Research with Refugee Children and Families - by Mehrunnisa Ahmad Ali (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Offers advice using first-hand experiences navigating the ethics of researching the wellbeing of refugees.

In the aftermath of the war in Syria, Canada and Germany welcomed thousands of refugees. Scholars in both countries conducted studies to learn how the refugee children and families were faring, and how local populations and non-governmental agencies were responding. This book presents researchers' accounts of responsible ethical conduct in complex situations such as these.

In this volume, contributors describe the challenges of data collection, analyses, and dissemination of findings. These include getting institutional and parental permissions to access children; ensuring privacy, comfort, and safety; and developing trusting relationships with those whose language, culture, and lived experiences are very different from their own. In doing this work, researchers can get caught between their obligations toward the refugee children and families, research ethics boards, service providers, and government agencies. This book offers advice on navigating these competing ethical obligations.

Research with Refugee Children and Families reveals ethical dilemmas, insights, and methodological innovations to build an effective framework for refugee research in various contexts.

Review Quotes

"Research with Refugee Children and Families makes clear contributions to the scholarship on research ethics by underscoring some of the particular ethical dilemmas that can emerge in refugee research while also - and crucially - providing clear examples, advice, preparation, guidelines, and approaches for anticipating and addressing these issues as they emerge."-- "Julie Young, co-editor of Mobilizing Global Knowledge: Refugee Research in an Age of Displacement"

"Drawing on diverse methods, disciplines, and ethical principles, the contributors offer rich insights into ethical dilemmas that arise in asymmetrical power relations at the intersection of migration and age. Particularly novel are the notions of ethical mindfulness and cultural brokering when working with children, youth, and families."-- "Christina Clark-Kazak, author of Research Across Borders: An Introduction to Interdisciplinary, Cross-Cultural Methodology"

About the Author

Mehrunnisa Ahmad Ali is a professor in the Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University. She produced the documentary Syria Was Once a Beautiful Country ... and her work has been published in Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, International Journal of Educational Research, among others.