Does It Mean We are American? A “Figured Worlds” Approach To Young Children’s Identity as Second-Generation Iraqi Refugees in the United States

Abstract

This article draws on data from a participatory visual ethnography exploring the identities of two second-generation Iraqi refugee boys living in a southern state of the United States. It describes multiple “figured worlds” (Holland, et al., 1998) as the context of identity negotiation in the lives of these children. Findings also reveal multi-layered fluidity among figured worlds, children’s authoring in negotiating figured worlds, and the possible influence of the family’s pre-migration trauma on identity. The article argues that to support the well-being of second-generation refugee children and their families, we need to understand the multiplicity of refugee children’s identity and how children construct their figured worlds using resources from their multiple communities.