This study assessed barriers returnees experience during reintegration following displacement due to conflict and armed violence in Nigeria. The reintegration of returnees has been portrayed over time to be a complex process. Additionally, most studies and interventions have placed precedence on the objective aspect of reintegration, which emphasizes the economic part, while ignoring or focusing less on the subjective facet of reintegration, which focuses on the psychological and social elements. For reintegration to be sustainable, there is a need to view both sides of reintegration while working, researching, or assisting returnees during this process.
This study, therefore, emphasizes the barriers to reintegration for returnees, specifically from their subjective experiences, to close this gap and gain more insight directly from the affected population on their reintegration process and the barriers they face during this process. Data were systematically collected from 20 returnees using ethnographic participant observation and interviews with qualitative research methods guided by Charmaz's Grounded Theory research design.
The results indicated three significant reintegration phases, and different barriers could be generated within these phases. These phases are captured in the 3R’s Reintegration Model: Returning, Readjusting, and Rebuilding. These 3 phases collapse the complexities associated with reintegration. They highlight the barriers caused by and during displacement, the walls obtained while freshly returning to their destroyed communities, and the obstacles present while seeking to reconstruct their communities as a group and with support. This model is also the first kind; therefore, in the future, governmental agencies and humanitarian bodies can adopt this model to understand the process of reintegration and what aspects need to be emphasized when servicing the returnee population.
Outline of Studies:
Major: Public Affairs PhD - Social Work
Educational Career:
UNDERGRAD DEGREE (B.S.W) 2016, Babcock University
GRADUATE DEGREE (M.S.W.,) 2018 Savannah State University
GRADUATE DEGREE (MPA) 2019, Savannah State University
The Committee in Charge:
Dr. Asli C. Yalim
Dr. Kim M. Anderson
Dr. Julia O’Connor
Dr. L.Trenton Marsh
Approved for distribution by Dr. Asli C. Yalim, Committee Chair, on April 17, 2023.
The public is welcome to attend. Please get in touch with the Committee Chair (asli.yalim@ucf.edu) or Itunu Ilesanmi (iilesanm@knights.ucf.edu) for details regarding attendance.
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