Table Of ContentBosnian Refugees
in America
New Communities,
New Cultures
CLINICALSOCIOLOGY
ResearchandPractice
SERIESEDITOR:
JohnG.Bruhn,NewMexicoStateUniversity
LasCruces,NewMexico
BOSNIANREFUGEESINAMERICA:NewCommunities,
NewCultures
ReedCoughlanandJudithOwens-Manley
CLINICALSOCIOLOGY:AnAgendaforAction
JohnG.BruhnandHowardM.Rebach
HANDBOOKOFCLINICALSOCIOLOGY(SecondEdition)
EditedbyHowardM.RebachandJohnG.Bruhn
THELIMITSOFIDEALISM:WhenGoodIntentionsGoBad
MelvynL.Fein
THEPARTNERSHIPMODELINHUMANSERVICES:Sociological
FoundationsandPractices
RosalynBenjaminDarling
RACE AND MORALITY: How Good Intentions Undermine Social
JusticeandPerpetuateInequality
MelvynL.Fein
THESOCIALCONSTRUCTIONOFTRUST
LindasR.WeberandAllisonI.Carter
TRUSTANDTHEHEALTHOFORGANIZATIONS
JohnG.Bruhn
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Bosnian Refugees
in America
New Communities,
New Cultures
Reed Coughlan, Ph.D.
ProfessorofSociology,EmpireStateCollege,
StateUniversityofNewYork,
Utica,NewYork
and
Judith Owens-Manley, Ph.D., M.S.W.
AssociateDirectorforCommunityResearch,
TheArthurLevittPublicAffairsCenter,HamiltonCollege,
Clinton,NewYork
ReedCoughlan JudithOwens-Manley
DepartmentofSociology TheArthurLevittPublicAffairsCenter
EmpireStateCollege HamiltonCollege
Utica,NY13501 Cllinton,NewYork13323
[email protected] [email protected]
SeriesEditor:
JohnG.Bruhn
NewMexicoStateUniversity
LasCruces,NewMexico
USA
Coverillustration:CoverconceptbyColinOwens.PhotosoftheBosnianfamilytakenbyConnie
Avery.
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2005923577
ISBN10:0-387-25155-3 e-ISBN0-387-25154-5
ISBN13:978-0387-25155-4
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Preface
InAprilof1992,warbeganinBosnia.Sarajevo,siteofthe1984WinterOlympics,
and,weweretold,oneofthemostbeautifulcitiesintheworld,becameacityunder
siege.ForallofthepeopleofBosnia,lifeshiftedinunimaginablewaysinamatter
of hours, days, or weeks. An immediate exodus began from Bosnia, and people
whohadneveranticipatedleavingtheircountrybecamerefugees,dependentupon
aworldsystemofresettlementfordisplacedpersons.
ThisbookrelatestheexperiencesofahundredBosnianfamilieswhocame
toUtica,atowninupstateNewYork.BosniansinUticacamehereasrefugeesbe-
ginningin1993,havingfledfromthewarsofsuccessionintheformerYugoslavia.
Our study evolved over several years as a result of our interests in the war in
Bosnia and the massive flow of refugees that it precipitated. We began work on
the project in the late 1990s as we set out to learn about the war and to explore
refugee experiences of displacement, transit, and resettlement. Our intent is to
portraytheexperienceofBosnianrefugeesinoneAmericancityandtocapture,
intheirwords,inasmuchdetailaspossibletheiradjustmenttoanewcommunity
andanewculture.
The community that serves as host to these Bosnian families is unique in
several respects. It is a small city with a relatively large population of refugees
whohavebeenresettledherebytheMohawkValleyResourceCenterforRefugees
(hereinafter,MVRCR).MVRCRwasestablishedin1979withamissiontoresettle
refugeesandtoaidtheminbecomingself-sufficient.Sinceitsinception,MVRCR
has assisted nearly 11,000 refugees from more than twenty different countries.
Approximately5,000oftheserefugeesarefromBosnia.
