Refugee Mental Health in Resettlement Countries

Carolyn L. Williams is a Professor Emerita at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health. She is the author of books and scientific articles on refugees, psychological assessment, and adolescents. Working across cultures has been a longstanding interest. This includes being the only American and only woman appointed to a 5-person fact-finding mission by the World Health Organization (WHO) to refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border. She taught summer courses at Oxford University for professionals working around the world with refugees.Joseph Westermeyer (1937–2024) was at the time of original publication based at University of Minnesota. He served as a physician and psychiatrist in Laos from 1965 to 1967. During that time, he worked extensively with various ethnic groups, including the Hmong, and became a leading expert on public health, addiction, and mental health in the region. He famously established a drug treatment center and his research from this period formed the basis of his influential book, Poppies, Pipes, and People: Opium and Its Use in Laos. His work in Laos was foundational for his later career in the USA as a renowned authority on refugee mental health, particularly among the Hmong communities that resettled in Minnesota, California, and other states.

• Contributors. Preface. Part I: Acculturation, Psychopathology, and the Refugee Experience 1. The Experiment of Being a Refugee: Insights from the Research Literature Barry N. Stein 2. The Acculturation Process and Refugee Behavior John W. Berry 3. Migration and Psychopathology Joseph Westermeyer 4. Psychopathology and Social Disruption in Refugees Keh-Ming Lin Part II: Experiences with Various Refugee Groups 5. Experiences in a First Asylum Country: Thailand Bhirom Sughandabhirom 6. An Israeli Experience with Falasha Refugees David Zipstein, Rivka Hanegbi and Rachel Taus 7. Indochinese Refugees in Community and Clinic: A Report from Asia and the United States Joseph Westermeyer 8. Child and Adolescent Refugees: Psychiatric Assessment and Treatment Jean E. Carlin 9. Mental Health Care for Rapidly Changing Environments: Emergency Relief to Unaccompanied Youths of the 1980 Cuban Refugee Wave José Szapocznik and Raquel E. Cohen 10. Refugee Women and Their Daughters: A Comparison of Soviet, Vietnamese, and Native-Born American Families Rita J. Simon Part III: Special Assessment and Intervention Techniques 11. Mental Health Assessment of Refugees Carolyn L. Williams 12. A Psychoeducational Assessment Procedure for Southeast Asian Refugee Students Don A. Irwin and Camilla Madden 13. Mental Health Consultation in Refugee Camps Richard Harding and John Looney 14. The Establishment of Outpatient Mental Health Services for Southeast Asian Refugees J. David Kinzie Part IV: Implications for Policy Decisions 15. Planning Mental Health Services for Refugees Joseph Westermeyer and Carolyn L. Williams. Author Index. Subject Index.