Enfances, Familles, Générations (Sep 2023)
Être parent à l’intersection de différents contextes socioculturels : l’expérience de mères réfugiées originaires du Moyen-Orient au Québec, Canada
Abstract
Research Framework: Refugee parents are particularly at risk of experiencing structural, social and mental health difficulties upon arrival in Quebec. Among the many challenges encountered, settling in a sociocultural context different from that of their country of origin can lead to significant difficulties, especially when these contexts include discordant elements. These challenges are likely to be heightened when children are between 0 and 5 years old. Objectives : This study explores the experience of parenthood among refugee mothers who find themselves at the intersection of different sociocultural contexts and who have a child between the age of 0 and 5. How do they experience parenthood in the face of different cultural elements?Methodology: Fifteen participants were interviewed via semi-structured interviews about their values, their parenting goals, and the challenges they have encountered as mothers since their arrival in the Quebec sociocultural context. Results: The results reveal sociocultural differences within three themes: 1) how they conceive the family and the ties within it, 2) how they conceive the ties with the neighbourhood, as a support network, and 3) how they conceive their child’s individual freedoms and rights. Conclusions: Analysis of the results highlights a difference underlying all three themes: the importance of the collective in the daily lives of the participants, as opposed to the individualism that they feel prevails in Quebec. The discussion underlines the multi-systemic dimension of this difference, and illustrates how it affects refugee mothers’ everyday experience. Contribution: The study provides a better understanding of the settlement experience of refugee mothers in Quebec. A number of recommendations and avenues of intervention are proposed to help support refugee families.
