NOTE: Since the initial application was sent in, several changes have been made: Refferences (at the end) have been included, Dr Lindner is not our primary supervisor (here is a list of our supervisors), and some changes have been made to the list of researchers... but the main body of the application remains largely the same....
HumanDHS Research Proposal
April 2005
Title: Discourse Analysis of Humiliation as reported by Iraqi Refugees in the UK and Denmark
Name of researchers Espen Sivertsen, Jacqueline Hayes, Peter Mosely, Johanna Turner Baker, Alex Dawson
Affiliation of researcher N/A
Full contact details Espen Sivertsen Skovvejen 44C, 2tv 8000 Århus C Denmark
Email: Espen@Kaospilot.dk Phone: +45 26636908/ +47 66912592
Denmark/Norway/UK
Do you have an academic supervisor? Dr. Evelin Gerda Lindner
Are you a graduate student, a postgraduate student or a recent postdoc? Or other? We are 5 graduate students (4 psychology and 1 philosophy) from The University of Manchester (UK). Our study Our proposal is meant to be part of Refugees and Humiliation, focusing on Iraqi Refugees in the UK and Denmark.
The study is a qualitative and open-ended one, using Discourse Analysis as a tool for gaining a more comprehensive view of humiliation as experienced by UK and Danish refugees from Iraq.
Humiliation: an Absence of Social Power
According to Goffman, face is the positive social value a person claims for herself by the way she presents herself in a social interaction. One way of describing humiliation is as a loss of face, that is the picture of oneself one wishes to present is suddenly discredited before an audience. So one effect of humiliation is that a person can lose power in social action. This absence of power can be akin to social death; hence the use of the term "mortification" to describe severe humiliation. An interesting point we will consider are the effects of this disempowerment through humiliation, individually in terms of self-concept, and loss of a social and political means to act.
Refugees potentially already suffer other types of social absences, including not having a home, family, occupation, or status. Refugees are potentially deprived of many means of social interaction. Humiliation perpetuates further absence within the refugees social sphere. What is an individual's response to humiliation in terms of their subsequent action?
Being-in-the-World and Humiliation
Refugees seen from an existential perspective means that each refugee exists as a being-in-the-world; that is, each refugee has an immediate relation to (1) self, (2) others and (3) things in the world. The many relations to these aspects are unique according to each refugee, and exist as the totality of their lived situation. Existential phenomenology attempts to characterise these relations comprising a refugees experience of her world and herself; such relations are understood within a context of the refugees whole being-in-the-world.
The refugee retains dignity throughout a study of humiliation by remaining as a free and responsible being, as a subject rather than object, as a self rather than other, and essentially as perpetuating their own values--i.e. as a person. Further, for the sake of avoiding depersonlisation, an existential study of the refugee does not aim to be objective but attempts to remain unbiased. An objective study of the refugee runs the risk of adding further humiliation to their predicament.
Understanding humiliation existentially means that humiliation is lived by someone, i.e. by a particular individual, namely, the unique refugee. Humiliation involves experiencing self as both subject and object. In humiliation, we are suddenly seen by others as something, we have become an isolated object for other selves: the refugee experiences being-an-object-for-others (object=a refugee); but, at the same time, we feel ourselves being looked at, we feel ourselves blushing and turning pale: the refugee experiences their own subjectivity.
Further, in humiliation the refugee lives the immediate relation to their own body: the body is at once felt by self through feelings and simultaneously experienced as being perceived by others, being at once comprehended from outside and inside. Furthermore, In humiliation one feels looked down upon, 'small' and 'lowly'. Why? Because the self sees itself through others-i.e. from outside. The experience of spatiality (particularly 'size of self') is suddenly altered in humiliation through the look of the Other.
Thus the refugee is a being-in-the-world, fundamentally anchored at once to the three aspects of being (others, self and world). Further, the immediate relations between one's individual, social and political situation is revealed to self through the experience of humiliation. Humiliation is not reducible to any single one of these spheres (e.g. internal experience or cognition). Our multi-disciplinary approach shall reflect this principle.
Unembodiment as an Existential Way of Responding to Humiliation
The refugee is likely to have been thrown into being a refugee, fleeing their country out of the necessity of survival. However, the attitudes of the refugee towards their world remain as being fundamentally chosen, that is, the refugee is assumed to be free in self-determining how humiliation and being-a-refugee is to be lived (or responded to). Choosing such ways is to ground oneself in the world amongst others.
