Bosnian Refugee Life in America Essay Example for Free

Bosnian Refugee Life in America Essay Thousands of refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina have fled to the United States to seek protection from the ethnoreligious conflicts of the region. To best assist these families, service providers must understand their wartime and migration experiences and their culture. The purpose of this article is to review the literature relevant to working with Bosnian Muslim refugees as well as to understand the uruque issues facing this population. The authors interest in Bosnian Muslim refugees is a personal one. Between 1992 and 2001, nearly 3,500 Bosnian refugees escaping ethnic cleansing and war migrated to Bowling Green, a small city of 50,000 in rural southcentral Kentucky. The Bowling Green International Center has been a part of the local community since 1979 and actively works with the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). For more than 25 years, the center has assisted thousands of refugees of many nationalities in their migration to the United States and the local community. According to the centers director, Marty Deputy, Bosnians make up the largest percentage of refugees that have relocated to Bowling Green (personal communication, February 3, 2005). Deputy also indicated that while Bosnian refugees have adapted well to the local community, they still face many challenges because of their experiences in Bosnia in addition to their integration into a new culture. One of the issues that continue to haunt many Bosnian refugees is post-traumatic stress—a result of war and genocide. Post-traumatic stress is particularly an issue for the adult women, who experienced the trauma of rape and sexual assault as well as witnessing the murder of their children and spouses. According to Deputy (personal communication, February 3, 2005), social workers should approach Bosnian families and children with cultural competence. If visiting a Bosnian home, for example, removing ones shoes when entering is a display of respect and sensitivity. A willingness to drink a strong cup of Bosnian coffee is also appreciated. Social workers also must be sensitive about body language and speech tone. It is also important not to assume that all Bosnians are alike. As with all cultures, there is tremendous variation in the Bosnian culture, along with individual differences in personality and environmental experiences. Bosnian Muslim Experiences in the War The 1991 census for Bosnia-Herzegovina shows that Muslims made up 43. 7% of the total population of 4. 3 million people. Serbs accounted for 31. 3% and Croats 17. 3% (Bringa, 1995). Serbs identified the Muslims majority population base in Bosnia-Herzegovina as its strategic strength (Cigar, 1995). In 1992, therefore, the Serbs declared war and began a campaign of ethnic cleansing to eradicate non-Serbs. The term ethnic cleansing stands for the policy of ridding an area of an undesirable national group to create a homogenous region; it represents a type of genocide that is designed to spread terror (Friedman, 1996; Weine Laub, 1995). Serbias initial rationale for its policy was promulgated by the belief that the newly formed state of Bosnia-Herzegovina would create national minorities of the Serb population and eventually destroy the Serb populace as a discrete and unique nation (Friedman, 1996). The prospect of acquiring material goods from the Muslims—land, livestock, houses, cars, and cash—apparently was an additional powerful incentive for many Serbs (Cigar, 1995; Sells, 1998). The indigenous Bosnian Serb population was drawn into a terror campaign of killing and mayhem so the non-Serbian populations would never return. This persecution ultimately led to more than one million Balkan refugees migrating to the United States and other countries. The types of experiences they endured in their homeland before emigrating dramatically influenced their initial adaptation to these new environments. Resettlement and Adaptation Issues As difficult as the war-related experiences were, migration to resettlement countries signaled a transition to new types of struggles for Bosnian refugees. Unlike immigrants who leave their homes for a variety of reasons, refugees leave in order to survive, and they face a new realm of stressors as they attempt to rebuild their lives in exile (Keyes, 2000; Worthington, 2001). Such stressors include difficult transit experiences; culture shock; adjustment problems related to language and occupational change; and disruption in their sense of self, family, and community (Lipson, 1993; Worthington, 2001). Additionally, refugees leaving Bosnia-Herzegovina often have suffered multiple losses, such as severance from family and friends who have been left behind or killed, displacement from their homes and communities, social isolation, and the premature death of their children. Such an accumulation of loss can leave a sense of unresolved grief that can significantly impact mental health and future functioning capacity (Akhtar, 1992; Fullilove, 1996; Sundquist Johansson, 1996; Worthington, 2001). When refugees cross national boundaries seeking asylum, they typically find themselves in an alien social environment with norms that challenge their traditional patterns of family interaction (Mayadas Segal, 2000). Most