“My Heart Feels Chained”

Abstract

Lebanon currently hosts approximately 1.5 million refugees from neighboring Syria. Within this context, Syrian families face high rates of poverty, burdensome governmental policies and regulations, a lack of affordable housing, food insecurity, family violence, and survival practices. Exacerbated by displacement, these vulnerabilities have a destabilizing effect on parents, who are struggling to meet their individual and families’ needs in a low-resource and inhospitable environment. This chapter explores how parents experience daily economic challenges that can significantly affect their ability to adequately care for their children. Data from Syrian refugee families revealed that parents’ feelings of parental adequacy were tied to their ability to provide for their children. Parents’ feelings of inadequacy contributed to an ongoing cycle of poverty for families. Increased stress on family members manifested in negative mental and physical health consequences or family members not being able to work, thereby pushing families further into economic precarity.