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Singing with Young Refugees and Unaccompanied Minors
This research report is a literature review and collection of case studies commissioned by Sing Up Foundation from a team led by Dr Hala Jaber with Dr Fran Garry and Professor Helen Phelan from the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.
This report carefully considers the very challenging lives of refugee children and unaccompanied minors whilst highlighting the impact of singing and music-making and makes recommendations which have been used to create a 3-year project to further grow this work.
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Support our Surrey Arts Partnership Project - Vocalise!
Building upon this report, we have developed a 3-year action research project with Surrey Arts that will make major strides in building and disseminating a model for vocal work with young refugees and are currently seeking funds.
It doesn't matter where you come from, your value is the same...
Report Interviewee, Music Facilitator
Literature Review
& Database
Thematic Analysis of
Semi-Structured Interviews
Case Studies
Report Highlights
Factors that can influence children's wellbeing
The report also explores the wide-ranging circumstances and contexts of the lives of young refugees, which can range from -
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living in camps in unsafe and unstable conditions,
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to seeking asylum and living in more protected environments but still under a cloud of uncertainty,
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to having full refugee status with access to education, housing and a full range of support.
All of these external circumstances can have an effect on these young children’s lives and their ability to access and engage with music-making activity.
The report also acknowledges the various factors that can influence the wellbeing of ALL children regardless of whether they have been displaced. The figure to the left (from the report) highlights some of these factors as mentioned by interview participants.
Literature Review:
Key Thematic Areas
Twenty studies were identified and reviewed and they yielded four key thematic areas:
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The challenges faced by refugee and migrant young people.
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The role of singing and music in social bonding.
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Overcoming language barriers.
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The creation of safe and inclusive musical spaces.
Download the report to see the literature review and access the database of studies.
RESEARCHERS: View the summary data used for the Literature Review with an overview of the content included.
"While concern for the mental health of refugee children and un-accompanied minors is noted across several of the interviews, it is strikingly absent from the published literature, which generally refers to psychosocial well-being or well-being generally."
Photo from Fairbeats, one of the organisations featured in the case studies
Case Studies from practice
The report features three case studies from Fairbeats, Music Action International and Together Productions.
In addition to the academic analysis and anonymised interviews, we wanted to make sure to represent some personal on-the-ground stories and cover some of the emotions and perspectives of people working in the field.
These representatives were invited to describe the organisation
or project with which they work, how they feel they have grown (or otherwise) through this work, their sense of the challenges faced: one “lightbulb” moment, and their favourite musical memory.
About the authors
Researchers from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance and the School of Medicine Public and Patient Involvement Unit at the University of Limerick have a strong track record in interdisciplinary research focused on music and migrant health. The research team for this project, led by Dr Hala Jaber, was formed by members of the PART-IM (Participatory and Arts-Based Methods for Involving Migrants in Health Research) cluster, supported by the Health Research Institute, University of Limerick.
Dr Hala Jaber is a community musician and a classical flute player. She obtained her PhD Arts Practice (Music) at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, UL (2020). Her PhD research examined community-music approaches and best practices when working in the context of post-conflict migration. She is currently an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral fellow investigating the creation of trauma-informed training programmes for community artists working in the context of post-conflict migration.
Dr Fran Garry currently works as a postdoctoral researcher with the PART-IM cluster at UL. She completed her PhD Arts Practice (Music) at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, UL, in 2018. She received an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Award for her project exploring lived experiences in music-based community arts engagement in Ireland. She is a singer, songwriter, community music educator, and an arts-based and arts practice researcher.
Prof Helen Phelan is Director of the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, UL . She is a multi- award-winning Irish Research Council recipient for her work on music, ritual and migration. She is the founder of the Singing and Social Inclusion research group, co-founder of the female vocal ensemble Cantoral, and current Chair of IMBAS, a support network for artistic research in Ireland. She is author of the monograph Singing the Rite to Belong: Music, Ritual and the New Irish (Oxford University Press) and co-editor of The Artist and Academia (Routledge) with Graham Welch. Her current research involves the leadership
of a multidisciplinary team of artists, health practitioners and community NGOs investigating arts-based responses to migration, health, and well-being.
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