Navigating Two Worlds: Understanding Adolescent Development in Refugee Families

The forced displacement of families globally is at an unprecedented historic high resulting in the need for temporary safe refuge and for many, permanent resettlement in a new country. Refugee adolescents who experience forced migration and are at a critical time in their human developmental journey have likely experienced multiple traumas, first, before leaving their homeland; second, in harsh refugee camp environments; third, during their family’s resettlement journey; and fourth, throughout the process of adjustment to their new homeland and culture. These trauma experiences underlie adolescents’ normative processes associated with development of their sense of self, their identities. They must adjust to their new country’s culture, values, and behaviors, those promoted by peers, schools, and social media, while respecting those of their root cultures, values, and behaviors, those to which their parents and community elders fiercely cling. Moreover, many refugee adolescents find themselves racially minoritized in their new homelands and must cope with discrimination and anti-immigrant sentiment. Factors such as family and peer support and stable housing offer buffers against refugee adolescent vulnerability as they navigate two cultural worlds in their human development journey.