Bosnian refugees have a hierarchical familial power structure and clear role definitions; in the homeland, authority was typically gender-based, with males maintaining instrumental roles and females fulfilling nurturing responsibilities. A traditional Bosnian womans commitment to her family includes observing strict codes of privacy and public silence on any issue that might bring shame on the family, such as family discord. For many women, this privacy mandate deters them from divulging details about marital strife or child maltreatment by spouses to outsiders such as work colleagues, community members, and mental health professionals. Consequently, Bosnian female refugees continue to be caught between traditional role models prevalent throughout the former Yugoslavias patriarchal society in the 20th Century and the expectations of their new culture. The Bosnian familys patriarchal patterns of behavior tend to be challenged on arrival in the United States, particularly around work-related issues. Women are more likely than men to find jobs in the low-wage labor market, and in becoming the breadwinners exposed to the outside world, they risk upsetting a family equilibrium based on male authority (Mayadas Segal, 2000). For Bosnian men, key ethnic and social boundary markers of their lives had evaporated; because of their grief over this, many seemed paralyzed in their attempt to move forward in their new life. Bosnian refugee children also face immense acculturation pressures (Mayadas Segal, 2000). They often are torn between the beliefs, customs, and values learned in their native culture and the often unrealistic expectations of the new one. The pressure to assimilate the cultural norms of their new country can be intense and extremely stressful. Their parents often lack the material resources and support systems to adequately assist them in navigating the complex terrain of foreign school systems, pervasive racism, and intolerance (Mayadas Segal, 2000). Consequently, many feel as if they are alone in a foreign, sometimes unforgiving new cultural milieu. To further complicate the situation, family roles often reverse as children typically become more fluent in English faster and adapt more quickly to the customs of the new country (Potocky, 1996). Because children are thrust into the role of serving as the interpreters and negotiators of cultural norms for their parents, respect for the authority of elders is often undermined (Carlin, 1990; Drachman; 1992). Even though most teenagers in the United States feel a certain amount of intergenerational tension, the adolescents of refugees often experience the pull of two vastly different worlds: those of their American peers and their parents (Mayadas Segal, 2000). They also feel subjected to the xenophobia of their American peers, who often ridicule others who they label as different. Immigration to the United States has provided Bosnian Muslim refugee families with many challenges as they struggle to adapt to their new lives. At first glance, their experiences may be similar to that of other immigrants, raising the familiar questions about how to perpetuate the faith of their forebears among their offspring or how to best preserve cherished cultural practices (Yazbeck- Haddad Esposito, 2000). But there are some real differences. With the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, the potential for a xenophobic reception of Muslim immigrants and refugees by Americans has intensified. For example, disputes over the building of mosques represent a key source of friction for most Westerners (Pipes Duran, 1993). While Bosnian Muslim families may encounter the same issues earlier generations of immigrants faced, they also are burdened with the question of whether their children will be accepted in the United States, and whether Islam can ever be recognized as a positive force that contributes to a pluralistic, multicultural nation (Yazbeck-Haddad Esposito, 2000). Culturally Competent Practice with Bosnian Muslims When working with Bosnian Muslim refugees, service providers need to learn as much as possible about their culture, particularly given the pivotal role that ethnoreligious identity has played in their war-related experiences (Witmer Culver, 2001). Bosnian men and women tend to adhere to traditional gender roles; connected with this issue is the intense stigma attached to the sexual violation of women. This stigma frequently led women to refrain from disclosing war rapes to their families (Witmer Culver, 2001). Bosnian Muslims typically act in ways that preserve the positive image of the familys identity, especially males, who see openly revealing vulnerability or suffering as a sign of great personal weakness (Weine et al. , 1997). Family is the most important social structure across the urban and rural regions of Bosnia (Mojica-Castillo, 2001). Up until the 1970s, adult children commonly lived with their parents and multiple generations lived in the same house. But today, twoparent families predominate in this region with extended family members often living nearby. A cluster of shoes can typically be found outside a Bosnian home (Mojica-Castillo, 2001). This is because it is customary to remove street shoes and leave them at the door. Bosnians maintain a strong social tradition of neighborliness. The drinking of strong