Campus Location
Abilene Campus (Residential)
Date of Award
5-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Social Work
Degree Name
Master of Science
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Malcolm E. Scott
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Kyeonghee Jang
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Tina Fleet
Abstract
Refugees bring with them their customs, religions, and languages, making economic, cultural, and scientific and mathematic contributions to the American society. However, the challenges they face create barriers that could limit how much contribution they make to the American society and how much they can benefit from what America has to offer them. This exploratory descriptive qualitative (EDQ) study attempts to describe, using a sample of 15 parents, the lived experiences of newcomer refugees having children within the Abilene Independent School District (AISD) system, to find answers to the questions: (1) What do refugee families say they need to help them settle down well and succeed in life? (2) What are some of the obstacles to settling down and integrating in their new home? The findings of this study show that the central theme of coming to America is to have a better life, either through better education, simpler life style, or good-paying jobs. It also shows that most refugees assume some primary obstacles, such as culture shocks, new environments, sources of income, loneliness, and other related effects of leaving one’s native country.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Richards, Benedict Emmanuel Olohunfemi, "A Qualitative Needs Assessment of African Refugee Families Living in West Texas" (2021). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 357.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/357