| Description |
Communities of refugee backgrounds while resettling in a host country face many challenges and adversities. At the same time, they demonstrate their strengths and resilience as they engage in their community and agency programs. Resettled communities also utilize internal and external resources and creative solving strategies to develop their own programs for addressing their needs and filling gaps in service delivery systems. Applying qualitative research and an ethnographic approach, this dissertation explores the practice of community participation and community-led programs under varied perceptions of resettled communities and service providers. The dissertation, employing the multiple article map (MAP), includes three independent and correlated manuscripts that will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Chapter 1 provides backgrounds of this dissertation including discussion of the problem statement, theoretical framework, research methods, and research rationale. Chapter 2 describes perceived definitions of community participation, and different models of community participation that resettled communities and service providers employed to deliver their programs. Chapter 3 discusses motivational factors and barriers to community participation. Chapter 4 presents examples of community initiatives developed and operated by resettled communities, combining with discussion on community strengths, community resilience, and community practice with populations of refugee backgrounds. Chapter 5 is a summary and conclusion of this MAP dissertation. |
