Developmental Psychology and Refugee Children

Developmental Psychology and Refugee Children

Introduction

Advancement in the field of psychology has seen its involvement in studying social situations in the world. An inclusion of issues facing children has widened the scope of psychology to include development matters important in understanding this group of individuals. Stages of growth have included the areas of interest from conception to old age and eventual death of an individual. Defining psychology McGraw (1991) looks at it as the study of human behavior considering associated mental processes. Psychology therefore, encompasses human development with influence from mental attributes that contribute towards behavior. Further consideration of psychology reveals the developmental aspect of it that looks at growth and associated changes. The changes in the mental processes during the process also features as an important part of human development enhancing an understanding of behavior. Defining developmental psychology, American Psychological Association (2014) looks at it as a scientific study in which changes in human beings occurs throughout their lives. The definition of life in this case covers from infancy to old age. The developmental changes include cognitive, physical, social, perceptual, emotional, personality and intellectual growth.

Occurrence in the daily environment of human existence have influenced the changes or human growth across a lifespan. Among these, the living conditions prevailing and environmental exposures have featured. The lives of children in a refugee camp provides an example of environmental factors influencing human development. Exposures in this environment and those leading to refugee status have an impact on cognitive, physical, social, perceptual, emotional, personality and intellectual development. The exposure to war and violence associated with refugees affects the developmental psychology of humans from their infancy stages to the old age. Evaluating developmental psychology reveals the possible challenges that refugee children face also examining the effects these have on their life during development and in old age. The essay seeks to summarize the role of development psychology in understanding the challenges faced by refugee children. The case evaluates a scenario of a refugee child looking at the developmental psychology associated with them based on the identity, emotions and communication challenges emanating from their refugee status.

Article Summary

BBC (2017, April 5) presents a case of a child refugee starting life and school in a new world. The twelve-year-old boy from Eritrea explains his journey through several borders before reaching the UK where he finds a new home and family. Starting a new school year, in a new environment, Marvin faces challenges including the development of an identity, dealing with his emotional and communication problems. Each of the three elements has an importance in his new life as it influences his ability to create social relations and focus on his studies to attain a good performance. However, his experiences in Eritrea and on his way to his new home may affect his ability to create a balance. Marvin started a journey from his home in Eritrea to escape forceful involvement in the army that awaited him. A fate similar to that which his father and elder brother had suffered. The quest to have a better life sees Marvin take the risk to cross the borders where other refugees attempting the same have succumbed to various reasons including hunger, sickness and harsh conditions.

Development psychology looks at the experiences of a child through various stages of their lives and the impact that this has on their social and emotional well-being. The experiences of Marvin also include life in a refugee camp from which he finally gets an opportunity to start a new life in an adopted family. However, such experiences pose a danger to his psychological development as a child. Dealing with the difficulties of his childhood and living in a refugee camp has an impact on his identity, emotions and ability to communicate. The above also threaten to affect his ability to integrate into the new family and social setting including school and the community in which his new family lives. An evaluation of Marvin’s experiences reveals the manner in which development psychology may enhance understanding of the challenges faced by refugee children with regards to identity issues, emotional and communication problems. The assessment of the above themes distinguishes them on the basis of early years and the middle years of the child.

Identity

First, developmental psychology encompasses the creation of an identity for an individual. The identity generated presents a challenge faced by refugee children. Chapter two of the material presented reveals that attributes such as family, ethnicity, sociocultural context and gender contribute towards the development of an identity. Identity formation occurs from infancy following to middle years that usher one into adulthood. Assessing the identity issues faced by Marvin reveals the presence of this element in refugee children the effect this has on their ability to cope with the social and environment changes associated with their lives.

In earlier years of a child, the development of an identity starts from infancy with the immediate environment of exposure including family, ethnicity, gender and sociocultural contexts contributing to this. Self-categorization presents the ideal basis on which an identity develops for children. The earlier years involve the development of an identity through two main approaches including the existential self and the categorical self. The former seeks to attain identity through the development of an individual’s agency which defines their power to act on the basis of the world around them. Under the same, a sense attached to unique individuality develops including an awareness of the continuity of a person’s identity and reflexivity. The latter case of self-based on categorization on the other hand, the social context of the childhood that one experiences determines their development in terms of elements such as age and gender. Lastly, the development of an identity also includes the looking-glass self-element that deals with the formation of a comparative understanding. In such cases, the identification of the child develops with a better awareness of their identity in terms of age and gender. Children at this stage understand their formation as a girl or a boy with a better coordination of individual characters compared to their early development.

