Refugee Women Resettling in the United States at Mid-Life after Ethnic Cleansing

Abstract

This is a case study of two women resettling in the United States after surviving ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and a discussion of refugee women at mid-life. We learned about their lives through their participation in testimony and biographical interviewing. Daniel Levinson's study of women's lives provides a frame for thinking about the refugee woman's life after ethnic cleansing. The mid-life refugee woman's experience in the private and public spheres is changed by their traumas, but also by the transition from early to middle adul thood. Her recovery will be further shaped by the contours of her continued adult development as will the lives of her children.