Peer-reviewed article

Sense of identity among young people with refugee backgrounds: A scoping review

Farnaz Shahimi, Karen Block, Eva Alisic · 5 Dec 2023

Abstract

Multiple risk factors associated with the forced migration journey may adversely affect the identity development of young people with refugee backgrounds.Relatively little is known however, regarding how young people perceive their identity following the refugee experience and how their interactions with the environment influence this perception. To address this gap, this scoping review, which included 28 peer-reviewed articles from 2000-2020, explored the empirical literature that focuses on ways in which young people with refugee backgrounds represent their sense of identity. Our findings demonstrate that young people perceive themselves as having multiple identity characteristics, influenced by their interactions with their sociocultural environments and the need to integrate their past, present, and future. The review highlights the importance of holistic and pluralistic perspectives which consider factors at different layers of social ecology to understand how young people from refugee backgrounds shape their identities within their unique sociocultural contexts.