PhD Student Sarah Richards-Desai and colleague publish article, "Reconnecting in exile: Reviewing informal group work for refugee women resettled in the United States"

Congratulations to PhD Student Sarah Richards-Desai and her colleague on the publication of their article, "Reconnecting in exile: Reviewing informal group work for refugee women resettled in the United States, in Perspectives on Social Work. 

Richards-Desai, S., & Agha, E. (2020). Reconnecting in exile: Reviewing informal group work for refugee women resettled in the United States. Perspectives on Social Work. 

Abstract

The transition process of refugee women is complex and further intensified by the intersectionality of race, gender, socio-economic status and the stigma attached with being a refugee in today’s political global environment. Additionally, the lack of culturally relevant interventions and trained staff drives women’s participation in informal groups delivered by resettlement staff and volunteers. The authors reviewed the literature and drew on examples of informal group work for resettled refugee women offered at the community level in two top resettlement cities in the Eastern United States. Informal groups often use unique ways to address resettlement related issues for refugee women, and report on the effectiveness of the program. In the absence of a formal evaluation process, important contributions and results are lost, and the authors call for a systemization of informal groups so that outcomes are captured and contribute to the research and practice knowledge base for integrating resettled refugee women.