Reconsidering the Conceptualization of Resilience: The Experiences of Refugee and Immigrant Youth in Montreal

Abstract

Over the last two decades, immigrant and refugee integration service agencies in Canada have been incorporating a focus on resiliency in their work and hold “fostering resilience” as a primary goal of services. These agencies focus on helping their clients enhance resilience in response to their integration challenges. Refugee and immigrant youth (RIY) face intersectional vulnerabilities during their resettlement process. These challenges make the concept of resilience vital to their success. However, resettlement service providers associate RIY’s resilience with their assimilation into the Western culture such as integrating into the dominant culture. This definition is insensitive to cultural and social factors that contextualize RIY’s definition of resilience. Drawing from in-depth interviews of Refugees and Immigrant youths in Montreal, and using Resilience as a conceptual framework, the research study investigated the barriers to the integration of RIY and their conceptualization of resilience. The study found social isolation, cultural differences between the host and home communities, racism, hostility, aggression, and language to be barriers to RIY’s integration. The youth conceptualized resilience as a form of adaptability to any situation; as the ability to integrate into a new society while remaining deeply rooted in one’s culture and past experiences; and overcoming marginalization. The paper contributes to a nuanced critical understanding in the field of refugee and migration studies and further throws light on a growing triangular interrelationship between social and economic integration of refugees, cultural factors of host communities, and resilience.