (3) adjustment for sex, (4) definition of nonaffective psychosis according to standardized operationalized criteria, and (5) comparators were either nonrefugee migrants or the native population. Studies observing ethnic background only, with no explicit definition of refugee status, were excluded. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) and the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines were followed for extracting data and assessing data quality and validity as well as risk of bias of included studies. A random-effects model was created to pool the effect sizes of included studies. The primary outcome, formulated before data collection, was the pooled RR in refugees compared with the nonrefugee population. Of the 4358 screened articles, 9 studies (0.2%) involving 540 000 refugees in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Canada were included in the analyses. The RR for nonaffective psychoses in refugees was 1.43 (95% CI, 1.00-2.05; I2 = 96.3%) compared with nonrefugee migrants. Analyses that were restricted to studies with low risk of bias had an RR of 1.39 (95% CI, 1.23-1.58; I2 = 0.0%) for refugees compared with nonrefugee migrants, 2.41 (95% CI, 1.51-3.85; I2 = 96.3%) for refugees compared with the native population, and 1.92 (95% CI, 1.02-3.62; I2 = 97.0%) for nonrefugee migrants compared with the native group. Exclusion of studies that defined refugee status not individually but only by country of origin resulted in an RR of 2.24 (95% CI, 1.12-4.49; I2 = 96.8%) for refugees compared with nonrefugee migrants and an RR of 3.26 (95% CI, 1.87-5.70; I2 = 97.6%) for refugees compared with the native group. In general, the RR of nonaffective psychosis was increased in refugees and nonrefugee migrants compared with the native population. Refugee experience appeared to be an independent risk factor in developing nonaffective psychosis among refugees in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Canada. These findings suggest that applying the conclusions to non-Scandinavian countries should include a consideration of the characteristics of the native society and its specific interaction with the refugee population.

Everyday Rituals of Migration: Constructing Relatedness and Agency among Young Refugees in Denmark

ABSTRACTThis article examines how young unaccompanied refugees living together within the confines of an asylum centre in Denmark construct different kinds of social relations and the meanings attached to these relationships. By investigating their routinised practices of everyday life as ‘rituals’, I analyse how young refugees negotiate different kinds of relatedness that enable them to exert agency. The ethnography points to the progression and expansion of different modes of relatedness to include friendships as well as consociate relationships, both with peers with whom they create a sense of community, and with adults who help them navigate the asylum landscape. The study underscores the deeply social nature of the young refugees’ agency. I argue that in the intensity of living together they transform weak ties into strong ties, described through idioms of friendship and kinship, that express the profound meaning of these relationships in the context of the uncertainty they face.

Becoming Citizen: Spatial and Expressive Acts when Strangers Move In

This article examines the conditions and expressions of how refugees in Denmark become citizens. Through visual and collaborative ethnographic fieldwork, which took place during 2017, the case study follows the everyday life of an Eritrean community living in a former retirement home in the town of Hørsholm. The article investigates how becoming citizen can be understood as mediatised, spatial and expressive negotiations between the refugees and the local society. We look at the conditions of becoming citizen through the local framing of the Eritrean community—understood as political, social, cultural and material framing conditions. We draw on Engin Isin’s concept of performative citizenship (Isin, 2017), and we suggest how everyday life and becoming potentially hold the capacity to re-formulate and add to the understanding of citizenship. We suggest that becoming citizen is not merely about obtaining Danish citizenship and civic rights nor tantamount with settling down. On the contrary, the analysis shows that becoming citizen is a process of expressed and performed desires connected to global becomings beyond the sedentary citizenship, and therefore holds capacity for transforming and diversifying the notion of citizenship.

Made in Denmark: Refugees, integration and the self‐dependent society

This article discusses how the values and aspirations of the neo‐liberal competition state(konkurrencestat) and self‐dependent society (selvstændighedssamfund) have affected recently arrived refugees in Denmark. Besides a stricter border regime, the so‐called ‘refugee crisis’ of 2015 also resulted in a new version of ‘integration’ in Denmark that emphasizes the values of responsibility (ansvar), self‐sufficiency (selvforsørgelse) and independence (uafhængighed), as refugees are expected to start working more or less from day one after their arrival. This has led to numerous creative integration programmes in Danish municipalities.

