Broken mirrors: Shattered relationships within refugee families

Introduction
People all over the world flee from their homeland and seek refuge in foreign countries because their life is threatened as a consequence of their political or religious convictions or even the simple fact that they belong to an ethnic or social group that is discriminated against. Such dangerous political and social circumstances drive them to forced migration and an application for asylum, through which they may regain hope for new perspectives. Refugees have suffered many hardships and ordeals. For example, they are exposed to a lack of food and water, serious injury, rape, imprisonment, torture, combat situations and murder of close relatives (Nickerson et al., 2011). There is evidence of a strong relation between the multiple and chronic extreme experiences of refugees and the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is de fined as the consequence of a traumatic event or series of these events characterized by intrusive memories of
the trauma and symptoms of avoidance and hyperarousal (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). This disorder often co-occurs with depression and/or anxiety disorders (Fazel, Wheeler, & Danesh, 2005; Lindert, von Ehrenstein, Priebe, Mielck, & Brähler, 2009; Momartin, Silove, Manicavasagar, & Steel, 2004). In addition, exposure to violence, terror and war is thought to change a person’s fundamental beliefs, worldview and self-view, such that he or she no longer experiences the world as a secure place and his or her self-ef ficacy will decrease (Ehlers & Clark, 2000; Hobfoll et al., 2007; Janoff-Bulman & McPherson Frantz, 1997). Thus, the hardships that refugees experience appear to have a signifi cant and long-lasting impact on their functioning.Furthermore, refugees and asylum seekers experience the profound loss of their home and their homeland as well as the stress and alienation of resettlement in a new country and culture. Papadopoulos (2002) describes home as a safe haven for child development, both literal and figurative. For that reason, the loss of this intimate place could also be recognized as a life event that disturbs important meanings, such as security and belonging to a community.