However, one attitude towards being a refugee is that the refugee may wish to be otherwise, that is, to not-be-a-refugee; a refugee may live their situation in bad faith. Being under strain from the painful emotion that humiliation is, the refugee may flee the lived feelings and their body-for-others, both germane to humiliation, by divorcing their self from their body. In other words, as a possible reaction to feeling humiliated, the refugee becomes existentially unembodied, existing eventually in mind-body dualism (see Laing, 1960). This is to say that, although the feelings of humiliation are universal, the relation between bodily experience and self is unstable (see Lindner, 2000).
The refugee exists in danger of having her or his immediate relations to self, body, others, and the world shattered. Being-beyond-humiliation is the extreme of complete unembodiment, the complete divorce between body and mindand therefore between authentic social action and being with others. At such an extreme, no further humiliation is felt as such; it is just too painful to relate to bodily experience. Conceptually understood, the humiliated self has the possibility of becoming bereft of feeling, of becoming numb.
This approach suggests that oppression dis-embodies the refugee through un-acceptance and lack of empathy. Merleau-Ponty has described the existential relation between a chosen project and 'missing limb'. Explained in an example, an amputee-pianist would feel their arm as absent inasmuch as they have the project of piano-playing. This has implications for the refugee (relating to their body) whom intends projects that cannot be manifested, whether through oppression or displacement. Thus 'healing' humiliation is re-embodying the refugee, through the upheaval of oppression and empowerment of the refugee (namely, with manifesting their original projects).
Other avenues of consideration
In Hayes & Turner Baker (2004), discourse analysis was used to highlight the differing meanings referred to by the terms 'asylum seeker' and 'refugee'. 'Asylum seeker' had negative associations including ideas of bogusness and scrounging. 'Refugee' co notated victim status. We are aware of the distinction and the various social understandings of such terms.
A structural consideration is the idea of the refugee having a 'moral career'. In Asylums, Goffman described the career of a mental patient, indicating key moments in the chronology of the patient. Such awareness is to situate the humiliated refugee in relation to their individual past and that of the general 'refugee' as such. How does the Iraqi refugee structure their past in terms of the events and periods common to all refugees (such as, through pre-flight, flight, resettlement and assimilation)? What is the relation between humiliation and structuring self as 'refugee' through a moral career?
Our Study: A Regional Description/Introduction of Study Population
Iraq borders on Turky, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and has a population of approximately 20 million. The main ethnic groups are Arabs, whom account for approximatlely 80%, and Kurds, whom make up a bit less than 20% of the population. There are also several ethnic minority groups such as Armenians, Assyrians, Turkomens and Iranians. Religiously the main divide lies between the Sunni-Muslim (about 15%) and the Shi'a Muslims (50-60%). Geographically and broadly speaking, the country is divided into three zones: The Kurdish North, The Shi'a Muslim South, and a central, Sunni-Muslim part.
Human rights abuses in Iraq have been on the international agenda for several decades. Forced displacement of the Turkomen, military attacks against the Kurds and Shi'a Marsh Arabs, water diversion, restriction of access to food, restriction of drinking water and restriction of access to medicines and medical attention are among the numerous atrocities reported (United nations High Commisioner for Refugees). Both Denmark and Brittain have a long history with Iraqi refugee asylum seekers.
With the US-led Operation Iraqi Freedom initiated in March 2003, the Saddam Hussein government was toppled. While success on the battlefield was achieved within a matter of days, the U.S and Great Britain found it much more difficult to establish a functioning administration. Security remains a key issue in Iraq today, and as a consequence of the contemporary status within the police and justice system many Iraqi citizens find themselves hesitant to approach any relevant authorities for help. In fact, some observers report that contact with authorities can be counter productive (Danish Refugee Asylum Assistance). Consequently there are still grounds for Iraqi refugees seeking asylum irrespective of regime change.
Post 2003 Refugees granted asylum in the UK and Denmark can be divided (broadly) into the following categories:
- Persons whom worked under the earlier regime and whom risk becoming victims of revenge because they (possibly unjustified) are seen as having committed atrocities towards one or more people. Examples include doctors whom work at hospitals where forced amputations occurred.
- Persons whom have been subject to torture or other abuse, and in which the people or person responsible for the abuse still exercises influence in the region of residence.
- Women whom are threatened with honour-killings due to marriage or divorce against the will of their families, or due to affairs outside of marriage.
