Web Exercises
Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.
1. Go to the website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
(Search term: United Nations Refugee Agency)
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home
Under the tab “Who We Help,” look for information explaining the difference between a migrant and a refugee. Answer the following questions:
How does the definition of refugee given by UNHCR apply to Manisha (in the chapter case study)? What groups are currently receiving assistance from the UNHCR, according to the agency’s website? How does the mission of the UNHCR reflect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)?
* Learning Objective 1.3
2. Besides the situation in Bhutan described in the case study, what other situations do young people and families experience that qualify them to be considered refugees? A popular book among college students on this topic is A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah (2007). Information about the author and the book can be found at the following website:
Click on the tab “Multimedia” to find videos about the author and the book. The book is easily obtained through interlibrary loan.
After learning about Beah’s experience from the website (or by reading the book), complete the following exercise:
What assistance did Beah receive that enabled him to become an effective spokesperson on the traumatic phenomenon of being forced to participate in military conflict as a child soldier? Conduct an Internet search to determine whether children are still being forced to participate as soldiers in armed conflict anywhere in the world. Applying social work’s multidimensional framework and focus on social justice, what recommendations should be made concerning assessment and intervention with those who have had this experience?
Present your answers orally to the class, share them in your small class discussion group, or submit them in written form to your instructor.
* Learning Objective 1.6
3. As in Manisha’s situation, refugee families often have young children with them in the refugee camps and when they arrive in a new country for resettlement. In recent decades, large communities of refugees from Somalia have been resettled in parts of the United States. A documentary by Anne Makepeace, Rain in a Dry Land, begins with the situation of two Somali Bantu families displaced by war and follows them from their time in a refugee camp and preparation for resettlement in the U.S. through their first 18 months in their new homes (Atlanta, GA, and Springfield, MA). The (82-minute-long) film is available through interlibrary loan.
Students can view the first 10 minutes of the film and learn about the families’ challenges at the following websites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MkOR_0lu84 (shows the beginning section of the film about the families’ experience prior to coming to the U.S.)
http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/ridl.html (information about the film)
After students have watched the beginning of the film and read the summary of it (or seen the complete film), they are aware of the traumatic experiences the families actually had prior to fleeing from their homes. Prepare to discuss the following questions in class:
From what you have learned about the families’ experiences, what other needs do you recognize that families like them may have in addition to shelter? In other words, what does a social worker need to know in order to comprehensively assist any refugee who is categorized as displaced due to war? What are your reactions to the experiences of violence, to life in the refugee camp, and to the preparation the families received for resettlement in the United States? What are some of the main challenges facing the families when they arrive in the United States? Briefly describe the range of experiences the children have in their new schools. What are the challenges for the schools in helping the children adjust to the educational settings?
* Learning Objective 1.1
4. In addition to the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) recommended in the chapter, Zimbardo and Boyd have another inventory on their website:
http://www.thetimeparadox.com/transcendental-future-time-perspective-inventory/
This inventory reflects beliefs about transcendental reality and spiritual rather than scientific or empirical approaches to existence.
Students can individually complete this inventory online and submit a written summary of the significance of this perspective and the meaning to them of their results. Alternatively, the class could anonymously answer the questions (in a hard-copy version), and the instructor could collect the answers, tabulate the results, and then discuss the range of perspectives found in the class and the implications this has for practice with a spiritually diverse population.
* Learning Objective 1.2 (time orientation and spiritual dimension)