‘Good life is first of all security, not to live in fear’: a qualitative exploration of female refugees’ quality of life in the United Kingdom

C. F. Van der Boor*, C. Dowrick, R. G. White

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

There is growing interest in using Sen’s Capability Approach (CA) as a framework to assess the quality of life and well-being. The aim of the current paper was to use an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach using the CA framework to explore what constitutes a ‘good life’ for female refugees post-resettlement in the UK. Four focus groups with 16 women were conducted in Liverpool. Data was analysed using an IPA. The women’s experiences revealed three highly interconnected superordinate themes necessary to achieve a ‘good life’; (i) legal security, (ii) social cohesion and (iii) personal agency. The personal agency was the most prominent theme. The women described a ‘good life’ to be dependent on gaining a refugee status, suggesting this may constitute a basic capability for refugee women in the UK. After which, higher-order capabilities can be pursued such as exploring one’s agency, gaining a sense of belonging in the UK, developing a future and building and sustaining a sense of connectedness with others. Studies such as this one can inform the development of more nuanced approaches to assessing and measuring quality of life and well-being of female refugees in high-income countries such as the UK.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)710-731
Number of pages22
JournalJournal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
Volume48
Issue number3
Early online date09 Dec 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01 Apr 2022
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Travel costs for participants were reimbursed by the University of Liverpool. The authors wish to thank the women who participated in the focus groups and patiently shared their stories with us. The authors would also like to thank all the organisations who provided support with recruitment for this project. Additionally, the authors wish to the researchers who peer-reviewed the IPA themes. Lastly, they wish to thank Claire Youds, Sarah Masterton and Rebekah Amos for their support in taking notes.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Keywords

  • capabilities approach
  • interpretative phenomenological approach
  • Refugee
  • women

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Demography
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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