Exploring Integration Issues for African Youth of Refugee Backgrounds in Utah

Caren J. Frost, PhD, MPH
Human Research Protection Program & Quality Compliance, Director
Institutional Review Board, Co-Chair,
Center for Research on Migration & Refugee Integration
Former Director, Research Professor
University of Utah, College of Social Work, Salt Lake City,
Utah, United States
e-mail: caren.frost@socwk.utah.edu

Aster S. Tecle
University of Utah, College of Social Work
e-mail: aster.tecle@socwk.utah.edu

Suavis Kanyange
University of Utah, College of Social Work
e-mail: skanyange1@gmail.com

Kilee Jorgensen
Division of Public Health, University of Utah,
School of Medicine
e-mail: kileejorgensen11@gmail.com

Nathan P. Devir
Department of World Languages and Cultures,
University of Utah
e-mail: nathan.devir@utah.edu

ABSTRACT
Utah is one of the principal destinations for refugee resettlement in the United States. Despite the relatively frequent coverage of refugee stories in local news media, very little in the way of scholarly research has been written about these refugeesí integration and acculturation. Moreover, no research has yet dealt with the issues facing the youth of these refugee communities. In order to remedy this lack of knowledge about an important component of the populace in the state of Utah, this article uses an ethnographic approach to explore issues of integration and acculturation among African refugee youth. In addition to providing the aforementioned useful data on the status of immigration processes in Utah, it also contributes to the muchpublicized international debate surrounding the integration of asylum-seekers from lower- and middle-income countries.

Keywords: refugees, Burundi, Somalia, resettlement, integration, acculturation

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How to cite:
Frost, C. J., Tecle, A. S., Kanyange, S., Jorgensen, K., Devir, N. P. (2019). “Exploring Integration Issues for African Youth of Refugee Backgrounds in Utah.” Journal of Comparative Studies 12 (41), 66–93.