In addition to the interviews with one hundred families and the review of
literatureonthewarandtherefugeeexperience,informationabouttheresettlement
experience of Bosnians was gathered from a number of other sources. Owens-
Manley has served on the Board of Directors of MVRCR for eight years and is
currently the Board president. Both authors are also well acquainted with many
currentandpaststaffmembersatMVRCRwhohavebeengenerouswiththeirtime
and information. Also, through our many informal contacts within the Bosnian
community, we have been apprised of news, events, and rumors that shaped the
BosnianexperienceinupstateNewYork.
v
vi Preface
Thisprojectwasacontinuouslearningexperienceforus,andevenourcon-
siderableaccesstoandfamiliaritywithpartsoftheBosniancommunitywerenot
enoughatsomejunctures.Atonepointaboutthreequartersofthewaythroughour
interviews,weweretoldthattherewasarumorafloatthatwemightbeworking
fortheUnitedStatesCentralIntelligenceAgency(C.I.A.)ortheFederalBureau
ofInvestigation(F.B.I.)andthatweweretryingtocatchpeopleworking“under
the table.” We immediately halted our interviews and planned a large picnic in
a town park for the seventy-five families whom we had interviewed. A Bosnian
catererpreparedsixwholelambs,barbequedonthespit,inBosnianstyle,andwe
hiredaBosnianbandtoprovidemusicforfolkdancingatthepicnic.Thepicnic
wasagreatsuccess.Ithelpedtodispeltherumorandallowedustocompletethe
interviewsintheensuingweeksandmonths.
Thisprojectwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthesupportofandfunding
fromEmpireStateCollege,StateUniversityofNewYork(SUNY)andHamilton
College. The initial research and interviews in 1999–2000 were supported by a
year-longresearchgrantawardedtoCoughlanbytheSUNYEmpireStateCollege
Arthur Imperatore Community Fellowship. Empire State College later provided
a half-year sabbatical that made the completion of the manuscript possible. In
October2003,atravelgrantawardedbyEmpireStateCollegemadeitpossiblefor
CoughlantotraveltoCroatiaandBosnia,wherehevisitedseveralfamilieswhose
relatives we had interviewed in Utica. This visit helped to corroborate some of
theinformationwediscussinthebook.TheArthurLevittPublicAffairsCenterat
HamiltonCollegesupportedtheprojectextensivelythroughthefundingofstudent
research assistants, equipment and supplies, library resources, and funding for
completionofthemanuscript.
We express special thanks to the following individuals, without whom we
could not have finished our project and our book: our colleagues Linda Sallett,
KrisPaap,LindaWeber,andHalGoldmanforreadingandprovidinginvaluable
commentsondraftsofourwork;librarianJacquelynCoughlan,InstituteofTech-
nologyatUtica-Rome,SUNY,forherconsiderableassistanceinlocatingresources
forusandthereferencelibrariansatHamiltonCollegefortheirassistanceinfind-
ingmapsforthisvolumeandforobtainingthenecessarycopyrightpermissions;
Karen Raybeck and Sally Carman for assisting in the preparation of the final
manuscript;ColinOwensforthegraphicdesignoftheillustrations;andHamilton
College student research assistants from the beginning of the project—Timothy
Palmer,TonyaBloomer,andAmelaPorca.
OurinterpretersMirhaOsijanandDenisMistrictraversedalanguagebarrier
forusthatwewouldneverhavebeenabletocross.Denisbecamemorethanour
interpreterandwastrulyacollaboratorwithusintheresearchproject,aswellas
afriend.WearealsogratefultoourfriendsfromBosnia,nowAmericancitizens,
whograciouslyagreedtoreadthemanuscriptandprovidefeedbackonshortnotice:
BerislavandLilyVidovic,DenisMistric,SuvadaVeiz,andMirhaOsijan.
