Methodological Challenges in the Study of Forced Migration: Trauma, Resilience, Religion and the Problem of Trust in the Context of the Syrian Diaspora in Turkey

Öz

As a researcher living and working in the Turkish cities of Mersin and Adana – major destinations for Syrians in the East Mediterranean – I wanted to learn how displaced Syrians cope with the trauma of being forced to emigrate and how they build resilience. Given the reported high-levels of religiosity amongst Syrians, I also wanted to understand the possible role of religion in helping displaced people develop positive coping strategies. My findings revealed that the majority of the refugees I interviewed considered themselves to be religious whilst most experienced a traumatic event. I also found a modest but positive correlation between attachment to a religious community and the building of positive coping strategies. However, only a small number of Syrians interviewed took part in the life of the host communities around them. Based on these findings, I argue that, perhaps, this presents us with a methodological problem, one that originates in a distortion of the data by the social and psychological contexts in which displaced Syrians living in Turkey find themselves embedded. In the process of describing this research context, I discuss some of the methodological challenges in the study of forced migration more broadly, whilst problematizing the ethics of researching vulnerable populations living in unstable political and social environments.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Syrians
• Forced migration
• Trauma
• Religion
• Resilience
• Methods

Zorunlu Göç Araştırmalarında Metodolojik Sorunlar: Türkiye’deki Suriye Diasporası Bağlamında Travma, Yılmazlık, Din ve Güven Sorunu

Öz

Doğu Akdeniz Bölgesi Suriyelilerinin başlıca istikameti olan Mersin’de ve Adana’da yaşayan ve çalışan bir araştırmacı olarak yerinden edilmiş Suriyelilerin zorunlu göçe maruz kalmış olmanın yol açtığı travma ile nasıl baş ettiklerini ve nasıl yılmazlık tutumu geliştirdiklerini araştırmak istedim. Suriyelilerin dindarlık düzeylerinin yüksek olduğu bilindiğinden dolayı yerinden edilmiş insanların pozitif başa çıkma stratejisi geliştirmelerinde dinin rolünü de anlamak istemiştim. Kendisi ile görüşme yaptığım mültecilerin çoğu, travmatik bir olay yaşama esnasında kendisini dindar şekilde tanımlamaktaydı. Çalışma neticesinde, dinî bir gruba bağlanma ile olumlu başa çıkma stratejileri oluşturma arasında yalın fakat pozitif bir ilişki buldum. Bununla birlikte, görüşme yaptığım Suriyelilerin az bir kısmı çevrelerindeki ev sahibi topluluğun yaşamına dâhil olmuştu. Çalışmadan elde edilen bulgulara dayanarak bu durumun bize metodolojik bir sorun gösterdiğini ileri sürdüm. Bu sorunun kaynağında Türkiye’de yaşayan Suriyeli mültecilerin kendilerini gömülü buldukları sosyal ve psikolojik bağlamın verileri çarpıtması yer alıyor olabilir. Bu araştırmanın bağlamını tanımlarken zorunlu göç çalışmalarındaki bazı metodolojik zorluklara daha geniş değindim; bunu yaparken de istikrarsız siyasi ve sosyal çevrelerde yaşayan savunmasız kitleler üzerinde araştırma yapmanın etik boyutlarını sorunsallaştırdım.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Suriyeliler
• Zorunlu göç
• Travma
• Din
• Yılmazlık
• Metotlar

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