Children and Youths’ Belonging in Protracted Displacement: A Mixed-Methods Study from Kakuma Refugee Camp

Authors

  • Jihae Cha Graduate School of Education and Human Development, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA
  • Daniel Shephard University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland
  • Minkyung Choi Department of Teaching and Learning, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2113-0376
  • Ahrum Jeon Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6121-3865

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.41205

Keywords:

belonging, pragmatics of belonging, home, refugee youth, Kakuma Refugee Camp

Abstract

Millions of children and youth live in forced displacement. We conducted a mixed-methods study among 729 primary students in Kakuma Refugee Camp to examine the roles of knowledge, experience (direct or indirect), language, and schooling in students’ sense of belonging to their home country and intention to return. We found sense of belonging is associated with knowledge of one’s country and its traditions, fluency in one’s home language, and schooling opportunities. However, these same factors are negatively associated with their intent to repatriate in the near future. The relationship between formal and informal learning appears to encourage a pragmatic sense of belonging to Kenya for the immediate future while any sense of belonging and hope for return to their home countries are projected onto an imagined future.



Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Jihae Cha, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA

Jihae Cha is an Assistant Professor of International Education and International Affairs at the George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development. She can be reached at jihae.cha@gwu.edu.

Daniel Shephard, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

Daniel Shephard is a Lecturer in Comparative Education and Education Policy at the University of Edinburgh. He can be reached at d.shephard@ed.ac.uk.

Minkyung Choi, Department of Teaching and Learning, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey, USA

Minkyung Choi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Montclair State University’s College for Education and Engaged Learning. She can be reached at choimi@montclair.edu.

Ahrum Jeon, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA

Ahrum Jeon is an Adjunct Professor at Boston College. She can be reached at ahrum.jeon@bc.edu.

References

Al-Ali, N., & Koser, K. (2002). New approaches to migration? Transnational communities and the transformation of future. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203167144

Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (Rev. ed.). Verso.

Antonsich, M. (2010). Searching for belonging—An analytical framework. Geography Compass, 4(6), 644–659. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8198.2009.00317.x

Arvanitis, E., & Yelland, N. (2021). “Home means everything to me…”: A study of young Syrian refugees’ narratives constructing home in Greece. Journal of Refugee Studies, 34(1), 535–554. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fez030

Bellino, M. J. (2018). Youth aspirations in Kakuma Refugee Camp: Education as a means for social, spatial, and economic (im)mobility. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 16(4), 541–556. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2018.1512049

Brown, J. (2011). Expressions of diasporic belonging: The divergent emotional geographies of Britain’s Polish communities. Emotion, Space and Society, 4(4), 229–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2011.01.004

Brun, C., & Fábos, A. (2015). Making homes in limbo? A conceptual framework. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 31(1), 5–17 . https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40138

Buckner, E., Spencer, D., & Cha, J. (2018). Between policy and practice: The education of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Journal of Refugee Studies, 31(4), 444–465. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fex027

Cha, J. (2020). Refugee students’ academic motivation in displacement: The case of Kakuma refugee camp. Journal on Education in Emergencies, 5(2),108-46. https://doi.org/10.33682/pe90-33g2

Devictor, X., & Do, Q. T. (2017). How many years have refugees been in exile? Population and Development Review, 43(2), 355–369. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12061

Dewey, J. (1929). The quest for certainty. Minton, Balch.

Dromgold-Sermen, M. S. (2022). Forced migrants and secure belonging: A case study of Syrian refugees resettled in the United States. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(3), 635–654. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1854087

Dryden-Peterson, S. (2017). Refugee education: Education for an unknowable future. Curriculum Inquiry, 47(1), 14–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2016.1255935

Dryden-Peterson, S., Adelman, E., Bellino, M. J., & Chopra, V. (2019). The purposes of refugee education. Sociology of Education, 92(4), 346–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040719863054

Fenster, T. (2005). The right to the gendered city: Different formations of belonging in everyday life. Journal of Gender Studies, 14(3), 217–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589230500264109

Fincham, K. (2012). Learning the nation in exile: Constructing youth identities, belonging and “citizenship” in Palestinian refugee camps in South Lebanon. Comparative Education, 48(1), 119–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2011.637767

FitzGerald, D. S., & Arar, R. (2018). The sociology of refugee migration. Annual Review of Sociology, 44, 387–406. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073117-041204

Geddes, A., & Favell, A. (1999). Introduction. In A. Geddes & A. Favell (Eds.), The politics of belonging: Migrants and minorities in contemporary Europe (pp. 10–14). Ashgate.

hooks, b. (2009). Belonging: A culture of place. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203888018

Marlowe, J. (2018). Belonging and transnational refugee settlement: Unsettling the everyday and the extraordinary. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315268958

Mason, V. (2007). Children of the “idea of Palestine”: Negotiating identity, belonging and home in the Palestinian diaspora. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 28(3), 271–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256860701429709

Miletzki, J. L. (2014). Waiting for citizenship: Pragmatics of belonging of Burundian refugees in protracted exile. The case of Ulyankulu settlement, Tanzania [Doctoral Dissertation, London School of Economics and Political Science]. LSE Theses Online. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/3151

Morley, D. (2001). Belongings: Place, space and identity in a mediated world. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 4(4), 425–448. https://doi.org/10.1177/136754940100400404

Perez Murcia, L. E. (2019). Where the heart is and where it hurts: Conceptions of home for people fleeing conflict. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 38(2), 139–158. https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdz00

Saldaña, J. (2021). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Sage Publications.

Schachter, A. (2016). From “different” to “similar”: An experimental approach to understanding assimilation. American Sociological Review, 81(5), 981–1013. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122416659248

Taylor, H. (2009). Narratives of loss, longing and daily life: The meaning of home for Cypriot refugees in London [Doctoral dissertation, University of East London]. UEL Research Repository. https://doi.org/10.15123/PUB.3928

Taylor, H. (2013). Refugees, the state and the concept of home. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 32(2), 130–152. https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdt004

Taylor, H. (2015). Refugees and the meaning of home: Cypriot narratives of loss, longing and daily life in London. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137553331

UNHCR. (2019, September 30). Statistical summary: Refugees and asylum seekers in Kenya. https://www.unhcr.org/ke/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/Kenya-Statistics-Package-30-September-2019.pdf

UNHCR. (2023, October 24). Refugee data finder. https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/

Wilkinson, J., & Lloyd-Zantiotis, A. (2017). The role of everyday spaces of learning for refugee youth. In R. M. Elmesky, C. Camp Yeakey, & O. Marcucci (Eds.), Advances in education in diverse communities, Vol. 12. The power of resistance (pp. 383–408). Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-358X20140000012018

Yuval-Davis, N. (2006). Belonging and the politics of belonging. Patterns of Prejudice, 40(3), 197–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313220600769331

Published

2024-06-07

How to Cite

Cha, J., Shephard, D., Choi, M., & Jeon, A. (2024). Children and Youths’ Belonging in Protracted Displacement: A Mixed-Methods Study from Kakuma Refugee Camp. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 40(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.41205

Similar Articles

<< < 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.