Understanding how classroom drama workshops can facilitate social capital for newly arrived migrant and refugee adolescents

Insights from Denmark

Bibliographic Data

ID2395583
AuthorsFinja Dähne (0000-0002-1951-6555, University of Copenhagen, corresponding author), Signe Smith Jervelund (0000-0002-1459-4781, University of Copenhagen), Nina Langer Primdahl (0000-0001-9548-3698, University of Copenhagen), Nicoline Siemsen (University of Copenhagen), Ilse Derluyn (0000-0001-5450-1239, Ghent University), An Verelst (0000-0002-7178-643X, Ghent University), Caroline Spaas (0000-0003-4468-6537, KU Leuven), Lucia De Haene (0000-0002-3806-1015, KU Leuven), Morten Skovdal (0000-0002-2068-1814, University of Copenhagen)
Year2024
Volume61
Issue2
Pages260-272
Publication date2024-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTranscultural Psychiatric Research Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0041-1108 • E-ISSN: 0315-4386
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/13634615231225099
PMID38304985
OpenAlexW4391476197
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited47

Art-based interventions, such as classroom drama workshops (CDWs), increasingly form part of a collection of mental health-promoting activities introduced in school settings. While research points to the potential benefits of CDWs for the mental well-being of refugee and migrant adolescents, the mechanisms to such improvement are less understood. In this article we respond to the need for qualitative evidence of how CDW interventions affect refugee and migrant adolescents' experience. The study draws on eight focus group discussions (FGDs) with 41 adolescents, four semi-structured interviews with teachers and a school coordinator, and written documents from two drama therapists. Our thematic analysis revealed that the CDWs were found to foster trust and improve social relations in the classroom-key facets of bonding social capital. Several processes were described as being linked to these changes. Participants spoke about how the CDWs were facilitated in an emancipatory and safe manner, creating social spaces where the adolescents could have fun together, share, and bear witness to each other's stories, as well as experiencing a sense of agency. In some cases, however, activities in the CDWs crossed the learners' psychological boundaries, which led to withdrawal and a loss of trust. We conclude that whilst CDWs have the potential to facilitate bonding social capital amongst refugee and migrant adolescents and their teachers, this potential hinges on how the CDWs are facilitated

Drama · Focus group · Mental health · Pedagogy · Political science · Psychological intervention · Qualitative research · Refugee · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Witness · Art Therapy and Mental Health · Creative Drama in Education · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Social Psychology