The notorious Syrian War has recently brought its name to the world. The crisis of Syrian refugees who seek help from the outside has created considerable issues for both the hosting countries and the suffering refugees as well. The mental state and psychological well-being of the Syrians are constantly challenged by the tumorous past and brand new environment. Stressors come from both internal and external surroundings. Assisting the refugees’ physical and psychological needs remains as one of the most challenging tasks. The case of Aseel and her family is examined in this essay, to understand more about their traumas that they have been through.
By using the lifespan approach, it can be inferred that both Aseel and Nooda have experienced mental instability through the environment that they used to reside. The toxic environment is inevitably what creates the situation that she suffered. Coming from a stratified society of Syria created by the destructive leaders, susceptible followers and conductive environments, where the war is roaming worse than ever, and where human rights are at the bottom of the scale (Ahsan 301-323), the uncertainty of the family’s mental health does not come as a surprise (Padilla, Hogan and Kaiser 176-194). Massacres, torture, poverty, sexual harassment are not rarely unheard of (Hassan, Kirmayer,Mekki- Berrada, Quosh, Chammay, Deville-Stoetzel, Youssef, Jefee-Bahloul, Barkeel-Oteo, Coutts, Song, and Ventevogel 12).
Moving to the new society of Australia, she had a horrendous struggle of adapting herself to the new environment, partly because the new lifestyle is too distant from where she was born and raised, partly because her mind is still tangled in the midst of the external stressors, such as the pressure of revealing her true thoughts about herself. With a tiniest slip of words, she might cost her husband from permanently entering Australia.
The differences in cultural values pose as challenging issues for both social workers as well as the family. Often, the difficulties that the family has experienced from Syria, is hardly understood by the social workers. Not only have they overcome the toxic society of Syria, where the war is roaming worse than ever, and where human rights are at the bottom of the scale, they also have to bear the stress created from the constant challenge when moving out, ranging from the immigration process to the struggle to adapt to the new life. The challenge is crucial for the social workers to understand. Failure to understand thoroughly the scenario, the case of Aseel and her family will not be solved successfully accordingly.
Mental instability is another trouble that keeps the family from settling down with her new life. When Assel can show some improvement on herself by enjoying the group she is having, Nooda’s resilience is extremely low. She isolates herself from the surrounding environment. She could not attach herself from thoughts of losing her husband and thoughts of sorrowness seeing people showing affection in the public. The study of Hutchinson, the reconstruction of resilience made up dramatically by family, friends and similar-ethnic community support (Hutchinson 60). Her husband is still vaguely coming back, and her daughter can not show much support to her accordingly. She remains getting stuck in her own negative world.
Living in a historical time of her life, when Assel and her mother have spent time in the concentration camp, has shaped her experience in the future. Stated by Peterson, that the experience gained from the historical time would lead to the judging of actions that should be behaved according to the upcoming ages (Peterson 1996 14). Additionally, it has been report that sexually abusive children have more likelihood to have their own self-dignity increasing and sexual activities burdensome (Mullen et al. 1996). Aseel exemplifies the case well. The reason why Aseel has shown her strong and flirtatious sexuality in the public, is because of the old incident she experienced in the concentration camp. The exposure of the boy’s penis and that he started the masturbation in front of her becomes the risk factors creating a dysfunctional development in her young age. Failure to acquire enough protective factors, namely family and supportive networks of connective people, such as friends or relatives, makes the matter even worse. Her mother does not have the tiniest idea about situation. Without the exploration of her teacher, and without the assistance of the social worker, the revelation of her past will be nowhere to be found. From the case of Aseel, the psychological disruption one child got in the past at a young age can create a long-term negative effect to him or her when he or she grows up.
On the other hand, Nooda is struggling with her inner self. She is grouped under the category of Intimacy versus Isolation, according to the Individual Development Theory. Theoretically, those who possess both love and career, are successful individuals (Erikson, 1994). However, Nooda lacks both. She could not settle her mindset at ease because of her unknown-status husband. Career-wise, she has not been reported to be employed into any institutions. Thus, she both lacks the two fundamental ideas to accomplish the ultimate goal in this specific Group. Furthermore, she has yet to find a solution to adapt herself to the surrounding. She has yet to found a way to recover from the past traumas and adapt to the new life positively. Failing to receive any news about her husband is the additional stressor that she acquires. Understanding how difficult it is to enter Australia, and how tough that is to encounter the immigration, it is reasonable to see how much she fears for the future of her husband. Pre-migration and departure are two of the many stages that refugees are more likely to develop mental problems (Potocky-Tripodi, 2002). The small effect that Aseel and Nooda receives from the people they meet at the visitor lounge is not enough. On the contrary, it’s the visitor lounge that goes against its own purpose. Nooda could not find comfort in seeing other people being happiness together.
2.
Being born in a country that used to suffered dramatically from the war, I somehow understood the hardship that the family encountered. The only difference is that I have not experienced the real situation like they suffered. The time when us, the Southern Vietnamese, had to get on the risky boats to escape from the control of the Communist government, was unfortunately the time I had not been born yet. I was born when my country was slowly recovering from the bloodshed war. I could only grasp a very little information about the difficulties at that time through the stories of my relatives. I heard about the constant death of those who suffered from starvation and dehydration on the boat. I heard about the struggle of finding a host that accepted who they were. Never ever could I image how hard it is to live in as a refugee in the concentration camp. As a person who is living under the peace of the country, who has not suffered the obstacle of living in a war zone, and who has not experienced the trauma, I feel how much luck I have at this moment, and how much I need to pay respect to those who find their own ways to the new environment, to start everything from scratch, to experience the harships coming from discrimination, language barriers, loss of the beloved, and nameless incidents happening at that time.
3.
The fact that Nooda is not informed thoroughly about her daughter’s situation is a real challenge for me, as a social worker. According to the Australian Association of Social Worker’s code of ethics (AASW, 2013), one of the main responsibilities is to reveal the discretion in a professional way.
Since Nooda is still struggling with her inner self, is it vital and ethical to let her know about the situation of Assel? How would she behave if she knows her daughter’s situation? Can she handle the additional stress? What if she breaks down completely from the incident?
On the other hand, I also believe that it is completely unethical to isolate Nooda from the chaotic situation of Assel. According to section 5.2.1, social workers will prioritize the interest of the client before anything else. Theoretically speaking, the fact that Assel wants to keep her secret from her mother should be aligned accordingly. However, the aforementioned section also states that should other circumstances arise, the interest of the clients will be placed after, namely legal-related situations. The problem of Assel does not bear any serious legal matters that outweigh her main interest of not exposing her information. Technically, her wish should be still maintained.
4.
I pose a huge empathy to Nooda, because I am the one that understand the loneliness and isolation more than anyone else. Both Nooda and I have been suffering the struggle of finding the equilibrium from the new environment internally and externally. We are dramatically getting stuck within the internal negative thoughts. We are both getting help directly from the social workers, in terms of reaching us out to other people for help. Nooda is sent to the visitor lounge so she can interact with other people. Her adjustments are also reviewed and monitored as well.