Group social capital and the employment prospects of refugee women who experience domestic violence

ABSTRACT

This paper offers research insights on how refugee women who experience domestic violence develop employment prospects. Guided by social capital theory and the concept of group social capital, the paper uses a qualitative approach to identify intrapersonal and interpersonal processes in a group intervention that assist women members to adjust their cognitive reasoning about their domestic violence experience and engage in behaviours that potentially enhance their employment prospects. The paper contributes to understanding how group processes can foster small wins that may enhance the employment prospects of this vulnerable group.

KEYWORDS:

• Refugee women
• domestic violence
• group social capital
• employment prospects

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Donella Caspersz

Donella Caspersz is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia Business School with a research focus on temporary labour migration, worker organizing, prosocial behaviour and family/SME business management.

Renata Casado

Renata Casado is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia Business School. Renata researches, publishes and teaches in the disciplines of both human resource management and employment relations. Renata’s interests include talent management, skilled migration and workplace diversity.

Carol Kaplanian

Carol Kaplanian has a PhD on ‘Honour-based Violence in Jordan’. Carol specialises in clinical counselling and working with victims of torture and trauma. Carol has received many awards including a Churchill Fellowship to investigate family and domestic violence amongst the migrant and refugee populations.

Farida Fozdar

Farida Fozdar is Professor of Sociology and Global Futures at Curtin University, with a research focus on migration, race and ethnicity, refugee settlement, racism, nationalism, global citizenship and cosmopolitanism.

Loretta Baldassar

Loretta Baldassar is Vice Chancellor Professorial Research Fellow and Director of the Social Ageing (SAGE) Futures Lab and TRACS Migration Research Network in the School of Arts and Humanities at Edith Cowan University, with research streams focussing on social and cultural care, diverse and migrant communities, music and arts engagement and digital ageing and inclusion.