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Adjustment experiences of Syrian immigrant university students in Turkey

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Abstract

This study intended to examine the adjustment experiences of Syrian immigrant university students through their immigration process in Turkey. A qualitative design was utilized. The participants consisted of 14 students attending to state universities in Ankara, 7 of whom were males and 7 females. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted by one of the researchers. Two main categories were identified while analyzing the process of social adaptation of Syrian immigrant university students. These categories were: (a) Integration in Turkey and (b) adaptation to university life. There were six themes under these categories. These themes were; risk factors, protective factors, future expectations, resilience, sense of exclusion/belonging, and facilities at university. Each theme is further divided into subcategories. The findings of the study were discussed in the same order with these subcategories. The results showed that the Syrian university students experienced a relatively easier and faster process of adjustment compared to other Syrians in Turkey. The effects of war seemed to influence the interviewees’ endurance against hardships in Turkey and their integration process in Turkey. Some of the most prominent factors impacting the interviewees’ process of social inclusion in Turkey were their social and psychological supports, individual characteristics, attending to a university, and social activities at the respective university. Implications, limitations of the study and recommendations for future research were discussed.

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Data Availability

Since the sample of the study is a vulnerable group with individuals who have experienced traumatic events, the raw data/datasets are not available to publicly share due to the confidentiality of participants. As we stated in the heading of informed consent in our article, we told our participants that the data would be kept confidential. The confidentiality of the information obtained was guaranteed to the participants of the study with informed consent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

    Özgür Salih Kaya

  2. Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Faculty of Education, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    İbrahim Keklik

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  1. Özgür Salih Kaya
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Correspondence to Özgür Salih Kaya.

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Conflict of Interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This study was analyzed at the meeting held by Hacettepe University Senate Ethics Commission on 05 February 2019 and was found ethically appropriate (Letter dated 01.02.2019 and numbered 51,944,218–300 / 00000441858).

Informed Consent

Participants of the study allowed the interview to be recorded. The researchers stored the data in an encrypted file on the computer. Data were deleted after data analysis. It was stated to the participants that personal information would be kept confidential. When the participants had questions that they did not want to answer, they were informed that they have the right not to answer these questions. Informed consent form was signed by both the researcher and the participant. An example of this form was given to the participant.

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This study was produced from the master’s thesis “Adjustment experiments of Syrıan university students who are under temporary protection status through the migratıon process”.

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Kaya, Ö.S., Keklik, İ. Adjustment experiences of Syrian immigrant university students in Turkey. Curr Psychol 41, 7751–7761 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01233-x

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