2 February 2018

Being dispersed from networks on kinsmen? Birgitte Romme Larsen in Videnskab.dk (In Danish)

AMIS affiliate Birgitte Romme Larsen has commented on Ditte Shapiro’s (RUC) recent Ph.D. study on the geographical dispersal of recognised Syrian refugees in Denmark, covered today in a news article by Videnskab.dk. The study argues how the splitting of broader family networks that this national dispersal sometimes lead to can in fact turn out as counterproductive to the individual family’s process of finding their feet in Denmark. Larsen recounts how she recognises this discovery from her Ph.D. study from 2011 among newly arrived refugee families located in Danish rural communities. In her study, broader family networks commonly introduced new refugees to local cultural values and everyday routines – and demonstrated how to navigate these as to avoid local misinterpretation of their intentions. Larsen hence supports Shapiro’s finding by stressing how being dispersed from possible networks of kinsmen can thus critically affect the ability of refugee families to establish a new everyday life in Danish society.

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