Overcoming Bordering Practices Through the Arts: The Case of Young Syrian Refugees and their Danish Counterparts in Denmark

ABSTRACTDuring 2014, Denmark received nearly 15,000 asylum seekers, almost twice the number from the previous year as more people fleeing Syria’s war fled to Europe. By 2016, Denmark succeeded in making the country highly unattractive as a destination for refugees fleeing war torn countries. The country introduced a controversial ‘jewellery bill’, placed adverts in a newspaper in Lebanon dissuading refugees from contemplating a trip to Denmark, and cut assistance benefits for refugees by half. These state bordering practices aimed at securing some kind of ‘Danishness’. This article aims at ascribing agency to young Syrian refugees in Denmark, who have experienced these bordering practices and who seek to counter these practices by participating in meaningful social interactions with their Danish counterparts. The empirical focus is an artistic enactment–a weeklong dance workshop that brought these youngsters together as a distinct form of practice that brings about the conditions of possibility for meaningful integration. Conceptually, it draws upon Arendt’s theory of action and notion of ‘plurality’ to frame how such encounters come about.

TESTIMONY PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR GENOCIDE SURVIVORS: PROVIDING A COMMON GROUND BETWEEN TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE

Testimony psychotherapy is a brief individual psychotherapeutic method for working with survivors of state-sponsored violence. First described by a group of Chilean mental health professionals who were working with survivors of political violence during the Pinochet dictatorship it was further described by Agger and Jensen in their work with refugees in Denmark and with Holocaust survivors. All groups report that testimony functions both in private and in public realm as a means for individual recovery and a means of bearing witness to historical truths.Although testimony approach is not strictly a clinical intervention, many have noted that it offers the survivor clinical benefits. This observation was confirmed in our study of testimony psychotherapy with survivors from Bosnia and Herzegovina.As part of research activities of the ‘Project on Genocide, Psychiatry and Witnessing’ of The University of Illinois at Chicago, dr Stevan Weine and I conducted a pilot clinical trial of testimony psychotherapy, at the same time creating oral history archives, and creating awareness in the community of Bosnian refugees of the importance of documenting the survivors’ narratives. In this work we were functioning as witnessing professionals, committed to helping individual survivor's recovery, but also to addressing the social and historical tragedy of genocide.. Because we saw testimony work from an interdisciplinary perspective, we also sought to create testimony documents that would move outside of the psychotherapeutic dyad and make connections with others in the scholarly, human rights, artistic, and survivors' communities.

Assessment of dissociation in Bosnian treatment-seeking refugees in Denmark

Background: Dissociative experiences are common in traumatized individuals, and can sometimes be mistaken for psychosis. It is difficult to identify pathological dissociation in the treatment of traumatized refugees, because there is a lack of systematic clinical descriptions of dissociative phenomena in refugees. Furthermore, we are currently unaware of how dissociation measures perform in this clinical group. Aims: To describe the phenomenology of dissociative symptoms in Bosnian treatment-seeking refugees in Denmark. Method: As a part of a larger study, dissociation was assessed systematically in 86 Bosnian treatment-seeking refugees using a semi-structured clinical interview (Structured Interview for Disorders of Extreme Stress—dissociation subscale; SIDES-D) and a self-report scale (Dissociative Experiences Scale; DES). Results: The SIDES-D indicated twice as high prevalence of pathological dissociation as the DES. According to the DES, 30% of the refugees had pathological dissociation 15 years after their resettlement. On the SIDES-D, depersonalization and derealization experiences were the most common. Also, questions about depersonalization and derealization at times elicited reporting of visual and perceptual hallucinations, which were unrelated to traumatic re-experiencing. Questions about personality alteration elicited spontaneous reports of a phenomenon of “split” pre- and post-war identity in the refugee group. Whether this in fact is a dissociative phenomenon, characteristic of severe traumatization in adulthood, needs further examination. Conclusions: Knowledge of dissociative symptoms in traumatized refugees is important in clinical settings to prevent misclassification and to better target psychotherapeutic interventions. Much development in the measurement of dissociation in refugees is needed.

Going on a Class Journey: The Inclusion and Exclusion of Iraqi Refugees in Denmark

Focusing on the settlement of Iraqi women and their families in Copenhagen, this article explores how the intersections of social class relations, ethnicity and gender affect the inclusion and exclusion of Iraqi refugees in Danish society. Through the analysis of an extended case study, it pays special attention to the downward ‘class journey’ experienced by many of the women in the course of their settlement, and the discrimination they can face as immigrants and Muslims. The article argues that, while the women's participation in Iraqi Shi'a Muslim activities may appear to make up a form of continuity rooted in their ethno-religious background, their social networks are to a large extent a reflection of their new social positions in society. Moreover, the cross-section of factors such as social class, gender, ethnicity and local context not only affect the social position that the women acquire in society, but also how they experience and come to see the society in which they live. Finally, the article demonstrates the great impact that the organisation of the Danish welfare state has had on the trajectories of the social incorporation of Iraqi refugees in Denmark.

