Refugee Women and Their Mental Health : Shattered Societies, Shattered Lives

Currently, there are over 15 million legally designated refugees all over the world and it is documented that 75 percent of those refugees are women, yet most of the existent literature does not focus on this group as women. Most of the literature focuses on political, economic, and social issues with very little reference to the mental health implications of the refugees’experiences as women. Refugee Women and Their Mental Health begins to fill this paucity of information on female refugees’experiences. A book of immediate interest, Refugee Women and Their Mental Health focuses on understanding the plight of women refugees around the world, with an emphasis on mental health. The book adds successful and innovative treatment and recovery models for these women survivors. Some of the chapters are written by women who are therapists/psychologists now and who have been refugees themselves. This adds additional insight into the plight and resulting mental health problems of refugee women. The chapters cover a vast range of topics: torture and sexual abuse as refugees/victims of state violence elderly women refugees immigration law and women refugees first-person narratives the transformation of identity successful creative treatment programs It becomes clear that women refugees from all over the world under different political events and circumstances share common values and have similar mental health needs. Refugee Women and Their Mental Health explores processes of recovery from the traumas experienced by these women and offers a variety of models for the application of feminist theory to the plight of women refugees. Experienced therapists of women and those in training to be therapists will want to read this book. The topics of refugee women rarely comes up in training programs, so the information in this book is vital for therapists, policy makers, and other service providers and professors of psychology of women, immigration and social work issues, and women and mental health issues. Explores Processes Of Recovery From The Traumas Experienced By Women Refugees From All Over The World, And Offers A Variety Of Models For The Application Of Feminist Theory To The Plight Of Women Refugees. Refugee Women And Their Mental Health : Shattered Societies, Shattered Lives / Ellen Cole -- A Personal Introduction / Esther D. Rothblum -- Roots Uprooted : The Psychological Impact Of Historical/political Dislocation / Olivia M. Espin -- Understanding Refugees : From The Inside Out. Coping With Stress : A Refugee's Story / Delia H. Saldaña -- Birth, Transformation, And Death Of Refugee Identity : Women And Girls Of The Intifada / Mary K. Roberson -- Women In Exile And Their Children / Maria Bylund -- Rape And Domestic Violence : The Experience Of Refugee Women / Amy R. Friedman -- Soviet Jewish Refugee Women : Searching For Security / Deborah Fuller Hahn -- Displaced Women In Settings Of Continuing Armed Conflict / Michael D. Roe -- Fifty Years Later : Am I Still An Immigrant? / Rachel Josefowitz Siegel -- Working With Refugees : The Challenges And Rewards. The Balancing Act : Plight Of Afghan Women Refugees / Sultana Parvanta. (cont.) Traces Of Khmer Women's Imaginary : Finding Our Way In The West / Sokhany Sieng, Janice L. Thompson -- From Helpless Victim To Empowered Survivor : Oral History As A Treatment For Survivors Of Torture / Patricia K. Robin Herbst -- On Trail In The Promised Land : Seeking Asylum / Nancy Grey Postero -- Journeys To Recovery : The Healing Process. Testimonio, A Bridge Between Psychotherapy And Sociotherapy / Adrianne Aron -- Healing The Wounds Of The Mahantdori / Theanvy Kuoch, Richard A. Miller, Mary F. Scully -- Women And Political Torture : Work With Refugee Survivors In Exile / Barbara Chester -- Markers Of Successful Aging Among Vietnamese Refugee Women / Barbara W.k. Yee -- Diagnostic Studies Across Cultures. Treatment For Psychosomatic Blindness Among Cambodian Refugee Women / Gretchen B. Van Boemel, Patricia D. Rozée -- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Among Salvadoran Women : Empirical Evidence And Description Of Treatment / Deborah J. Bowen [and Others]. (cont.) Post-traumatic Stress Disorder In Vietnamese Women / Judith Shepherd -- Healing Their Wounds : Guatemalan Refugee Women As Political Activists / Deborah Light. Ellen Cole, Oliva M. Espin, Esther D. Rothblum, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References. This volume looks at the human face of the refugee story, in particular into the mental anguish of women refugees. It details the hardships they have faced, their special needs and how they recover, and can be helped to recover, from refugee trauma. There are firsthand accounts from the women themselves and important contributions from the therapists who accompany them in their struggle to start anew. The editors provide evidence of the importance of considering cultural constraints and being sensitive to gender issues when treating the psychological problems of refugee women. The articles in the book are arranged by topic rather than by culture and fall broadly into four areas: understanding refugees from their own stories, the challenges and rewards of working with refugee women, the healing process and cross-cultural diagnostic studies. The insights offered into the emotional plight of refugee women could be of interest to advocates, therapists and policymakers. Each article begins with a useful summary of its contents. (Publisher's abstract) Approximately 75 per cent of the world's 15,000,000 refugees are women. This book focuses on understanding the plight of women refugees around the world, with an emphasis on mental health. It presents innovative treatment and recovery models for these women survivors. In the summer of 1981, I was walking past the Goddard College Admissions Office when a staff member beckoned to me to step in.