Recognizing Relational Interactions with Social Institutions in Refugee Children’s Experiences of Intertwining Vulnerability and Agency

Jeanette A. Lawrence (), Agnes E. Dodds, Ida Kaplan and Maria M. Tucci
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Jeanette A. Lawrence: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
Agnes E. Dodds: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
Ida Kaplan: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
Maria M. Tucci: Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, Brunswick 3056, Australia

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 19, 1-12

Abstract: In this paper, we examine relational interactions between refugee children and social institutions, building the case for the recognition of the co-occurrence and intertwining of vulnerability and agency in children’s experiences in diverse refugee situations. This developmental relational approach offers refinement of a general relational worldview by specifying how vulnerable and agentic experiences are co-constructed by children and adult individuals and institutions. We analyze the conceptual roots of vulnerable and agentic experiences, and use the concept of co-construction to specify the processes and outcomes of interactive relational experiences. Evidence from example studies of the intertwining of vulnerability and agency in specific refugee situations demonstrates how refugee children contribute to power-oriented experiences. Due recognition of the relational co-construction of intertwining vulnerable and agentic experiences provides a basis for refining generalized relational observations, and a fine-grained basis for developing policies and procedures to dispel ambivalence to refugee children and to change inequitable policies and practices.

Keywords: refugee children; vulnerability; agency interaction co-action; co-construction experiences; refugee situations; recognition specificity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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