TPC-Journal-V4-Issue4

The Professional Counselor \Volume 4, Issue 4 323 Five participants talked about religion (3.3.1) and spirituality. Ana described her experience: “We have a church, at the time when we came the priest was this wonderful man, he was so kind, so we went often while he was there.” Zoran reported strongly that being a member of the cultural community gives his life meaning and satisfaction. Several participants added that the community was a source of frustration for them, with divisions along ethnic lines. Discussion Many studies in the literature support the idea that pre- and post-migration experiences can have an impact on the mental health of refugees (Mollica, 2006; Mollica et al., 2002; Silove, 1999). The purpose of this study was to achieve better understanding of the experiences, attitudes and perceptions of refugees as they coped with their traumatic war past and challenges in adjustment to United States society. Pre-Migration Perspectives The first research question addressed the experiences of the participants in the former Yugoslavia before their forced migration. In the literature about refugees, it has been well recognized that experiencing war is difficult and traumatizing (Miller, Weine, et al., 2002; Porter & Haslam, 2001; Silove, 1999; Weine et al., 1998). The results of this qualitative study are consistent with similar research on refugee populations who have been displaced from their countries because of war. This study also provides new information specific to the within-context perspective of trauma and violence that took place in the former Yugoslavia. The adversity that the participants faced reflected a broader political and socioeconomic conflict; yet this study focused on a phenomenological view. Two things are unique to this population. First, most participants were surprised by the onset of war and were caught unprepared to deal with the daily hardships. Participants described the transition from a peaceful life to the war period as a time in which tension and danger were increasing and the threshold between peace and war was reached. Second, the male participants who were drafted into joining the war did not believe in the cause and were forced to fight against different ethnic groups. Numerous research studies have established that refugees experience the first set of stressors in pre-migration prior to forced exile (Miller & Rasco, 2004; Pumariega, Rothe, & Pumariega, 2005). Silove (1999) developed the conceptual framework for understanding pre-migration experiences. The refugee experience contains an accumulation of stressors until a decision is reached to flee, which Silove (1999) referred to as the continuum of stress . As the participants in the present study stated, life-threatening events were a part of their daily lives in the war-torn country. The results indicated that the pre-migration experiences included exposure to war, sudden displacement, and loss of personal safety and security. The participants lived in fear, which they experienced as fear of mobilization and fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. As supported in the literature, participants voiced that the pre-migration phase was marked by major losses (Ryan, Dooley, & Benson, 2008; Silove, 1999), such as loss of freedom, employment, home, stability and security. The participants experienced considerable material deprivation and were able to take only a few documents with them before their escape. Many of their houses and other material belongings were totally destroyed. Participants in this study specifically discussed the loss of jobs, which represented the disappearance of their primary source of income and created financial hardship as they experienced “an ongoing accumulation of losses, challenges, [and] life changes” (Porter & Haslam, 2001, p. 818). Traumas that occur in pre-migration have captivated the attention of researchers. Some researchers described refugee experiences from different regions around the world (Ager & Young, 2001) and some described