The role of cultural pressures and group favouritism in shaping Syrian refugees’ identity in the Jordanian work environment

Tamer Koburtay*, Deema Refai, Radi Haloub

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study seeks to understand the cultural inclusion/exclusion practices that Syrian refugees encounter in the Jordanian work environment, explore whether an ingroup (Jordanian) over outgroup (Syrian refugees) favouritism exists and how such favouritism reshapes Syrian refugees’ social identity in this new environment. Drawing on qualitative-semi structured interviews with 12 Syrian refugees in Jordan, the study highlights different multi-layered cultural exclusion/inclusion practices that Syrian refugees in Jordan face. Through a combined underpinning of social identity theory (SIT) (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and the acculturation framework (Arends-Tóth & van de Vijver, 2006), the study reports how these practices re-shape Syrian refugees’ identity around vocational skills. We go beyond the basic types of discrimination against refugees (e.g., gender, race, religion) to highlight economic and legal restrictions as important promoters of cultural exclusion despite the strong cultural cohesion factors. This highlights the significant role of community and societal practices that can go beyond cultural differences between groups, and extend our understanding of SIT.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)24-35
JournalInternational Journal of Intercultural Relations
Volume79
Early online date17 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2020
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The role of cultural pressures and group favouritism in shaping Syrian refugees’ identity in the Jordanian work environment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this