Coping Resources among Forced Migrants in South Africa: Exploring the Role of Character Strengths in Coping, Adjustment, and Flourishing

Aron Tesfai (), Laura E. Captari, Anna Meyer-Weitz and Richard G. Cowden
Additional contact information
Aron Tesfai: Discipline Psychology, School of Applied Human Science, College of Humanities, Howard College Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Laura E. Captari: The Albert and Jessie Danielsen Institute, Boston University, Boston, MA 02446, USA
Anna Meyer-Weitz: Discipline Psychology, School of Applied Human Science, College of Humanities, Howard College Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041, South Africa
Richard G. Cowden: Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 21, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: This phenomenological qualitative study explored how forced migrants in South Africa cope with violent, traumatic experiences and precarious resettlement conditions. Data came from a larger empirical project examining migration, psychological distress, and coping. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 refugees and asylum seekers ( M age = 30.27, SD age = 9.27; male = 71.43%) who migrated from five African countries to Durban, South Africa. Despite overwhelming stressors, participants described pathways to transcend victimhood and hardship through engaging character strengths in ways that promote post-traumatic growth. Qualitative analysis revealed five overarching domains: spirituality and religiousness, love and kindness, hope and optimism, persistence and fortitude, and gratitude and thankfulness. Findings are framed within positive existential psychology and dual-factor understandings of mental health, which attend to both human suffering and flourishing. Limitations, future research directions, and clinical and community implications are discussed, with attention to the role of character strengths in adaptive coping and psychological well-being. The intergenerational transmission of strengths is explored as one potential means of buffering intergenerational trauma impacts and promoting family post-traumatic growth.

Keywords: forced migration; African refugees; coping resources; character strengths; existential positive psychology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/1/50/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/1/50/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2023:i:1:p:50-:d:1310260

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().