In the later stage, the environment has an enhanced influence on the creation of an individual’s identity. Happenings within the environment have an influence on the development of an identity. In the case of Marvin, the surrounding involving war and escalated levels of violence affected the identity of the child and their development of the same. Being born in an environment of war enabled Marvin to learn of his imminent engagement in the army due to his gender. The participation of his father and the elder brother provided an example of the world within which he lived. The above prompted Marvin to seek a better life and hence his decision to escape. During his middle years, Marvin faces significant environment influences with the new home in the UK also providing a challenge on development of an identity. Having left his home, Marvin’s identity and views of life rely largely on the earlier experiences. Proper psychological evaluation and handling is important in enabling him to integrate adequately in the new environment besides enhancing a better identity. Therefore, the exposures of refugee children to situations of war and different life conditions affects their development of an identity. Embracing developmental psychology may enhance learning of these challenges and enhancing the handling of children in a similar environment.

Emotion

Emotion presents the second developmental psychology element. Izard (2010) reveals that emotion has an influence on the decision-making, social relationships, physical and mental health, actions and thinking of an individual. Therefore, as an important part of human behavior, emotion influences conduct also determining the mental state of an individual. However, emotion represents a state of feeling and hence may result in psychological and physical changes affecting thought and the behavior of an individual. Part of the responsibilities of emotions include expressive behaviors, physiological arousal and the creation of conscious experiences. In the same respect, emotion presents an important aspect of child mental, physical and psychological development.

Part of human development includes the emotional element through which membership to a group influence. The creation of a national attachment to a nation with practices of nationalism such as pride, shame and embarrassment involved. In chapter seven, it is emphasized that national emblems or specific events elicit emotions with feelings such as listening to the national anthem and registering an impact included. National shame due to the events in a country also reflects emotions attached to a country. Events such as wars and civil violations elicit shame and less pride in the national belonging of an individual. At an early age of development however, the little understanding of events happening may not have adequate influence on a child’s emotions. However, growth into middle years of development provides the necessary influence to yield emotional reactions to national belonging. Marvin’s experiences indicate the attribute of emotion at the middle age. Consideration of the feelings of the mother as he attempts to flee his country show possession of emotions. However, the desire to better his life and progress towards a better future yield to his actions. The experience exhibited by Marvin in his country affirm to shame as an emotion with the intention to run away from the country an expressive element of the same.

Chapter two and seven affirm to the existence of a link between identity and emotions. Looking at this in the context of emotions, the identification of one with their country of origin indicates pride considered an emotional aspect pf psychological development. In refugee children however, the state of their countries erodes the national pride in some cases replacing it with hatred. For this reason, few of the children desire returning to their homes after the country stabilizes due to the lost national identity with absorption of a new identity. Embracing an understanding of the changes associated with the emotions and identity of the children therefore, enables better handling of refugees to provide better handling of emotional connections to the countries of origin with the development of an identity that is ideal to enable better expressive behavior. The challenges associated with the national identity that the children adopt also affirms to the ideal interventions with need for family identities to provide the children with a better environment to develop as that which Marvin’s foster family provided. Therefore, Marvin gains a new national identity in the refugee camp and struggles with a different identity while in his adopted home. The creation of emotions varies throughout to this stage of his life.

Communication

Lastly, developmental psychology considers communication as an important part of the process of human development. Embracing communication as part of examining refugee children enhances management of the challenges faced by this group. Chapter five identifies communication in the earlier years of a child as an integral part of their development. Infants adopt crying as the main form of communication. The development of the child leads to the addition of other channels of communication that enhance understanding and relating with others. Eye gazing and pointing also feature as means of communication that children exhibit in their early stages of development. Engagement in social events with association with other children enhances their communication abilities further leading to better understanding of challenges associated with children refugees. During development, exposure of children to language and the cultures of a society encourages their development leading to the communication abilities they embrace in middle age. Therefore, communication presents an important element of interaction in society with importance in understanding this and the manner in which it influences children refugees. The inability to communicate in a common language like English is however, a barrier when dealing with refugee children. Majority of these may not have a good command of the English language and hence creating a communication problem. Also, such a failure affects their ability to interact with other children and hence limiting their social circles.