- Single, Christian women without a network of support.
We wish to study Iraqi refugees living in Denmark and UK (Manchester). We feel that this is a national group of particular interest to humiliation studies when seen in context of persons taking refuge within a country that has waged war on their place of origin. The host nation (UK) has the potential to be labelled as both provider, victor, and also as humiliator.
There has been a long history of British involvement in Iraq, from the humiliation of colonialism in early twentieth century to economic sanctions, two Gulf wars and present occupation.
Iraqis at present are the third largest national group seeking asylum in the UK, according to Home Office statistics. The majority of Iraqi refugees living in the UK are Kurdish.
Pre-2003, Denmark has had few significant relations with Iraq, other than taking its refugees. The number of refugees accepted in 2003 dropped markedly due in part to changed regulations, although the number of applications seems to have remained comparable to earlier years. Iraqi refugees are still the third largest group of asylum seekers in Denmark, moving down in 2002 after 4 years of "first place" (Utlendingestyrelsen 2005).
The recent political elections in Denmark highlighted among other things a growing hostility among Danes towards immigrants. This may add another humiliating element to the culture clash inevitably experienced by the refugee.
There are marked differences between the quality of welfare afforded citizens of Denmark and UK (e.g Philip & Smith, 2005), and this may effect the level of humiliation felt by refugees within the respective countries. Purpose of research From what fields of academic research will you draw to establish your research problem?
Field of Academic Research: Included: Sociology Psychology ? Anthropology ? Political Science ? Economics ? Demography ? Geography ? Social Work ? Other (please explain) Linguistics (Discourse Analysis) Discourse Analysis is a tool that enables us to understand the conditions behind a specific problem, in this case the humiliation felt by Iraqi refugees in the UK and Denmark. As such, we may draw on a wide range of academic research when establishing our research problem, although it is difficult to precisely identify relevant areas of study within each discipline. Generally speaking, and on the basis of past experience, we could posit the following: Social Psychology and Anthropological studies will help us connect the data collected through discourse analysis to a broader social framework. Political Science (and to some extent Economics and Geography) may provide us with a further understanding of reported humiliation. Our own experiences and that of the academic community in relation to Social Work will also provide relevant guides and clues to underlying factors contributing to humiliation in our data set. Finally, literature on discourse analysis within the linguistic community may prove relevant for justifying our methodology, etc. Key terms of the study include: Humiliation, Refugees, Discourse Analysis, embodied/unembodied, media representation, stereotypes, social action, Iraq, UK, Denmark. Research approach and rationale By using in-depth, semi-structured, and open-ended interviews with Iraqi refugees in the UK and Denmark, and analyzing this data using discourse analysis, we hope to shed further light on the underlying causes of humiliation in Iraqi refugees.
The cognitive approach of Hartling and Luchetta (1999) has developed a scale whereby humiliation is measured quantitatively. They used an item-pool of 149 to assess the internal experience of humiliation. Their study indicated trends in humiliation, such as increased scores for females. Unfortunately, their quantitative method despite highlighting this interesting trend was unable to illuminate how the experience differs between the genders; further, interesting questions remain unanswered, such as What factors cause differing degrees of humiliation within each gender. Awareness of gender (and race) relation will inform our study throughoutparticularly in relation to embodied humiliation.
We propose a qualitative approach to studying humiliation of refugees in order to capture elements of the experience overlooked by a quantitative schema. Our qualitative approach will acknowledge the individuality of the personal experience of humiliation whilst allowing examination of generalities including possible universal causes and phenomenological aspects.
We will conduct semi-structured interviews with a small number of participants (14-20). A narrative biographical interviews with an emphasis on humiliation would be the most appropriate means of capturing fundamental aspects of this experience.
The interviews will then be transcribed using transcription notation germane to Discourse Analysis (see Hutchby) in relation social interaction (Goffman) and existentialism (Sartre, Laing). Discourse Analysis recognizes talk/language as situated action. Using this approach represents our awareness of the effects a listener has upon a speaker and their expression; we will borrow from the theory of Membership Categorisation Analysis (Sacks) to assist such awareness. Therefore, we are aware of the problems of 'objectivity' posed throughout the interviews, because of interpersonal subjectivity; and we are equipped with a method that aims to de-problematise this issue. Existentialism will inform us about what it is to be situated, and further assists with the commonly supposed 'subjective-objective' distinction.
