Distress, Community Action & Displaced Muslim Men
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Situational Analysis on Distress and Community Action among Muslim Male Refugees & Asylum Seekers
IRAS ID
354042
Contact name
Tahmidur Rahman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Holloway, University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 25 days
Research summary
This project asks Muslim male refugees and asylum seekers to tell stories of working within and supporting their communities in the UK. They'll be asked about what was difficult about migration, who was involved, where they found support, and how they worked with others to manage those difficulties. People who support Muslim male refugees and asylum seekers will also be asked to tell stories of working with them. The aim is to identify where people can find community, what makes it difficult for communities to support one another, and what has been helpful about having a community when life is particularly challenging. The study will gather stories from all participants concerning the above and will only ask about their time in the UK, including questions about navigating migration status. The analysis will make a diagram of the factors involved to help detail how challenges and opportunities arise when trying to act for one another. The study aims to acknowledge the community’s role in helping during difficult times, and to consider how to help communities develop in helpful ways.
Lay summary of study results: This study aimed to understand how communities impact Muslim male refugees and asylum-seekers during difficult times. It also aimed to detail what makes it easier for people to support them, and what makes it more difficult.
The study asked Muslim male refugees and asylum-seekers, and the people who support them, to tell their stories of how they managed hardship in the UK. The author analysed the data with a methodology called Situational Analysis, which is designed to provide an overview of the area of study by drawing different types of maps. The first map aimed to attain an overview of what impacts distress and who is involved in shaping distress. The second map selected a focal area of study to represent all the factors that are linked into it, providing a sense of how factors interact with one another to shape distress. The third map took a broader look at the communities and organisations that are involved in the distress of Muslim male refugees and asylum-seekers in the UK. This map illustrated how communities and organisations were connected to each other.
The first map gathered a list of all the different factors and resources related to distress in the lives of the target group. Ten different types of factors and resources were identified: people, groups, psychological elements, practical items, factors related to social identities, religious elements, time, space and location, political and economic elements, and discourses (views and opinions that people have about the target group and how to work with them).
The second map focused on depression because it was a type of distress that participants spoke about in depth. Three themes were explored across stories related to depression. Firstly, the target group found conversations helpful in building connections. Secondly, thoughts about suicide connected the target population with many people who guided them against it. Thirdly, the government can play an important role in depression, particularly because of issues related to their legal status and right to work. Some of those who supported Muslim male refugees and asylum-seekers with legal issues were well-connected and greatly appreciated.
The third map showed that the main communities and organisations involved in shaping distress were: asylum-seeking and refugee communities, charities, ethnic communities, families, friends, the Home Office, local councils, the media, Muslim communities, national government, the NHS, police, psychological professionals, universities, people associated with the benefits of being white, and people who work in education, employment, foreign affairs, housing, the law, and research. The map was explored through three themes: the connections that come through professionals, connections through informal communities, and the consequences of not having communities to connect to or being excluded from communities.
The study used these findings to make four main recommendations for Muslim male refugees and asylum-seekers and the people who support them:
• Support providers should think about whether they have easy points of access into support and whether they know the points of access into other forms of support to develop more accessible entry-points.
• Support providers should have training on what sorts of support are commonly needed or desired by the target group to change their provisions appropriately, particularly by making supportive conversations, religious and psychological advice, and employment support available for Muslim male refugees and asylum-seekers with depression.
• Support providers should review their support to ensure that their offers connect the target group into other forms of support.
• Support providers should have discussions with the target group to understand whether they would like to receive their help and to understand how receiving support might inadvertently maintain or reinforce distress.Three main recommendations were also made for further research:
• Academics should explore specific groups and organisations identified in this research to gain a more focused understanding of how they offer support.
• Academics should specify types of distress to explore, such as depression, PTSD, anxiety and psychosis, to develop an understanding of how communities shape their support for the different types of needs that the target group might have.
• Community-based research should identify local organisations and ways of accessing them, using the types of communities and organisations in this study’s maps to help guide their searches.REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/WM/0081
Date of REC Opinion
9 Jul 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion