Abstract
The purpose of the chapter is to examine how parents from refugee backgrounds understand and perceive school bullying and anti-bullying policies. Given that bullying continues to be a serious problem in schools, and that immigrant and refugee-background students are particularly severely impacted, it is imperative that perspectives from different stakeholders, including refugee background parents, be incorporated in anti-bullying policies and interventions. Data were collected using the focus group method, with parents drawn from the refugee community in a town in upstate New York. Focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 27 parents from refugee backgrounds. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Data were analyzed and organized thematically. Findings showed that parents (1) experience secondary stress from bullying of their children, (2) advocate for their children, (3) often feel unheard and diminished by school teachers and administrators, and (4) have an interest in meeting and working with teachers and other school officials to address bullying. Findings provide implications for bullying policies and practices for school personnel.
TopBackground
Parents of students from refugee backgrounds are often presented from a deficit perspective. They are usually presented as passive and even ineffective participants in their children’s schooling. This study challenges the deficit model by centering voices of parents of students from refugee backgrounds. It asserts that it is important to reconsider, rethink and expand the concept of parental engagement vis-a-vis bullying and anti-bullying measures. The study re-positions parents as active and engaged participants in their children’s lives and schooling (Barton, et al., 2004). The following is a discussion of the theory of acculturation which provides the context of how schools can be spaces that allow all parents to be heard and can capitalize on cultural and linguistic resources of parents from refugee backgrounds.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Bullying: Physically or psychologically deleterious behavior by an individual or group, usually, but not always, repeated over time.
Acculturation: Change in one’s culture due to contact with another culture.
Unidirectional Acculturation: Refers to when refugee parents and students are expected to adapt to the host country’s dominant culture.
Bidirectional Acculturation: When cultures that come into contact recognize and value one another.
Cultural Resilience: The ability to maintain and restore one’s cultural traits, belief systems, and value even in foreign cultural land.