Editor's Notes

1. one of the most consistent findings is that refugee children’s adjustment is related to the support they receive from their parents and how well their parents cope with adverse circumstances (Ajdukovic & Ajdukovic, 1993; Farwell, 2001; Joshi, 2003; Shaw, 2003).In particular, research has shown that parents provide the closest link to an immigrant children’s native culture (Lee & Chen, 2000).
2. Immigrant and refugee adaptation and assimilation has been an issue studied by social science scholars since the 1920s, following the high point of the earlier wave of large-scale immigration.Most immigration researchers today agree that earlier conceptualizations of assimilation, largely based on the earlier wave of European immigrants, need to be reframed in light of the different circumstances facing the post-1965 “New Immigrants.” However, maintaining the native culture alone is not enough. It is also important for immigrants and refugees to learn the new ways of life. Research has shown that a bicultural orientation has been shown to have favorable effect on both educational and psychosocial outcomes. Research has shown that a bicultural orientation has been shown to have favorable effect on both educational and psychosocial outcomes. To conclude, research has shown that having a bicultural orientation, especially a strong ethnic identity rooted in the parents’ cultural of origin, is associated with decreasing parent-child conflict and increasing parent-child relations
3. In this paper, we draw on in-depth interview data with a unique group of unaccompanied Sudanese minors, mostly boys, to examine issues of acculturation and adaptation.
4. First, all of our participants had experienced horrendous and protracted episodes of trauma before arriving in the U.S. and many had PTSD  and other health concerns.  From Laura’s 2005 Child Welfare paper: “their mean scores on a PTSD scale was more than twice as high as children experiencing a single traumatic event (Foa et al., 2001)” Second, ambiguous loss was a major struggle for the great majority of our participants, who did not know if their family members were alive or dead (see Luster et al., 2009). The lack of parental guidance or support was also difficult for the youth when they first arrived. Foster parents mentioned that the youth received many requests for remittances from Africa, and responding to all those requests would have required much more money than any of the youth had. Balancing education, work, and the pressure to send money home was a struggle for most of our participants. Many send a substantial share of their income back home to support their families left behind, to pay medical bills, to reunite family members after decades of separation. s
5. Our sample is somewhat biased – mainly well adapted youth When asked what helped them adapt in the new land, the strongest theme that cut across the majority of the youth interviews was the importance of maintaining their Sudanese culture. The youth who did best tend to remember and gain strength from their native Sudanese culture and blend it with the U.S. culture, engaging in a process of what we call cultural appropriation. Below, we discuss different ways this helped them in their adaptation after resettlement.
6. In their process of adaptation, the great majority of youth in our sample actively preserved their memories of things they went through before coming to the U.S., maintained their connection to their native Sudanese culture and preserved it in different ways.When asked what helped them adapt, the majority of the 19 youth interviewed mentioned the importance of “remembering where we came from.”
7. remarks clearly illustrate what Ogbu termed the “dual frame of reference” that immigrants have – this sense of always comparing the circumstance in their host country with those of their countries of origin. This comparison often enables our participants to view their new circumstances with a strong sense of “immigrant optimism”— that they will value the newfound opportunities here and overcome whatever challenges to succeed in the new land. In the interviews, our participated noted that not many people in Sudan had this opportunity, so it was important for them individually to make the most of it.Part of this immigrant optimism for our Sudanese participants also included the sense that because they had overcome so much in their lives, they expected that things would work out well in the new land, especially if they worked hard. This strong sense of optimism originated both from their inner strength, which might also have helped them to survive the horrendous traumas they went through, and the comparison of the “here and now” with the “back and then.”
8. The youth who adjusted well all maintained a strong focus on why they came here. They maintained a very strong bond with Sudan because their families live there. As a result, they developed a very strong sense of purpose and cause after migration to help those who were less fortunate. This remembrance kept them from being too Americanized , keep them rooted in their own culture and sense of purpose.
9. The youth often contrasted becoming Americanized with maintaining their Sudanese culture and perspectives with the former being viewed as negative for their adaptation. Our participants noted that while America is a land of many wonderful new opportunities, it is also a land with many distractions for the growing youth. Some of the youth we interviewed talked about how the American culture exposed them to many things that were not good to them, such as alcohol, partying, drugs, and losing focus on school and life.
