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

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.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Allen, Ryan P

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Xavier de Souza Briggs.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42263

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/42263