Relating the communication theme to the case of Marvin, his ability to adopt the English language enhanced his integration into community. In addition to communication, an attachment develops in the refugee camps with creation of relationships with other refugee children. Marvin explains a case in which he meets a boy he had spent time with in the camp asserting the attachment created during his stay. The ability to interact with the boy enhanced his stay in the UK with creation of friends becoming simpler due to the preexisting attachment established. Communication was easy between him and the fellow Eritrean boy with difficulties faced with interacting with the other UK students. Learning English and communication in the same was therefore, imperative for Marvin. At the start of the new school year, Marvin’s ability to communicate in English will enhance his interaction with his new family besides providing him with a better communication channel to interact with peers in school. Having spent his earlier years in Eritrea, Marvin had to learn the English language to enhance his living in the UK in addition to helping him become a better student. The earlier stages of development had his communication based on his home language with the months spent travelling to the UK allowing him to engage in another language. Chapter ten dwells on the ability of the children to hold conversations as part of their communication abilities. Language barrier makes this difficult with children in their middle years of development required to learn new languages as evidenced by Marvin. Interaction with children in the refugee camps reveals the language problem and hence affirming that communication is an important part of means through which developmental psychology may enhance understanding of the challenges faced by refugee children.

Summary of Main Threads

Children in refugee camps possess various experiences in life that have the potential of affecting their development. Majority of these seek accommodation in refugee camps due to difficulties in their home countries. Some flee political instabilities while others seek better lives by leaving their countries. In the case of Marvin, a combination of instability and the desire to have a better life influenced his decision to leave Eritrea. The experience of the long journey walking from border to border at an age of twelve has a possible effect on the psychological development of the child. Also, exposure to an environment of violence in countries with war further inflicts on the psychological development of the children. The resulting effect of these includes children with a high mental instability and psychological development problem.

Embracing refugee children in new homes and environments providing better growth therefore, requires consideration of the possible identity, emotion and communication issues that they face. The journey exhibited by the children to reach the refugee camps leads to identity issues with majority of these losing their national identity to gain others. Providing counselling and better child development services in addition to adoption of the child enhances this aspect. Marvin started developing a new identity in his new home with siblings and parents. The new cultures and language also create the sense of a new identity that he sought to embrace. The emotions of the children refugees are also an important part to consider. Exposure to an environment of war and violence affects the emotional connection that the children have. Also, breaking the attachment that the children have with their parents at an early stage creates an emotional gap that requires better assessment and handling to enhance adoption and living. Lastly, communication challenges also manifest with language barrier being a major problem. Marvin’s ability to learn English enhanced his development and integration into the society in the UK.

Conclusion

In refugee camps, deprivation of rights to children occurs with limited space for interaction and attainment of an education. The ability to obtain legal recognition remains an issue faced by these children in addition to discrimination, racism and cultural clash. Exploitation and violence also manifest as some of the problems that children in refugee camps face with some living in the camps without their parents or guardians. Exposures of the above nature have psychological implications on the students also affecting their development. Adoption of these children requires proper psychological handling to reduce the harm caused by the deprivation of rights and the experiences in some cases causing trauma. Further research on the psychological needs of children in refugee camps is important to provide the above and help in reducing the risks above. Such efforts will lead to alleviation of developmental psychology issues associated with the challenges that children in refugee camps face.

References

American Psychological Association. (2014). Developmental Psychology Studies Human Development Across the Lifespan. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20140709054242/www.apa.org/action/science/developmental/index.aspx

BBC. (2017, April 5). Starting school in the UK: A refugee’s story. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/f4e5143e-da00-48f7-92cb-9eb6f147c3c0

Izard, C. E. (2010). The Many Meanings/Aspects of Emotion: Definitions, Functions, Activation, and Regulation. Emotion Review, 2(4), 363-370. doi:10.1177/1754073910374661

McGraw, K. O. (1991). The Empirical Interests of Developmental Psychology. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 37(2), 209-230.