10. Those youth who do well make good choices guided by their own principles s
11.  Some of the youth who were not doing as well  saw the U.S. way of living as fun and helpful for them to cope with their stress. Or immersed themselves more in US culture as a way to avoid the stresses and trauma associated with their homeland
12. Paul, an older youth in his mid 20s said poignantly,When we came from Africa, we came as different in age… for example, I am 24 right now….I don’t exactly know how old I was for sure, and I feel like I have more of my culture that I still have right, then I, I didn’t give it up and I know how it work and … I’m  not going to forget it…I had mature level when I was back home, maturity, I was mature enough inside or maybe… I know the culture, my culture what, what to do, what is wrong and what not to do which is wrong. So when we came here, we came in different level. There are people that when we came, we, also even if there are people that can say, “don’t do this”, I mean, if it come to a point of this argument, this place is a freedom place, you are free in anything and I think people that came with that mind took freedom wrongly. They come and see what young people do here and just run after that and I don’t think whether it’s the life here, even most of young people that are acting that way, it’s not the same way.Besides, there may be a reason why they act that way we were not raised that way.Paul’s remarks also pointed to the importance of age of arrival in the adaptation of the youth. For older youth like Paul, they were already in their late teens when they arrived. Thus, most of them had enough Sudanese culture in them already , which made it hard for them to sway in the face of new temptations of another culture. For youth like Paul, their strong Sudanese identity protected them from the risks in the new land. However, for those who arrived at a much younger age, they were more likely to be assimilated into all aspects of the U.S. culture, especially the youth culture.  Had established a more crystallized Sudanese cultural identity
13. While it was very important to maintain the Sudanese culture and identity after arriving in the U.S., our participants also mentioned the importance of adapting to their new life. It was especially important to …Only sticking with the Sudanese peers was mentioned as a hinderance to acculturation and accommodation.Thus while it was crucial to remember why they came here and maintain the Sudanese culture in guiding their behaviors in the new land, it was also important to “get out of their comfort zone” to create opportunities to learn the new culture. Indeed, the youth needed to learn a host of new things after resettling in this drastically different cultural environment, for example, learning English and learning things like paying bills. Foster parents and native peers act as culural brokers for the boys
14. Compared to native minorities, they had a very positive perception of the people in the U.S. Peter, a youth who has achieved considerable academic and athletic success, mentioned that it was important to Trusting others and asking for help was considered very important
15. While previous researchers have noted the process of immigrants accommodating to the new culture by learning the necessary skills without full assimilation (Gibson, 1988), the Sudanese youth in our study engaged in a slightly different process of what we call…Our participants noted that there are good things and bad things in both cultures.
16. Daniel, a youth who had recently returned to Sudan for a visit, explained how he has negotiated between the two cultures,
17. For example, Amal, one of the few girls in our study, said: Anal clearly laid out the three groups of cultural orientation and accutluration or adjustment in the boys and the advantage of cultural blending and hybridity. Thus, those who became completely Americanized or strictly maintained their Sudanese culture were both viewed as less successful. Furthermore, according to Amal, to be successful, one had to be flexible and adaptable.
18. The Sudanese youth in our group had very They survived a lot of traumatic events before arriving in the U.S. After arrival, most of them managed to adapt quite well without the guidance of their biological parents. In this paper, we examined the cultural adaptation experiences of these youth. Having a strong root in their native culture and identity helped them make good choices, maintain focused, and avoid distractions associated with negative aspects of the U.S. youth culture. Our findings indicate that The youth also mentioned the importance of learning the new ways. As a result, those who maintain their native culture and combine it with the positive aspect of the U.S. culture were the ones who did best in their adaptation. These youth engaged in a process of – taking the best from both cultures and combining them. Compared to their counterparts who stayed in their Sudanese peer group and those who immediately took to the U.S. culture, these youth did better both in educational outcomes and in their psychosocial adaptation. Our findings confirm previous findings on immigrant and refugee youth with parents that a bicultural orientation is the best for adaptation.
19. The Sudanese youth, despite their refugee status, shared In Ogbu’s original categorization, refugees do not fit very well with either voluntary or involuntary immigrants. They are a distinct group because of their experience of being pushed out of their native country.  The strong connection to home also provides the Sudanese youth in our study with a strong anchor in their native culture and identity. Our results have practical implications for the adaptation of refugee and immigrant adaptation. It is important for service providers, resettlement agencies and foster parents to provide opportunities for them to both connect and maintain their native culture and provide support and resources to learn the new culture.