For Us, By Us: Visualizing and Narrating Youths' Perspectives on the Resettlement Process

Background and Purpose: Refugees typically attend cultural orientations both overseas and at local U.S. agencies to build the practical skills and realistic expectations needed for a successful transition. However, research indicates these domestic programs are often inconsistent and adult-centric due to a lack of dedicated funding, time constraints on refugees, and a resettlement model that prioritizes immediate employment over the needs of youth. To address this lack of standardization, this project centers on the narratives of young refugees, exploring how they navigate the U.S. resettlement process within formal and informal learning spaces.

Methods: In collaboration with local schools and resettlement agencies, this phenomenological study used in-depth interviews with 45 Michigan-based refugee youth (14-22) to analyze their pre-migration and resettlement experiences. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim to ensure accuracy using NVivo. A phenomenological hermeneutic (interpretive) approach was used to analyze the data, which consisted of several stages, such as reviewing transcripts to gain insight into the students’ narratives and developing and assigning codes to their statements. Finally, I collaborated with an illustrator to translate powerful refugee youth narratives into a literary comic book, creating an educational tool that highlights their voices and illuminates the resettlement process.

Findings: Refugee youth described their pre-migration educational experiences—often characterized by limited resources and harsh treatment in countries of origin—as starkly different from U.S. school-based experiences. Despite their challenging backgrounds, a consistently favorable view of education was held across cultural contexts. While they anticipated that U.S. schooling would provide greater agency and opportunity for their educational goals, these aspirations were often met with navigating the complexities of a new system. Consequently, while eagerness to learn was high, refugee youth often struggled to identify necessary supports. Furthermore, participants emphasized the necessity of hard work for academic success and frequently identified English language acquisition as a critical, top priority for successful integration into their new communities.

Conclusion and Implications: Recommendations are offered on how to support refugee youth as they navigate the resettlement process and integrate into U.S. culture. Targeting current and future resettled refugee youth, this project recognizes them as those best positioned to teach others about how this system works, based on lived experiences of navigating the complex U.S. refugee resettlement process. This project seeks to share the literary comics with broader school communities and resettlement agencies as a potential resource to enhance the domestic cultural orientations for newcomers.