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.