Preface vii
Weare,ofcourse,primarilyindebtedtoallofthefamilieswhoconsentedto
sharetheirstorieswithus.Nearlyeveryfamilyweinterviewedinvitedusbackto
talk,tohavecoffee,andtoshareameal.Theyweregenerousintheirconversation,
anxioustodescribetheirexperiences,andsometimesfrustratedwiththelanguage
barrierthemselves.Wehadapproachedourinitialinterviewswithalittletrepida-
tionaboutsensitivetopics;wewishedfirstandforemosttodonoharm.Butour
overwhelmingexperienceconfirmedwhatStevanWeinereportedabouthiswork
withBosnianrefugeesinChicago.Asheputsit,“testimonyfunctionsinboththe
privateandthepublicrealms,asameansforindividualrecoveryandasameans
of bearing witness to historical and social realities related to political violence”
(Weineetal.,1998,p.1720).Wewerenotengagedinpsychotherapeuticwork,but
ourvisitsandconversationswithfamilieswhohadexperiencedethniccleansing
borewitnesstotheirlivedexperience;thesefamiliesoftenthankedusforcaring
enoughtoaskandtolisten.Nowitisourturn,onceagain,tothankthem.
Contents
Preface.................................................................................... v
1. CommunityResearchandPracticewithRefugees:AnOverview....... 1
2. AConceptualFrameworkforResearchandPractice....................... 13
3. BosniansinUtica:ACommunityContext................................... 27
4. “TheBeautifulLife”andtheRunUptoWar................................ 41
5. TheViolenceofWar.............................................................. 59
6. DisplacementandTransit:TraumaticStressinthe
LivesofRefugees................................................................. 81
7. Resettlement:TheFirstYear.................................................... 97
8. LearningtheRopes............................................................... 111
9. ChallengestoPsychosocialWellness.......................................... 131
10. Acculturation:BosniansinUtica............................................... 149
11. SociologicalandSocialWorkPractice:Implicationsfor
HumanitarianWorkwithRefugeesinResettlement........................ 159
Appendix:TheAmericanPrioritySystemforBosnianRefugees.............. 179
References................................................................................ 181
Index...................................................................................... 191
ix
1
Community Research and Practice
with Refugees: An Overview
Creatingnarrativesthatarefilledwithourlifeexperiencesmaybetheonlywaywecan
knowandunderstandourjourneythroughthisworld(Stone,1996,p.42).
During the last century, the world has become more connected than ever
before.Improvementsintransportationandmodificationsinimmigrationlawhave
meantincreasinglydiversepopulationsformanycountriestoadegreethatwould
nothavebeenpossibleacenturyago.Today,personsdisplacedfromtheircountries
oforiginbywarsandcivilstrifeconstitutemuchoftheforeign-bornpopulation
in countries around the world. Disagreement over who has the responsibility to
respond to the world’s problems and what the response should be is a critical
issue as we begin the twenty-first century. This chapter presents an overview of
refugeeresettlementintheglobalarena,aswellasthemorespecificpoliciesand
proceduresintheUnitedStates,inordertosetthecontextforresettlementservices
forrefugeesinlocalcommunities.
Thestoryofglobalresettlementprovidesanimportantcontextforthisvolume,
whichtellsthetaleofBosnianrefugeeswhohaverelocatedtoonecommunityin
centralNewYork,intheUnitedStates.Policiesdevelopedbyeachoftheworld’s
countriesimpactwheredisplacedpersonsareabletorelocateandhowrestricted
theirchoicesare.Policiesalsoinfluencetheprovisionoflocalservicesasdisplaced
personsadapttonewcommunities.Finally,policiescreatethedistinctionsbetween
arefugee,animmigrant,oranasyleeanddeterminethewaysinwhichindividual
countriesrespondtoeachpopulation.
Foreign-born residents in the United States may arrive as refugees, immi-
grants, or asylum seekers. According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the
StatusofRefugees,“arefugeeisanalienoutsidetheUnitedStateswhoisunable
orunwillingtoreturntohisorhercountryofnationalitybecauseofpersecutionor
awell-foundedfearofpersecution”(UnitedNations,1951).Immigrantstypically
emigrate for better economic opportunities, pulled to a new life, while refugees
are pushed out and forced to accept a change for political reasons, often under
tragic and violent circumstances (Kunz, 1973). The departure of refugees from
1