coffee or the sharing of food, accompanied by the essential element of lively conversation, is an important aspect of social life. Traditional music and folk dances are an important part of cultural celebrations. A basic principle of generalist social work is that practitioners need to be able to intervene on behalf of various systems, including individuals, families, orgaruzations, and communities. Additionally, the generalist social worker operates within an ecological framework that attempts to improve coping patterns for a better match between the client systems needs and the characteristics of his or her environment. An empowerment approach to generalist practice assumes that clients can draw from existing competencies and reservoirs of strength. Empowerment indicates the intent and the processes of assisting client systems to discover and expand the tools and resources around them (Furuto, 2004). Swift and Levin (1987) referred to empowerment as an evolution from dependence to independence and interdependence. Gutierrez (1990) described empowerment as the process of increasing personal, interpersonal, or political power so that individuals can take action to improve their life situations (p. 140). The strengths perspective enhances the concept of empowerment with its focus on promoting healing. Healing implies both wholeness and the inborn ability of the mind and body to resist and regenerate when faced with disruption, disorder, or disease (Furuto, 2004). Ethnic and religious identity may lead to discrimination when the refugee is seeking a job that requires intervention on a more personal level. Long-term difficulty in finding a job that provides the family with adequate income may cause low self-esteem and family tension culminating in violence (Furuto Murase, 1992). Various system levels often must be addressed simultaneously (Mayadas Segal, 2000). Western thinking on designing comprehensive mental health services is mostly based on the individual as the primary system targeted for intervention; hence, existing services tend to be designed for a North American population (Mooren Kleber, 1999). Furthermore, treatment of mental health disorders typically follows a medical model using talk therapy and drugs. Western theories also emphasize intrapersonal processes in isolation from the cultural context. The prevailing view that the responses to trauma are individual centered is in keeping with this tradition. Service providers must use the refugees own, indigenous cultural definitions of health and illness when making mental health assessments (Boothby, 1996; Wing Sue, Ivey, Pedersen, 1996). For example, a Bosnian client who had the Western diag nosis of major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder refused medication saying that there was nothing wrong with him that medications could fix, and insisted that the clinician understand that his current condition was a result of the wrongs that had been done to him, and not because of anything that was wrong with him (Weine Laub, 1995, p. 255). To address the issue of respecting the clients definition of the issue, Yuen (1999) promoted a more holistic biopsychosocial model of intervention when working with Bosnian children and their families; hence, the importance of using an ethnically sensitive ecological framework becomes a second principle of culturally competent practice. A third principle is to respect the indigenous strengths and resources within Bosnians that empower them to cope with their own experiences. Chow Yuen (2000) noted the necessity for an empowerment and capacity building model where refugees become partners in the design and elivery of services within their community. Efforts to design and deliver human service programs should include using indigenous Bosnian religious and cultural organizations, as well as self-help groups (Chow Yuen, 2000). Conclusion After Bosnians flee their homeland, they need protection in the asylum country. This necessitates supportive policies and macrolevel intervention competence. The main policy that guides refugee resettlement in the United States is Public Law 96-212, the Refugee Act of 1980 (Mayadas Segal, 2000). Based on the goal of helping refugees achieve economic self-sufficiency as quickly as possible, the act defines self-sufficiency as not receiving welfare benefits (Potocky, 1996). As such, this policy may be ineffective in helping refugees to settle in an optimal manner. To become truly self-sufficient, service providers need to redefine success in more progressive ways, such as helping refugees to effectively deal with resettlement issues relating to acculturation, psychological trauma, and intergenerational conflict—all of which can impede long-term economic self-sufficiency. This new goal requires adequate fiscal resources to develop programs and engage in active community outreach (Mayadas Segal, 2000). Social services must aspire to restore the psychological health and dignity of these families and children, who have seen the worst side of human nature. Helping them establish a positive self-image is critical to their success. While the genocide of family members and violent acts can never be forgotten, surrounding Bosnian Muslim refugees with a network of positive, supportive services can help them establish a solid foothold in the United States.