Before embarking upon individual interviews, we intend to visit an established Iraqi community group in order to refine our research questions. We feel it would be valuable for our research purposes to unfold essential issues felt by the refugees. We have consulted Refugee Action, a well established British refugee charity, about our proposal; they support our methods of approaching refugees to influence the issues that are to be considered important throughout the course of the study.
Operational schedule
Proposed budget Research Laptop Computer - those of us in Manchester dont have the resource of a reliable computer. A 15-inch Powerbook G4 Mac would really help. 1550,-
Printer Epson Colour Printer 80,-
Internet Access - for accessing online literature, emailing each other, seeking and contacting refugee groups 150,-
Phone Calls to contact each other (requiring national and international calls) and refugees
- 300,-
Books, Photocopying and Printing Costs
- 300,-
Minidisc and microphone, pens and paper, enthusiasm We have these Participants the group we are interviewing are potentially on a very low income. We would like to be able to offer payment for their time, or at least reimburse their travel expenses and buy them lunch. Maximum of 20 participants, allocate £15 of budget to each. £15*20=£300. Plus a little extra for any follow-up interviews = £30 £330 = 488,- Total = 488 Unpaid Leave the four of us in Manchester have full-time jobs, and receive little time off from these jobs. We also work different shift patterns, so in order for us to be able to coordinate with each other some of us will need to take time-off from our jobs, perhaps for an afternoon. This time-off will be unpaid.
It would be very helpful to us if we could have some of this covered, so that we dont have to worry about our electricity being cut off during the writing up phase! We earn on average approximately £50 a day. If we each took three days of unpaid leave during the year-long project, this would come to 4 people*3 days at £50 a day = £600 =886,-
Total Research Cost 3754,-
Other Expenses Travel 2 Return Flights Århus-Manchester - We will need to meet in person at some points in the process. Specifically at the beginning of the planning and execution stages, and a final flight for writing up/submission agreement. Bus/Train expenses related to interviews: A monthly bus card in denmark costs about 160 x2 = 320,- In Manchester, Bus/train/tram fares. A bus and tram pass is £64 a month. We will need passes for 4 people for two months. £64*4*2=512. We will also need to do extra travelling for meeting up at other stages of the project. For this we will allow £30 for each person. 4*£30=£120
1 return flight = approx £224 (CheapFlights.co.uk) so two flights makes =£448
320,-
£512
£120
Total Travel Expenses (ca) =2680,-
Grand Total (expenses + resources)
=6423,- Availability The group is highly interested and motivated to undertake this research. We are available.
Other Please note that a collective CV has been attached with our application
Thank you for your time!
Espen, Jacquie, Jo, Pete, and Alex
=== References ==
Danish Refugee Asylum Assistance (15-03-2005) Site in Danish http://www.flygtning.dk/Landeprofiler.941.0.html
Goffman, E. (1961) Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates, Doubleday (New York City), 1990.
Goffman, E. (1961) Encounters: Two Studies in the Sociology of Interaction, Bobbs-Merrill, 1961.
Hayes, J. and Turner Baker, J. (2004) On the construction of identity in refugees, using a discourse analysis framework and focussing on reaction to stereotypes of refugees and also gender. Final Year Project, Manchester University Psychology Department.
Hartling, L. M., & Luchetta, T. (1999). Humiliation: Assessing the impact of derision, degradation, and debasement. Journal of Primary Prevention, 19, 259-278.
Hutchby, I. and R. Wooffitt (1998). Conversation Analysis: Principles, Practices And Applications. Cambridge, Polity Press.
Kautto, M., J. Fritzell, B. Hvinden, J. Kvist & H. Uusitalo (eds.) (2001). Nordic Welfare States in the European Context. London: Routledge.
Laing, R. D. (1960), The Divided Self. London: Penguin
Lindner, E. G. (2000), Humiliation in the Flesh. Honour is FACE, Arrogance is NOSE UP and Humiliation is TO BE PUT DOWN Oslo: University of Oslo, manuscript submitted for publication, now in the process of revision.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1945) Phenomenology of Perception. (Trans. C. Smith) London: Routledge, 2003.
Refugee Action (15-03-2005) http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/
Sacks, H. (1992) Lectures on conversation. 2 vols. Oxford: Basil Blackwell
Sartre, J. P. (1943) Being and Nothingness. (Trans. H. Barnes) Routledge, 2002
Utlendingestyrelsen (15-03-2005) Site in Danish http://www.udlst.dk/Statistik/talogfakta.htm