The impact of U.S. refugee policy change & political rhetoric on nonprofit service providers’ emotional well-being

ABSTRACT

This study examines how U.S. refugee policy changes from 2014 to 2018 affected the emotional well-being of nonprofit service providers. Participants identified the general political climate, including funding cuts; the Trump administration refugee bans; the unpredictable nature of policy change; and most impactful, negative political rhetoric, as affecting their emotional well-being. Negative effects on emotional well-being included an increase in stress, anger, sadness, despair, depression, helplessness, and caution. Negative rhetoric also impacted professional identities and personal relationships. Positive effects include greater motivation for advocacy. Impact on emotional well-being differed by level of organization at which the participant worked and by organizational characteristics.

KEYWORDS:

• Policy
• refugee
• employee well-being
• political rhetoric
• nonprofit

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the two refugee-serving organizations in Chicago who participated in this project. A Loyola University Chicago Faculty Summer Research Stipend supported this research.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

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