Stories of pre-war, war and exile: Bosnian refugee children in Sweden

Medicine, Conflict, and Survival
S GoldinB Hägglof

Abstract

While standardized questionnaires produce counts of isolated events, a semi-structured interview derives a story, a complex narrative in time and place. Ninety Bosnian refugee children and adolescents (ages 1-20), resettled in Sweden, were assessed in a semi-structured clinical interview designed to identify and offer support to children at risk. A family-child account of traumatic exposure was analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Type-stories or clusters of experience were identified for three distinct periods: prior to war, during war, and after war in exile. The extent of trauma-stress exposure during each of these periods proved unrelated. Pre-war experience presented as preponderantly good and safe. Differences in child exposure during war and exile could be understood in relation to identifiable socio-demographic factors; particularly ethnic background, social class, child age and family size. Further, the stories derived cast light on the equity of Swedish refugee reception, exposing both egalitarian and discriminatory tendencies.

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Citations

Mar 1, 2012·Journal of Urban Health : Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine·Carolyn Stephens
Apr 11, 2003·Current Psychiatry Reports·Christina W HovenDonald J Mandell
Jul 27, 2001·Medicine, Conflict, and Survival·D Holdstock
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Nov 21, 2020·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Anushka AtaullahjanZulfiqar A Bhutta
Jul 13, 2018·International Journal of Law and Psychiatry·E C C Carla van OsM E Margrite Kalverboer

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