Becoming Part of Welfare Scandinavia: Integration through the Spatial Dispersal of Newly Arrived Refugees in Denmark

This article examines refugee experiences of the Danish mandatory spatial dispersal policy, which requires that individuals and families agree to live for three years in an assigned community when accepted as refugees. The policy is based on the assumption that immersion in ethnically Danish local communities will facilitate integration. Ethnographic field research carried out in two rural municipalities shows, however, that trusted relatives or co-ethnics already settled in the country can have a considerable integrative effect because they act as mediators between newly arrived refugees and Danish welfare society. They thus introduce refugees to local cultural values and everyday routines and demonstrate how to navigate them. This is particularly important in a country where, on the one hand, the welfare state and its professional workers tend to intervene deeply into the domestic sphere of its citizens, and, on the other, cultural homogeneity is emphasised and viewed as closely related to equality. Not being surrounded by a network of kinsmen nor having the opportunity to form new family-like relations with co-ethnics within one's local surroundings can therefore seriously affect the ability of refugee families to establish a new life in Danish society.

Trauma and resilience in young refugees: A 9-year follow-up study

The aim of the present study was to assess and understand the long-term trajectory of psychological problems among young Middle Eastern refugees in Denmark. Participants were 131 young refugees from the Middle East (76 girls, 55 boys; mean age = 15.3 years) from 67 families. They were assessed first on arrival in Denmark in 1992-1993 and again 8-9 years later. The high prevalence of psychological problems at arrival was considerably reduced by the time of follow-up, but it was still somewhat higher than what has been found in most community studies using the same assessment tools. Groups of children differed in showing low levels of symptoms at arrival that were stable (spared) or increased (reacting) and high levels at arrival that persisted (traumatized) or decreased (adapted). The number of types of traumatic experiences before arrival distinguished the spared and the traumatized young refugees and the number of types of stressful events after arrival the adapted and the traumatized, also after corrections for age, sex, specific traumatic events, parents' education and health, and the social situation of the young refugees. The study emphasizes the importance of environmental factors for healthy long-term adaptation after traumatic experiences related to war and other organized violence.

Commuting for Symbolic Capital. Narratives of Location and Positionality of Palestinian Refugees

A sense of marginalisation among Palestinian refugees in Denmark seems to be connected to a lack of recognition of their lifestyle which is diffuse and difficult to cope with. Thus, the pertinence of symbolic capital for emotional forms of belonging is uncovered in transnational practices and narratives on family and gender relations among Palestinian refugees.

International Migration and Migration Policy in Denmark

Abstract: The paper gives an introduction to the persistent problems regarding labour market integration of Non-Western immigrants and refugees in Denmark. We describe changes in the flow of immigrants to Denmark and the derived changes in the composition of the stock of immigrants and descendants on national origin. Next, the paper describes Danish immigration policy from the guest worker stop in the 1970s and until the recent situation. The shift in the composition of immigrants has contributed to a problematic situation regarding labour market integration, characterized by low participation and high unemployment among non-OECD immigrants. We emphasize problems on the demand side of the labour market, i.e. a high minimum wage and discrimination to some extent, and on the supply side due to weak or counterproductive financial incentives. * CIM, CLS, IZA and Department of Economics, University of Aarhus, Universitetsparken, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, email: pjp@cls.dk ** CIM, CLS, IZA and Department of Economics, Aarhus School of Business, Fuglesangs Alle 20, Aarhus V, Denmark, email: nina@asb.dk

DET FREMMEDE HJEM: Bosniske flygtninges illusioner om hjemlandet

This article explores a range of illusions
 about refugee return, both from the
 perspective of political institutions and
 refugees themselves. The political repatriation
 discourse in Western European
 host countries is based upon illusory conceptions
 of people’s rootedness in specific
 territories and of return as an unproblematic
 re-establishment of the preflight conditions.
 Whereas refugee diasporas widely share this
 nostalgic celebration of the “return to the
 past”, for Bosnian refugees in Denmark the
 idealization of their homeland and “the myth
 of return”, rather than leading to the actual
 return to the country of origin, serve as a
 source of meaning, hope for normality, and
 community in exile. For the refugees who,
 voluntarily or involuntarily, do return to
 Bosnia-Hercegovina “home-coming” is an
 experience of disillusionment due to various
 war-related transformations of the Bosnian
 society, difficult socio-economic conditions
 found upon return, and discrimination and
 resentment from the remaining population.
 The returnees feel like strangers in their own
 country, and this in turn gives rise to longing
 for emigration and romanticized images of
 their past refugee life abroad.

