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9 - Social Justice for Child Immigrants

from Part II - International Social Justice Issues That Have an Impact on Children and Young People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

By
Shawn S. Sidhu  and
Balkozar S. Adam
Edited by
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers ,
Aradhana Bela Sood  and
Mark D. Weist
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, New Jersey
Aradhana Bela Sood
Affiliation:
Virginia Commonwealth University
Mark D. Weist
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina
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Summary

Immigrant children are a particularly vulnerable population who face higher levels of trauma than their peers. Some are forced to flee the only homes they have ever known due to torture and persecution, only to then resettle in a land completely foreign to them with little in the way of social support. There are currently more than 60 million refugees worldwide, which is more than any other point in the past seventy years and higher than post–World War II levels. Others have grown up in the United States with an undocumented parent and are at much higher risk for poverty, overcrowded living conditions, educational and developmental difficulties, decreased access to healthcare and basic services, and, as a result, higher rates of behavioral health issues. In this chapter we explore the experiences of these special child immigrant populations and specifically emphasize elements of social injustice that this population routinely faces here in the United States. We also highlight existing literature that every child mental healthcare provider should know to work most effectively with this population. We have provided clinical case vignettes that highlight aspects of the existing body of literature in this area.

Keywords

mental healthimmigrant/immigrationrefugeeasylumtraumatorturepersecutionundocumentedminority/diversity/cultureadvocacy
Type
Chapter
Information
Social Justice for Children and Young People
International Perspectives
 , pp. 138 - 152
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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