Arizona SnowBowl Essay -- Snow Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Arizona SnowBowl â€Å"A typical Ski season at the Arizona Snow-Bowl last from December to Easter† (Arizona SnowBowl Upgrade proposed Action, September 2002, p.2). The Arizona Snow-Bowl, which is located in the San Francisco Peaks, seven miles outside of Flagstaff, Arizona was only open four days last year! Alarming? Yes, this is why the Arizona Snow bowl has released a full proof plan, which consists of making their own snow! Thanks to Wayne Pierce, the inventor of the snowmaking machine, Arizona Snowbowl has offered a proposal to remodel their ski resort. which includes the installation of Snow-making machines. The remodeling also includes the building of one new chair lift, the addition of new ski runs, maintenance work on three existing chair lifts, lighting for night time skiing, the creation of a half pipe, the addition of a snow play area for families, the improvement of service facilities/infrastructure, and a cultural center for native Americans. If it were not for Wayne Pierce and his great invention, the Arizona SnowBowl would not even be able to consider these improvements. The improvements would not be plausible without a consistent ski season, which a snow machine can deliver. With all the advantages that a snow machine could bring to Northern Arizona, there are some people who do not want to see the Arizona SnowBowl join the ninety-one percent of ski areas who make their own snow on National Forest land (Murray, p.3). These people have raised great controversy in Northern Arizona because they would like to see the mountain stay as pristine as possible. The only problem with their point of view is that there are more advantages than disadvantages to installing snow machines. The biggest advantage ... ...None of the renovations being made will take place outside of the Arizona SnowBowl boundaries. Also, the Arizona SnowBowl boundaries only take up â€Å"†¦.4 of one percent of the total acreage of the Peaks† (Frederick, p. 2). The only things the renovations will do are improve the ski area itself. The Arizona SnowBowl is one of the few ski resorts in the west that does not make artificial snow. If the Arizona SnowBowl were to make their own snow the positives would far exceed the negatives. The positives that would occur would be an economic increase to the Flagstaff area. Also, the customer satisfaction at the ski resort would go up significantly. The Arizona SnowBowl would not expand its boundaries, thus the peaks would not be negatively impacted. If snow could be made on the mountain Flagstaff would become a resort town and attract a wider range of snow users.

Project How Iim Students Improve Their Career

Two IIM-A grads shun Rs 1-cr offer AHMEDABAD: Declining pre-placement offers is nothing new for students of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, but declining the highest offers ever made in the institute has raised more than a few eyebrows. Two of the six second-year post-graduate programme students of IIM-Ahmedabad who were offered the position of associates by Deutsche Bank, declined it despite their salaries, in rupee terms, was more than Rs 1 crore. Debashish Chakravarty, one of the two students who refused the offer said, â€Å"I declined the offer because I wanted to be on my own. The challenge of entrepreneurship was more exciting for him than taking up a cushy job. â€Å"Three other classmates and I have planned to start our own business. We plan to start production and retailing of women's lingerie,† said Chakravarty, who was serving in the Army before taking voluntary retirement. Vineeta Singh, who too rejected the Deutsche Bank offer will be joining Chakravar ty, along with Bhushan Dabir and Vishal Prabhu Khan-olkar. â€Å"We did a detailed market research on women's lingerie and found huge customer dissatisfaction. We have a business plan ready,† said Chakravarty. The financing of the project is being negotiated with venture capitalists and if everything goes as per plan we hope to be in the market with our product by next year,† Chakravarty said. Source: http://timesofindia. indiatimes. com/articleshow/968988. cms IIM-A alumni run online CAT coaching Though the country’s six Indian Institutes of Management’s Admission Group have decided to make their Common Admission Test (CAT) online from next year, four alumni of IIM Ahmedabad have managed to beat their alma mater in the Net game. Four students of the Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Management, who opted ut of the placement process in 2007, already have a Website that imparts online coaching for CAT. The foursome, Vineeta Singh, Bhusan Davir, Vishal Prabh ukhanolkar and Debashish Chakravarty, were in the news in 2007 for spurning high-paying job offers, to start a venture to manufacture a new range of lingerie. Though this new venture did not take off, they started a Website,www. tenaday. co. in, which provides online coaching for CAT. The