Arab refugees: Trauma, resilience, and recovery

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief introduction to the history of Arab refugees in the USA, an analysis of the traumatic stressors that different gender and age groups encounter pre- and post-refuge, and the effects of these stressors on their well-being. Further, it explores the resilience and protective factors of Arab refugees. Resilience and protective factors are used in this chapter to indicate internal and external factors that the evidence shows are associated with good outcome in spite of adversities (e.g., Luthar et al., Child Development 71(3):543-562, 2000). The development-based traumatology framework that highlights the etiology of refugees' cumulative trauma is discussed (Kira, Traumatology 16(4):128-141, 2010). Also, two models of therapeutic interventions for Arab refugees are introduced: individual therapy that includes the transdiagnostic and complex trauma approaches that are mostly uni-systemic, and the ecological multi-systemic approaches. Finally, community outreach and advocacy are discussed as part of the recommended ecological model of recovery.