Establishing the Boundaries and Building Bridges: Research Methods Into the Ecology of the Refugee Parenting Experience

Abstract

This article discusses the suitability of the focus group method for conducting research early in post-resettlement among refugee parents and carers in South Australia. This method was employed to uncover the refugee parenting experience in pre-resettlement contexts. There were three refugee focus groups, consisting of a Sudanese women’s group, an African men’s group, and an Afghani and Iraqi women’s group. To illustrate each group’s differential parenting ecologies in milieus of forced migration ecological matrixes were devised which are presented in the results section. An ecological matrix was also developed to unpack, code and analyse transcripts. The matrix was designed to include categories and actions so as to construct meaning units and subsequent condensed meaning units to determine the concluding themes. These provided an analytical framework with which to illuminate the constructed meanings participants attributed to their refugee parenting experiences. The findings provide insights into the ecology of the refugee parenting experience and might be of considerable importance for Australian resettlement services and state systems of child protection seeking to develop culturally appropriate and relevant services.