Holdninger til de fremmede - forestillingen om bosniske flygtninge i den danske offentlighed

The image of Bosnian war refugees in the Danish public
 
 This article discusses sociological inve¬stigations of attitudes towards immi¬grants and refugees in Denmark. In¬stead of viewing attitudes as an attribu¬te of individual psychology or as deter¬mined by social class, the article sug¬gests examining the context of varying understandings and imaginations which set the frame for the meaningful presentation of a concrete event.
 This approach is exemplified by a study of the reception of refugees from the former Yugoslavia in Denmark ba¬sed on articles from the Danish press from May 1992 to January 1995. These articles indicate that different attitudes towards refugees can be connected to representations based on different nar¬rative imaginations and collective me¬mories as well as other themes of cur¬rent interest in the public. These con¬texts have set different meaningful fra¬mes for understanding refugees and thereby influenced attitudes towards this group in the Danish public.
 In summer 1992, before the arrival of larger groups of refugees, there was a positive attitude towards them in the press. There was general indignation to¬wards the war in Europe and a wide¬spread willingness to help the people suffering from ethnic persecution and cleansing. There were explicit referen¬ces to World War II which were unambi¬guously supportive of a positive attitu¬de toward these refugees.
 By the autumn of the same year the¬re was a drift towards a more negative attitude. Episodes of thefts in the regi¬ons where refugee centres were located resulted in demands that criminal refu¬gees from the former Eastern Europe (the Baltic and exYugoslavia) be expel¬led. There were also reports from Ger¬many that neoNazis set fire to refugee camps, and this produced concern that the many foreigners in Denmark would provoke „German conditions“ with eth¬nic and racist problems. Many Danish neighbours to these refugee centres we¬re surprised to see refugees from war torn Yugoslavia arriving wellfed and in new clothing. These refugees didn’t fit the image of suffering which had been the basis for the unambiguous support the preceding summer. These people didn’t appear to be „real“ refugees.
 The many media reports about the war in Bosnia helped create an understanding that refugees have a reason for being Denmark and that Denmark has an obligation to help. The referen¬ces to ethnic persecution during World War II have been superseded by an un¬der¬standing that the new refugees have es¬caped from a life that was similar to the Danish. „They are like us“ is a sen¬tence that becomes more common in the media, and an understanding that the Bos¬nian war refugees have been forced to leave a life style similar to the Danish one emerge „it could have been us“. This is the basis for development of a public understanding of the Bosnian re¬fugees as a new type of „real“ refugees.
 The positive attitudes that have de¬veloped towards the predominantly Muslim refugees from Bosnia point to the possibility that the widespread anta¬gonism in the Danish public towards immigrants with a Muslim background is not due to the religion itself, but rather the traditionalistic and nonmodern way of life that this religious affiliation symbolizes for many Danes.

The Legal Condition of Refugees in Denmark

The Legal Condition of Refugees in Denmark JENS VEDSTED-HANSEN JENS VEDSTED-HANSEN Danish Centre for Human RightsCopenhagen Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Refugee Studies, Volume 7, Issue 2-3, 1994, Pages 249–259, https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/7.2-3.249 Published: 01 April 1994

Varicella Among Immigrants from the Tropics, a Health Problem

The incidence of varicella in Tamil refugees in Denmark was evaluated. Of 256 Tamils, 44% developed varicella infection in the first few months after arrival, representing 38% of the adults, and 68% of the children. During approximately four months' observation in Denmark, 75% of the refugees with no history of varicella developed a typical infection whereas only 2% of those with a history of varicella developed the disease. Tropical refugees with a negative history of varicella must therefore be considered nonimmune. Nine of 44 fertile women were pregnant. Two acquired the varicella infection during the first-trimester, none in relation to delivery. By organizing a health-check on arrival, prophylactic measures can reduce the health hazard of varicella infection in refugees from the tropics.