Introduction
The reviewed article is titled “Refugee Reception Re-examined: a Quantitative Study on the Impact of the Reception Period for Mental Health and Host Country Language Proficiency Among Syrian Refugees in the Netherlands”. It was written by Roxy Elisabeth Christina Damen, Jaco Dagevos, and Willem Huijnk, and published in the Journal of International Migration and Integration in 2022. The introduction section reveals the purpose of the article – to review the connection between the mastery of the Dutch language among immigrants from Syria, their mental health, and the duration and conditions of the reception period (Damen et al., 2022). Reception is when refugees have to stay in special centers, where they are taught how to comport themselves into the society they migrated to. This section makes a good introduction to their plight and why this research is necessary.
Literature Review
The article offers the background context as well as the specific situation for Syrian refugees within the Dutch community. It covers the differences not only in language but also in culture and religion, combined with their effects on mental health and language absorption (Damen et al., 2022). The article uses over 40 contemporary sources that have been picked to critically appraise the situation, so there is no reliance on a singular source (Damen et al., 2022). The review itself was done in a systematic fashion, with sources gathered from academic databases. One major point of criticism, however, is that none of the sources was made by researchers belonging to the studied group (Leavy, 2022). Migrant researchers from Syria could have provided unique insights unavailable to European researchers.
Methods
The study is based on the “New Permitholders in the Netherlands” survey, which was conducted by the Dutch government with the purpose of understanding how well new entrants are adapting to the environment they are now living in. This survey interviewed over 3,200 Syrian refugees, thus making it representative of the population (Damen et al., 2022). In addition, it covered a plethora of questions in regard to their establishment, understanding of the language, socialization, and other important topics. The subsection about mental health relied on the MHI-5 inventory (Damen et al., 2022). Though this has proven to be an effective universal tool, it has some deficiencies when addressing individuals from non-western cultures (Singh et al., 2021). This issue might have skewered the result in an undetermined way.
Analysis and Results
The results from the survey were analyzed using standard statistical methods, such as structural equation modeling (SEM). The researchers have accounted for variance-adjusted estimation and parameter estimation (Damen et al., 2022). The advantage of the chosen model is that it has high validity and reliability, and could be used in complex models (Leavy, 2022). One of the issues, however, lies in the interpretation of the results – it is hard to assess the particular aspects of model fit because no standardized residuals are available. Such an absence puts a limitation on the study. Nevertheless, the study found that the reception period is not associated with increased stress and mental health to the same degree as before (Damen et al., 2022). Refugees see it as an opportunity to learn and integrate themselves into society, which improves mental resilience. These findings are congruent with research by Sangaramoorthy and Carney (2021), who found that the feelings of belonging and competence fostered by fluency over a foreign tongue are beneficial to long-term mental health.
Conclusion
The article utilizes a plethora of resources, both primary and secondary, and is based on a survey that interviewed more than 3,200 people. Its findings are congruent with previous studies and theory available on the subject. They can be extrapolated to other national contexts and environments, in a limited fashion. The limitations of the article are recognized by its authors and accounted for. Overall, it is a solid source of evidence for future inquiries in this student’s field of expertise.
References
Sangaramoorthy, T., & Carney, M. A. (2021). Immigration, mental health and psychosocial well-being. Medical Anthropology, 40(7), 591-597.
Leavy, P. (2022). Research design: Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research approaches. Guilford Publications.
Singh, M., Thirsk, L., Stahlke, S., Venkatesaperumal, R., LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2021). Nursing research in Canada-E-book: Methods, critical appraisal, and utilization. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Damen, R. E. C., Dagevos, J., & Huijnk, W. (2021). Refugee reception re-examined: a quantitative study on the impact of the reception period for mental health and host country language proficiency among Syrian refugees in the Netherlands. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 23, 1-21.