The Culture Gap: The Role of Culture in Successful Refugee Settlement
Location
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (CBSS)
Session Format
Poster Presentation
Co-Presenters and Faculty Mentors or Advisors
Dr. Srobana Bhattacharya, Faculty Advisor
Abstract
Globally, the displacement of persons is reaching record numbers, including millions of refugees. The existing literature lacks specific quantitative analysis, and most of the available information on the role of culture is limited to psychological and social research. I expect that large perceived differences in the culture of the refugee and the culture of the country in which they settle will cause a combination of xenophobic public responses and restrictive government policies, and therefore will be negatively related to successful social integration of those refugees. I quantitatively analyze the relationship between cultural distance – the gap between the culture of the refugee and the culture of the country in which they settle – and successful integration. I also analyze prominent refugee crises between the late 1970s and 2016 to qualitatively assess the role of culture in integration. The case studies analyze the integration of Syrian refugees in Germany, Venezuelans in Colombia, Rohingya in Bangladesh, and Salvadorans in the United States. While quantitative results show GDP (per capita PPP) but not cultural distance predict integration, the case studies show that, when a nation’s capacity is large enough not to be of concern, higher cultural distance does negatively affect integration.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Presentation Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Riley, Chelsea L., "The Culture Gap: The Role of Culture in Successful Refugee Settlement" (2021). GS4 Georgia Southern Student Scholars Symposium. 78.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/research_symposium/2021/2021/78
The Culture Gap: The Role of Culture in Successful Refugee Settlement
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (CBSS)
Globally, the displacement of persons is reaching record numbers, including millions of refugees. The existing literature lacks specific quantitative analysis, and most of the available information on the role of culture is limited to psychological and social research. I expect that large perceived differences in the culture of the refugee and the culture of the country in which they settle will cause a combination of xenophobic public responses and restrictive government policies, and therefore will be negatively related to successful social integration of those refugees. I quantitatively analyze the relationship between cultural distance – the gap between the culture of the refugee and the culture of the country in which they settle – and successful integration. I also analyze prominent refugee crises between the late 1970s and 2016 to qualitatively assess the role of culture in integration. The case studies analyze the integration of Syrian refugees in Germany, Venezuelans in Colombia, Rohingya in Bangladesh, and Salvadorans in the United States. While quantitative results show GDP (per capita PPP) but not cultural distance predict integration, the case studies show that, when a nation’s capacity is large enough not to be of concern, higher cultural distance does negatively affect integration.