venture currently has about 29,000 registered users, Prabhukhanolkar told the Hindustan Times on Tuesday. Presently, the venture is the only online CAT coaching portal in the country.Asked about what made them start an online CAT coaching site, Prabhukhanolkar said that the logistics of the admission examination was becoming a nightmare, due to the growing number of aspirants every year. â€Å"It was soon becoming imperative for the exam to go online some day,† he added. The online examination would be much easier to mange than the current system, Prabhukhanolkar said. An IIM-A source confirmed that the online examination would cut down administrative costs, involving people travelling to pl aces, and sending papers all over the country, with risks of leaks.The conventional examination can be conducted from a limited number centers while the online tests can be taken from anywhere. Source: http://www. hindustantimes. com/IIM-A-alumni-run-online-CAT-coaching/Article1-295258. aspx Past students return to IIM-A to recruit The Indian Institutes of Management are globally renowned as transformers of bright young students into enterprising adults capable of promoting, running and leading their businesses to success at world level. There have been several examples of IIM Alumni who have succeeded in India and abroad.Graduating students from IIMs often find themselves being offered multiple job postings at top-dollar salaries. While most students opt for such high-profile placements there are few who go ahead and promote their own enterprises. Here are four young alumni from the highly rated  Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad  (IIM-A) who passed out in 2007 and promo ted their own dotcom company who are  returning to the campus, this time to recruit. When they rejected their placement offerings of Rs. 80 lakh – one crore salary packages people were surprised, but the team was confident of breaking out into the market and making it big.And now the proof of the pudding is in the fact that they are back in the campus recruiting. They want highly talented, enthusiastic and hardworking business savvy IIM-A grads to take their company to new heights. The quartet include  Vishal Prabhukhanolkar,  Bhusan Davir,  Vineeta Singh  and  Debashish Chakravarty  who grouped together to promote ‘ten-a-day’, an online website which offers coaching for the CAT examination, the gateway to the IIMs and several other B-Schools in India. The venture operational online @  www. tenaday. co. in, has attracted over 22,000 fully registered users in just a year since promotion.According to the promoters the ventue needs more heads to make it big and none but IIM alumni will do. In less than a year the  website  has become the largest online CAT training and education preparation platform. The  modus operandi  of the website is simple, registered students are required to answer just 10 questions every day and generates a daily percentile rankings of the student. This is one way to monitor the students progress on a daily basis. This will enable students to know where they are lacking and work on the areas in which they are weak. The explanations and ten questions a day are free.But the detailed analyses of the answers and rankings and advising students on the areas they need to work to succeed in CAT are charged. Fees range from Rs. 210 onwards and is very affordable compared to other institutes across the country whose courses are priced anywhere between Rs. 5,000-14,000 for similar services. The annual CAT entrance test is written by nearly two lakh students every year. This number is poised to grow to six lakh in the next three years and sounds fantastic business opportunity for those who offer quality and effective training to students desirous of getting the coveted IIM seats.Tags:  CAT,  entrance test,  IIM,  website,  coaching,  online education,  Business Source : http://www. hellocompany. org/entry/past-students-return-to-iim-a-to-recruit/ It's raining money at the IIMs! Gaurav Dagaonkar passed out of IIM last year and instead of dancing to his employer's tune he decided to sing his own song. He opted out of placements to become a full time singer. A year later, he's giving the same advice to his juniors. Dagaonkar says, â€Å"It is essential for a person to start off as early as possible, So, that within two years you start networking with the right kind of people – you have people in place and you become confident. But everyone doesn't seem to agree. Ram Ganesh Aiyer passed out of IIM-A in 2004 but instead of starting off on his own, he worked for a cons ultancy firm for two years before starting off on his own and he recommends the same for his juniors. He explains, â€Å"It is good idea for students to have corporate exposure before starting on their own. Some reasons being, it helps to get more experience in the real world as against case studies that we do in these schools. † JOB ACCEPTANCE IN IIM-A Finance –  