Quote and Overview
"A focus on resilience offers a new lens that focuses on strengths and protective factors that provide an environment in which immigrant and refugee families can thrive and contribute to a continually changing and increasingly diverse United States society."
“Resilience in Immigrant and Refugee Families” by Jennifer Doty (2016) discusses the ways immigrants respond to challenges such as loneliness and isolation in a new country, economic struggles, and lack of educational opportunities. Introduced by Professor Hasanthika Sirisena, this text explores the immigrant paradox, which is the tendency for immigrants to do better in many areas (physical health, psychological health, education, etc.) than individuals born in the United States.
Discussion Questions
1. How does this piece relate to our country right now?
2. What are some challenges you would face if you moved to a country?
3. What are the dilemmas that our country is facing relating to immigrant and refugee families?
4. Are there any solutions to these problems?
Jennifer Doty
Jennifer Doty works as the Research Data Librarian in the Scholarly Communications Office of the Robert W. Woodruff Library at Emory University. Her position requires her to provide data management and curation support and services for Emory researchers. Jennifer has a BA in Education from the University of Arizona and a MSI in Library and Information Services with a Graduate Certificate in Spatial Analysis from the University of Michigan. She has presented research data management topics at regional, national, and international conferences and is a member of the International Association for Social Science Information Services & Technology (IASSIST).
In-Class Activities
1. Have students discuss any personal stories that they have with immigration or stories from their friends or families.
2. Have students research how immigrants are generally treated in the United States and how this allows them to be resilient.
