Refugee Mothers’ Experiences of Emotion Work and Coping: An Intersectional Framework

Approximately 70,000 Syrian refugees were resettled in Canada by 2021 (Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, 2022). Syrian refugee families in Canada struggle with sociocultural adaptation (Oudshoorn et al., 2020; Stewart et al., 2019). The first study in this dissertation explores the challenges in adaptation Syrian refugee families face in Montréal, Québec. Through a thematic analysis, the themes “Educational challenges” in terms of communication barriers and racism, “Adult adaptation”, and “Emotional exhaustion” emerged from the semi-structured interviews. Eight refugee mothers, between 30 and 36 years old, participated. They shared their experiences vis-à-vis their additional emotion work in the household, their emotional exhaustion, and their desire for more resources and interventions focused on them. This was a driving force for the theoretical foundation of this dissertation. The dissertation’s overarching aim is to explore the specific and intersectional lived experiences of refugee mothers. Future directions were conducting a systematic review of interventions for refugee mothers and their mental health and social support needs as well as exploring refugee mothers’ experiences vis-a-vis their emotion work and coping. Refugee mothers endure and are at risk for mental health challenges, such as post-traumatic stress, suicidality, and depression (Rahman & Hafeez, 2003; Schweitzer et al., 2018). Interventions including refugee mothers rarely provide adequate and contextualized support for refugee mothers’ specific mental health needs and challenges, and there is a gap in the literature regarding refugee mothers’ specific needs and appropriate mental health interventions (Dybdahl, 2001; Jesuthasan et al., 2019; Milkie et al., 2020). The second study presents empirical evidence to contextualize the risks refugee mothers face, such as gender-based violence, mental health challenges, and language barriers. Then, the paper provides a critical systematic review of six interventions conducted with refugee mothers. Although there were some interventions that incorporated refugee mothers’ needs, they either did not calculate and assess outcomes, or the interventions’ methodology did not properly align with their outlined objectives. The review suggests that across different populations and methodologies a pattern emerged whereby contact with others with similar experience and culture was essential, having allies increased refugees’ willingness to connect more to the host country society, and the refugee mothers benefited from having a safe space to discuss their shared experiences (Abi Zeid Daou, 2022; Koh et al., 2018; O’Shaughnessy et al., 2012; White et al., 2009).The third study explores how Syrian refugee mothers’ adaptation in Montréal was affected by the experiences of emotion work and coping. The same participants were included. The study provides an expansion of the emotion work framework to include refugee mothers of color, their positionality and lived experience, and their qualitative experience of emotion work vis-à-vis resettlement. The themes that emerged from the thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews were emotion work as “hiding negative affect”, “maneuvering new homes”, “overcompensating”, and “language stressors”. Religion and praying were found to be a coping mechanism for Syrian refugee mothers. The final paper also included implications and recommendations for therapy. Through an understanding of the expansion of the emotion work framework to include refugee mothers of color, their positionality and lived experience, and their qualitative experience of emotion work vis-à-vis resettlement, mental health professionals must develop with their clients a deep understanding of the complex systems within the post-resettlement context. Specific attention should be given to the loss of community, to additional emotion work, self-concealment, and other forms of maladaptive coping

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