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  44% Consulting – 30% Marketing –   8% Operations  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 5% IT  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4% Strategy –  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   3%Others –  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   6%| | A recent trend suggests that the number of IIM graduates daring to start their own ventures is on a rise. While eight students opted out of placements from IIM-A last year, it's still early in the process. Sources say more than two dozen students presented theirbusiness ideas  to venture capitalists last month. With an entrepreurial fair, that wa s organized on campus for the first time, IIM-A is also encouraging students by allowing their former students (who have passed out over two years ago only) to participate in their placements. The trend is catching up in other IIMs as well.So, does  money  make the world go round? Well, IIM graduates this year proved otherwise. In an unprecedented trend, IIM students are turning down offers worth crores of rupees. To talk about the IIM placement quirks, here's what Debashish Chakravarty from IIM-Ahmedabad has to say. Debashish turned down a jaw-dropping one crore offer and plans to start a lingerie business. Also, discussing this issue of why IIM graduates are not tempted by hefty offers are IIM-Bangalore Professor Saurav Mukherjee and Partner at an human resources firm, Redilion, Vikram Bhardwaj. Excerpts from an interview given to CNBC-TV18Q: What was your motivation to opt out of placements and become an entrepreneur? Chakravarty: I have neither been an entrepreneur nor worke d in the corporate world. I was a major in the Indian army before joining this institute and coming here and learning a lot about management. I thought the most challenging future I could ever have was entrepreneurship – ie. building something of my own and getting a job wasn’t such an exciting idea but building a company, hiring people, doing something fruitful, I thought this was much more challenging and interesting, that is why I opted out of placements.Q: Are we seeing a similar trend in Bangalore? Mukherji: Last year, we had one student who decided to take the plunge but this year none of students as far as I know have walked out of placement, to have a start up of their own. So, I haven’t seen it as a trend in IIM-Bangalore and if anyone asks for my advice on choice – whether to start up their own company versus going through the placement process, and especially if the student is a fresher or relatively low in experience – then I would advi ce them to go and join an industry first, build up their network and gain experience and then be an entrepreneur.Q: You have been helping people to get into the corporate world, is it a pipe dream to become an entrepreneur immediately, or would you advice taking up a job? Bhardwaj: The aspirants from MBA institutes are realizing that despite high salaries, they are the first ones to be laid off if the environment changes in high volatile businesses like i-banking, and so they don’t mind setting this aside as a trade-off, against working independently.Q: IIM -Ahmedabad has promised this year that entrepreneurs like you, who for some reason, if your business doesn’t take off as expected in two years time, then you can once again opt for the placement process and join your juniors? Chakravarty: Yes, it is a good offer that the institute has come up with and it does offer reassurance to a candidate, who is still on edge, deciding on entrepreneurship and taking up a job. Ri ght now, in our batch, we have 11 students including freshers who are going into entrepreneurship and that is nearly 5% of the batch, and it is a strong rising trend. NEW RECRUITERS AT IIM-CING Optiver CIC International Bain & Co Value Partner(IIM-C: Highest international salary offered in 2006: $1,52,000)| | Q: How hard is it for people to get the cream of the talent from these campuses? Bhardwaj: It is getting harder by the day and Indian companies cannot even match the deep pockets, which global firms have and increasingly these MBA hirings are driven at a global level. So, they don’t mind paying a slight premium over what a  Wharton MBAwould get to an IIM graduate. It's not only the paypackets grabbed by IIM graduates that's increasing but also their entrepreneurial spirit.The placement process is not yet over but experts say that the number of students who opted out of placements to start off on their own, will definitely be the highest this year than ever before. FLOC KING TO IIM-B – 90 firms participated – Consultancies comprise 32% – Non-bank finance firms comprise 32% –  Marketing firms  comprise 14% – Overseas offers made: 60 – Sun Group offers Deepak Goyal VP position – Arcelor Mittal offers 2 GM posts in Trinidad Source: http://www. moneycontrol. com/news/business/its-raining-money-atiims_271556. htm

NASA Spin-Offs From Space Technology to Earth Invention