BMJ 1998;317:475 ( 15 August )

Letters

Refugee families have psychological strengths

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---As a child psychiatrist who grew up in a refugee family I take issue with Hodes's editorial about refugee children.1 It views refugees and their experiences through the eyes of a Western psychiatrist. This, unfortunately, means that the picture of illness and disorder portrayed puts an emphasis on Western notions of psychopathology; this gives the impression that there is much serious psychiatric disorder in both the children and their carers. No mention is made of the psychological strengths that refugee families possess and the ability that most have to survive and learn from their suffering.

The same cultural mistake is made in the discussion about the type of help that health and other services can give. The notion of therapy and counselling in different settings is repeatedly put forward. This is the last thing that most refugee families want or need, whether the counsellor is from the refugee . . . [Full text of this article]
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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Whittaker, S., Hardy, G., Lewis, K., Buchan, L. (2005). An Exploration of Psychological Well-being with Young Somali Refugee and Asylum-seeker Women. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry 10: 177-196 [Abstract]  
  • Lipsedge, M. (2001). Commentary. Adv. Psychiatr. Treat. 7: 222-223 [Full text]  
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