8 On Post-traumatic Growth and ‘Choosing’ to be Happy: Stories of Positive Change from African Refugees and Asylum Seekers
-
Brianne Wenning
Abstract
Sandra, an energetic woman in her early thirties, sat facing me. We were in one of the support offices of the West End Refugee Service (WERS), located in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. Posters offering various services and phone numbers were pinned on boards on the wall, while an old desktop computer sat neglected in the back corner. Sandra gesticulated wildly as she talked, occasionally dropping her hands to the white table top and stretching them out before her. She seemed comfortable here, impervious to the impersonal nature of the office. It was not like the other offices which housed permanent members of staff; those were cluttered with knickknacks, personal photos and hand-scrawled notes. Instead, this ‘desk’ was a table, and all it contained was my open notebook, a recorder and occasionally Sandra’s hands.
She was discussing her life and some of her experiences thus far. I laughed with her as she related her most ridiculous moments – my eyes filled with tears as she related her sorrows. As she told her story, I sensed that it was coming to the present day where her situation remained unresolved. She was a refused asylum seeker in the UK, at the mercy of friends and acquaintances (as well as a few charities) to meet her basic needs: food, shelter, clothing. She explained how she was given accommodation in Newcastle as an asylum seeker, only to be evicted when her application was refused. Now she lived with an older British woman who attended her church.
Abstract
Sandra, an energetic woman in her early thirties, sat facing me. We were in one of the support offices of the West End Refugee Service (WERS), located in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. Posters offering various services and phone numbers were pinned on boards on the wall, while an old desktop computer sat neglected in the back corner. Sandra gesticulated wildly as she talked, occasionally dropping her hands to the white table top and stretching them out before her. She seemed comfortable here, impervious to the impersonal nature of the office. It was not like the other offices which housed permanent members of staff; those were cluttered with knickknacks, personal photos and hand-scrawled notes. Instead, this ‘desk’ was a table, and all it contained was my open notebook, a recorder and occasionally Sandra’s hands.
She was discussing her life and some of her experiences thus far. I laughed with her as she related her most ridiculous moments – my eyes filled with tears as she related her sorrows. As she told her story, I sensed that it was coming to the present day where her situation remained unresolved. She was a refused asylum seeker in the UK, at the mercy of friends and acquaintances (as well as a few charities) to meet her basic needs: food, shelter, clothing. She explained how she was given accommodation in Newcastle as an asylum seeker, only to be evicted when her application was refused. Now she lived with an older British woman who attended her church.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of Figures and Tables v
- Notes on Authors vi
- Introduction: Developing Qualitative Research into Happiness and Wellbeing 1
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Theories, Debates and Issues
- Living Well Together: On Happiness, Social Goods and Genuinely Progressive Sociology 21
- Happiness as an Affective Practice: Self, Suffering and Biography 47
- Personal Happiness, Social Unhappiness: Understanding the Complexity of Individual Happiness Accounts 69
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Communities, Biographies and Identities
- Developing a Biographical Approach to Happiness and Wellbeing 93
- Considering the Body in Happiness Research 113
- How Cultural Heritage can Contribute to Community Development and Wellbeing 133
- On Post-traumatic Growth and ‘Choosing’ to be Happy: Stories of Positive Change from African Refugees and Asylum Seekers 155
- Using Social Wellbeing to Inform Regeneration Strategies in a Former Colliery Town in Northern England 175
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Methodological Innovations
- A Board Game Approach to Studying the Multidimensionality of Life Satisfaction 199
- ‘Show Me What Makes You Happy at Work’: Visualizing Happiness in the Workplace 219
- Index 241
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of Figures and Tables v
- Notes on Authors vi
- Introduction: Developing Qualitative Research into Happiness and Wellbeing 1
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Theories, Debates and Issues
- Living Well Together: On Happiness, Social Goods and Genuinely Progressive Sociology 21
- Happiness as an Affective Practice: Self, Suffering and Biography 47
- Personal Happiness, Social Unhappiness: Understanding the Complexity of Individual Happiness Accounts 69
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Communities, Biographies and Identities
- Developing a Biographical Approach to Happiness and Wellbeing 93
- Considering the Body in Happiness Research 113
- How Cultural Heritage can Contribute to Community Development and Wellbeing 133
- On Post-traumatic Growth and ‘Choosing’ to be Happy: Stories of Positive Change from African Refugees and Asylum Seekers 155
- Using Social Wellbeing to Inform Regeneration Strategies in a Former Colliery Town in Northern England 175
-
Qualitative Research into Happiness/Wellbeing: Methodological Innovations
- A Board Game Approach to Studying the Multidimensionality of Life Satisfaction 199
- ‘Show Me What Makes You Happy at Work’: Visualizing Happiness in the Workplace 219
- Index 241
