"Sometimes it's hard here to call someone to ask for help" : social capital in a refugee community in Portland, Maine

Abstract

Though they represent a small proportion of the total immigrant population in the U.S., refugees play a significant role in many cities and towns that have recently received substantial numbers of refugees but have little experience with immigrants. Despite their access to temporary resettlement services funded by the federal government, refugees experience constant and intense needs that are rarely fulfilled by formal assistance alone. Since most refugees lack strong social networks, they typically rebuild their social networks and use them for informal support after they arrive in the U.S. Because refugees are such extreme cases, I argue that focusing on their experiences offers important insights into how individuals create and use social capital, and what effect it has on various outcomes in their lives. This dissertation uses a mixed-methods approach to examine three distinct facets of social capital in the lives of refugees living in a non-gateway city. Multiple regression models reveal that social capital can affect earnings positively for male refugees, but negatively for female refugees. The different ways that male and female refugees experience social norms and reciprocal obligations that accompany social capital help to explain these divergent outcomes. When choosing which social ties to ask for assistance, interviews with Somali and Sudanese refugees indicate that, in addition to considering their self-interest, refugees also seek to maintain a dignified self. Further, refugees use social status and justifications for why they need assistance to help determine whom they ask for help. Finally, as "incubators" of social capital, religious institutions can play an important role in the lives of refugees.

(cont.) Evidence from interviews and participant observation at multiple religious institutions suggests that, in a non-gateway context, the functions of religious institutions differ for refugees from majority and minority religious traditions. I found that Catholic refugees use their church for bonding and bridging purposes, while Muslim refugees use their mosque primarily for bonding purposes. What role a religious institution plays in the life of a refugee is directly related to the interaction between context, and the socio-economic status and religious affiliation of refugees.