Publications

 

“We still have tribalism in the camp”: navigating ethnic conflict in a psychosocial support group

Authors: Charity Musiimenta, Betsy Miles & Nancy J. Murakami (2019)

 

Abstract: Refugees of differing identities and even feuding factions come together in refugee camps around the world in a mutual search for protection. Physical proximity, however, does not erase the difference and division that preceded their forced displacement. Interpersonal conflict and stress are anticipated challenges for social workers to navigate when providing services in refugee camp settings. In transit camps, where refugees are often only recently removed from the conflict and where they may spend only a few days together, group meetings may be a place where tension and disputes are voiced. However, the group setting at this acute stage of forced displacement also offers a forum for psychosocial support that initiates unity-building. This narrative reflects cross-cultural social work group practice conducted in a refugee transit camp in Uganda, and our efforts to practice critical reflexivity about identity, similarity, and difference in a humanitarian emergency setting.

 

Conferences

  • Charity Musiimenta, Betsy Miles and Nancy Murakami presented Psycho-Social Support Group (PSSG) for Refugee Transit Camps: A Manualized Intervention for Survivors of Persecution and Forced Migration at the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) Africa Conference: Social Work in Strengthening Human Relations for Social Economic and Political Transformation in Kampala, Uganda (October, 2019).

  • Charity Musiimenta, Betsy Miles and Nancy Murakami presented Strength in Cultural Differences: Lessons Learned from Group Co-Facilitation in a Refugee Camp at the 41st Annual Symposium of the International Association for Social Work with Groups (IASWG), Group Work in Communities: Breaking Down Barriers, Building Global Connections in New York, NY. (June, 2019).

  • Nancy Murakami presented Narratives from the Field: Development and Implementation of a Manualized Psychosocial Support Group for Refugee Transit Camp at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) 34th Annual Meeting in Washington D.C. (November, 2018).

  • Nancy Murakami presented Narratives from the Field: The Development and Implementation of a Manualized Psychosocial Support Group for Refugee Transit Camp at the 2018 North American Refugee Health Conference (NARHC) in Portland, OR (June, 2018).

  • Nancy Murakami and Charity Musiimenta presented Psycho-social support group for refugee transit camps: 3-session manual for group facilitators in Kisoro, Uganda (2018).