A PAR Study: Working with a Scottish community to explore the place for sports-based occupations to aid the social integration of refugees and asylum seekers.

A literature review revealed that Refugees and asylum seekers face significant barriers to participation in meaningful occupations when attempting to resettle in the UK. The term occupation refers to purposeful activities that allow people to live independently and have create a sense of identity. Experiences of trauma, xenophobia, language barriers and cultural differences all act as barriers to successful integration in their new communities. In western societies such as the USA and Australia communities are utilising sport as a way of bonding with new cultures and people. Due to the immigration policy in the UK many refugees and asylum seekers struggle to access employment and education, and have limited financial resources - this can result in people being deprived of meaningful activity and appropriate socialisation. This dissertation aims to use Participatory Action Research to give refugees, asylum seekers and the wider community a voice in how to identify and tackle barriers to social integration. The paper proposes the use of focus groups to bring together members of the community from different social groups including refugees and asylum seekers. The researcher will propose sport as a perfect medium to create opportunities for meaningful activities that can bring the community together. The research aims to develop and present recommendations to local authorities and third sector organisations in order to develop services to create positive social change.bsc_occunpub2733_ethesesunpu