Seeing “RED” to Serve Students: An Example of Advocacy for Counseling Services for Refugee and Immigrant Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent a U.S. newcomer school for adolescent English language learners lacked adequate mental health services for immigrant students. School counseling professionals at this school sought data to advocate for additional mental...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lisa Hoffman, Shifa Podikunju-Hussain, Melissa Fry
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ball State University Libraries 2018-12-01
Series:Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://openjournals.bsu.edu/jsacp/article/view/1471
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849705944203657216
author Lisa Hoffman
Shifa Podikunju-Hussain
Melissa Fry
author_facet Lisa Hoffman
Shifa Podikunju-Hussain
Melissa Fry
author_sort Lisa Hoffman
collection DOAJ
description The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent a U.S. newcomer school for adolescent English language learners lacked adequate mental health services for immigrant students. School counseling professionals at this school sought data to advocate for additional mental health professionals without asking inappropriately invasive questions about family legal immigration status. Leveraging the expertise of school administrators, refugee resettlement experts, and university researchers yielded a creative method for collecting student demographic information without violating student privacy. Looking specifically at refugee students from high-conflict backgrounds (the “refugees likely to have experienced distress” or “RED” variable) allowed researchers to pinpoint psychosocial acculturation differences in comparison with other immigrant students. A survey of students revealed differences in reported attitudes toward school and perceptions of discrimination among refugees from high-conflict backgrounds compared to other immigrants and refugees from lower-conflict backgrounds. Findings also supported the notion that immigrant students were likely to have experienced trauma prior to enrolling in this school. Results of this engaged scholarship allowed the resident school counselor to advocate effectively for a full-time mental health counselor position for newly arrived secondary students.
format Article
id doaj-art-feed0d3158c948c6b6d3e6a444dc88ec
institution DOAJ
issn 2159-8142
language English
publishDate 2018-12-01
publisher Ball State University Libraries
record_format Article
series Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology
spelling doaj-art-feed0d3158c948c6b6d3e6a444dc88ec2025-08-20T03:16:21ZengBall State University LibrariesJournal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology2159-81422018-12-0110110.33043/JSACP.10.1.38-61Seeing “RED” to Serve Students: An Example of Advocacy for Counseling Services for Refugee and Immigrant AdolescentsLisa Hoffman0Shifa Podikunju-Hussain1Melissa Fry2Indiana University SoutheastIndiana University SoutheastIndiana University SoutheastThe purpose of this study was to examine to what extent a U.S. newcomer school for adolescent English language learners lacked adequate mental health services for immigrant students. School counseling professionals at this school sought data to advocate for additional mental health professionals without asking inappropriately invasive questions about family legal immigration status. Leveraging the expertise of school administrators, refugee resettlement experts, and university researchers yielded a creative method for collecting student demographic information without violating student privacy. Looking specifically at refugee students from high-conflict backgrounds (the “refugees likely to have experienced distress” or “RED” variable) allowed researchers to pinpoint psychosocial acculturation differences in comparison with other immigrant students. A survey of students revealed differences in reported attitudes toward school and perceptions of discrimination among refugees from high-conflict backgrounds compared to other immigrants and refugees from lower-conflict backgrounds. Findings also supported the notion that immigrant students were likely to have experienced trauma prior to enrolling in this school. Results of this engaged scholarship allowed the resident school counselor to advocate effectively for a full-time mental health counselor position for newly arrived secondary students.https://openjournals.bsu.edu/jsacp/article/view/1471acculturationimmigrantsadolescentseducation
spellingShingle Lisa Hoffman
Shifa Podikunju-Hussain
Melissa Fry
Seeing “RED” to Serve Students: An Example of Advocacy for Counseling Services for Refugee and Immigrant Adolescents
Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology
acculturation
immigrants
adolescents
education
title Seeing “RED” to Serve Students: An Example of Advocacy for Counseling Services for Refugee and Immigrant Adolescents
title_full Seeing “RED” to Serve Students: An Example of Advocacy for Counseling Services for Refugee and Immigrant Adolescents
title_fullStr Seeing “RED” to Serve Students: An Example of Advocacy for Counseling Services for Refugee and Immigrant Adolescents
title_full_unstemmed Seeing “RED” to Serve Students: An Example of Advocacy for Counseling Services for Refugee and Immigrant Adolescents
title_short Seeing “RED” to Serve Students: An Example of Advocacy for Counseling Services for Refugee and Immigrant Adolescents
title_sort seeing red to serve students an example of advocacy for counseling services for refugee and immigrant adolescents
topic acculturation
immigrants
adolescents
education
url https://openjournals.bsu.edu/jsacp/article/view/1471
work_keys_str_mv AT lisahoffman seeingredtoservestudentsanexampleofadvocacyforcounselingservicesforrefugeeandimmigrantadolescents
AT shifapodikunjuhussain seeingredtoservestudentsanexampleofadvocacyforcounselingservicesforrefugeeandimmigrantadolescents
AT melissafry seeingredtoservestudentsanexampleofadvocacyforcounselingservicesforrefugeeandimmigrantadolescents