Theorizing Karen Women’S Experiences Of ‘Power’ To Engage In Self-Help In Resettlement
2018-04
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Theorizing Karen Women’S Experiences Of ‘Power’ To Engage
In Self-Help In Resettlement
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2018-04
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This study describes the experiences of 10 first-generation Karen women to resettle to St. Paul, Minnesota. Since 2005, Karen people from Burma have been one of the largest refugee groups being resettled to Western resettlement countries. Existing literature suggests that refugee-background communities may have a wealth of knowledge and experiences in developing and adapting self-help structures and processes, and that they play a critical role in their own resettlement. However, little attention has been paid to how, why, and for what purpose new communities are able to (re‑)form historical self-help structures in resettlement or the supports or barriers that impact a community’s ability to utilize these structures to promote self-help. The purpose of this study was to examine Karen women’s experiences of power to engage in self-help in resettlement. Semistructured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 Karen women who had experience with Karen women’s organizations in Burma, Thailand and/or the United States. Interviews were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory methodology. Guided by principles of qualitative research, grounded theory, and ethnographic methods, what emerged was a preliminary theory of “power,” defined by participants as agency and capacity to help each other in resettlement, and factors that impacted their power to engage in self-help. Four categories emerged that explained women’s experiences of power to help each other in resettlement: (re‑)establishing a self-help structure; personal and premigration relationships or Knowing Each Other; having resources, which included knowledge, time, transportation, and financial resources; and having authority. Findings add knowledge that is situated in cultural context in relation to the experiences of Karen women. This dissertation study addresses several critical gaps in existing literature by revealing the processes through which a first-generation Karen community (re‑)established historical structures of self-help to meet the needs of their community in resettlement, the conditions that affected their agency and capacity to help one another, and by capturing the perspectives and experiences of Karen women. Findings can be used to inform development of interventions and resettlement policies that recognize and support the strengths, strategies, and resources that new refugee-background communities bring with them to resettlement settings.
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University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.April 2018. Major: Social Work. Advisors: Elizabeth Lightfoot, Patricia Shannon. 1 computer file (PDF); x, 214 pages.
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Horn, Tonya. (2018). Theorizing Karen Women’S Experiences Of ‘Power’ To Engage
In Self-Help In Resettlement. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/215184.
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