Abstract
Refugee-aid workers are positioned in the middle between the realities and suffering of refugees and the detachment of the organizations and their donors. They carry the burden of accommodating both realities as the connecting link between both worlds. This study has found that the continuous exposure to the traumatic stories that refugees go through has negative implications on the mental health and well-being of the workers providing services to these refugees. Additionally, a lack of resources and negative management cultures impose stress on the refugee-aid worker. Negligence and failure by organizations to mitigate these stressors lead to a deterioration in the mental health state of the workers as well as the quality of services provided. Implications on mental health include symptoms of burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress, among other consequences. Consequentially, findings of the study have found that affected refugee-aid workers may refrain from providing the services to refugees and subject refugees to different forms of maltreatment and abuse. On the other hand, social and institutional support have been found to reduce the intensity of psychological distress and mediate the possible consequences on the quality of services provision.
School
School of Global Affairs and Public Policy
Department
Center for Migration and Refugee Studies
Degree Name
MA in Migration & Refugee Studies
Graduation Date
Spring 2023
Submission Date
2-10-2023
First Advisor
Dr. Kate Ellis
Committee Member 1
Dr. Lameese Eldesouky
Committee Member 2
Dr. Ibrahim Awad
Extent
74 p.
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval
Approval has been obtained for this item
Recommended Citation
APA Citation
Khattab, M.
(2023).Mental Health and Well-being among Refugee-Aid Workers in Egypt [Master's Thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2058
MLA Citation
Khattab, Mahmoud. Mental Health and Well-being among Refugee-Aid Workers in Egypt. 2023. American University in Cairo, Master's Thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2058