Pathways to Coping in the Context of Intergenerational Trauma among the Second Generation of Vietnamese Boat Refugees in Norway

Abstract

The current refugee crisis creates integration challenges for both refugees and host societies. The refugees experience severe trauma before, during, and after their forced displacement from their homeland to their destination country. This trauma might impact not only the health and well-being of trauma-exposed refugees but also their descendants, or so-called intergenerational trauma. Most studies on intergenerational trauma among refugees focus on the trauma mechanisms and the long-term negative effects – a pathogenic approach. Fewer studies explore strengths and coping resources, i.e., a salutogenic approach, to deal with intergenerational trauma effects; of these, most focus on the parental generation so very little is known about how their offspring cope. Likewise, among Vietnamese boat refugees in Norway, less is done on how their offspring have experienced and coped. Therefore, this study explores the difficulties experienced by the second generation of Vietnamese boat refugees in Norway and the pathways they have overcome their difficulties, in the context of intergenerational trauma.

This qualitative study was conducted in Oslo and Bergen, two large cities in Norway, with two groups of participants: Group 1 included six participants, aged in their 30s and 40s, who were born to Vietnamese boat refugees, and, to triangulate their perspectives, Group 2 included four religious leaders who are familiar with the Vietnamese community. The narrative in-depth interviews were conducted, and collected data was analyzed following thematic network analysis. Two theories were used to frame the findings and understand the coping of Group 1 participants: firstly, resilience which refers to coping strategies, and secondly, salutogenesis with its core concept of the sense of coherence (SOC).

The findings revealed two major difficulties experienced by Group 1 participants throughout their lives including intergenerational trauma and the pressures of growing up in the context of cultural clashes. The former difficulty was expected meanwhile latter difficulty emerged through empirical data collection as an important theme experienced by Group 1 participants. The manifestations of intergenerational trauma included the high expectations being imposed by their parents, and the burden of pleasing parents to compensate for their tradeoffs in the past. This intergenerational trauma experienced is located in the context of cultural clashes, where Group 1 participants struggled between their home culture and their outside home culture. In coping with intergenerational trauma consequences, Group 1 participants, in their childhood, coped through navigation, negotiation, and contribution, and in their adulthood, overcame completely through reflection. In dealing with cultural clashes, Group 1 participants eventually either engaged in both cultures (integration) or oriented to Vietnamese culture (separation) later in their adulthood. The health outcomes of both acculturation types are characterized by comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness, as three SOC components. In facing two major difficulties, the findings recorded the difference in coping between childhood and adulthood among the Group 1 participants. That is the difference in coping between a weak SOC in childhood and a strengthened SOC in adulthood.

Overall, the pathway to coping with difficulties throughout the life course among Group 1 participants in the context of intergenerational trauma and cultural clashes is the pathway of enhancing and strengthening their sense of coherence (SOC).