ORCID

Abstract

Refugees often experience trauma from war, displacement, and post-migration stressors, leading to collective and transgenerational trauma. This study explored the impact of embedding trauma-informed principles (TIP) within a refugee befriending programme, where refugees were paired with local volunteers. Ethnographic Action informed research was used through completing interviews, observations, and a focus group. Participants included five befrienders and seven refugees, alongside observational data. Thematic and framework analyses identified five key themes: The Relationship, Safety for Befrienders, Inclusivity, Supporting Befriendees with Integration, and Challenges of Befriending. TIP enhanced understanding of how community-based, trauma-informed interventions can support refugee recovery and resilience. The study offers practical recommendations to improve the effectiveness, inclusivity, and sustainability of such programmes, while acknowledging that the results are context-dependent and drawn from a single case study. Recommendations include providing trauma-informed training and orientation to befrienders and befriendees, giving refugees choice in befriender selection, clear communication of refugees’ rights, ensuring accessibility to the programme, and involving refugees in co-design. Furthermore, the recommendations emphasise strengthening peer support for befrienders and creating shared resources to promote trauma-informed practice. The study was also limited by the absence of perspectives from refugees who disengaged early, which may have restricted the diversity of insights captured.

Awarding Institution(s)

University of Plymouth

Supervisor

Helen Lloyd

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2025

Embargo Period

2026-08-29

Deposit Date

August 2025

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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