Positive Anomie: Paradigm Shifts and Unintended Benefits Caused by Normlessness, a Case of Syrian Refugees in Canada
Keywords:
Anomie;Positive Anomie; Gender Norms; Gender Paradigms; Refugees; Refugee Worldviews
Abstract
The present paper expands on Emile Durkheim’s original theory of anomie. Durkheim’s anomie is incomplete in its analysis, as it narrowly focuses on the negative outcomes of social breakdown and does not present the entire spectrum of possible favourable results for individuals faced with social upheaval. In contrast, positive anomie presents the hypothesis that de-regulation or a breakdown of social norms has the potential to create a new, more positive worldview. To interpret positive anomie, this study uses research on Syrians women with a refugee background to show how social norms in Canada contradict with and disrupt previously held norms and values of Syria. It specifically delineates financial norms, norms of movement, and relationship norms to demonstrate how Syrian women experience an internal revolution and paradigm shift regarding gender and expectations. After Syrian women arrive in Canada and begin experiencing Canadian culture and society, they discover that compared with their lives in Syria they have greater financial power and independence, limited restrictions in physical movement, and more freedom in their intimate relationships. The loss of previously held restrictive norms shifts into a reconstructed paradigm of greater rights, freedoms, equality, and hope for their future.
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Adnanes, M. (2007). “Social transitions and anomie among post-communist Bulgarian youth,” Young, 15(49), 49-69. DOI: 10.1177/1103308807072684
Alma, E., Memon, A., Ochoa, B., Bata, S. Cunningham, D., and Gill, H. (n.d.) “Re-thinking an asset-based support for new immigrants: A case study,”
Almohamed, A., Vyas, D., & Zhang, J. (2017). “Rebuilding social capital: engaging newly arrived refugees in participatory design,” Proceedings of the 29th Australian Computer-Human Interaction Conference.
Bird, A. (2012). “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions and its Significance: An Essay Review of the Fiftieth Anniversary Edition,” British Society for the Philosophy of Science, 63 (2012), 859-883.
Casimiro, S., Hancock, P., & Northcote, J. (2007). “Isolation and insecurity: Resettlement issues among muslim refugee women in Perth, Western Australia,” Australian Journal of Social Issues, 42(1), 55-69.
Choummanaivong, C., Poole, G. E., and Cooper, E. (2014). “Refugee family reunification and mental health in resettlement,” Koutuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 9(2), 89-100, DOI: 10/1080/117783X2014.944917
Durkheim, E. (1997) [1933]. The Division of Labor in Society. Free Press.
Durkheim, E. (1997) [1951]. Suicide. Free Press.
George, U. (2002). “A needs-based model for settlement service delivery for newcomers to Canada." International Social Work, 45(4), 465-480.
ISS of BC [Immigrant Services Society of BC] (2018, May). “Syrian refugee operation: Taking stock two years after arrival,” Immigrant Services Society of BC. https://issbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ISSofBC-Report-Operation-Syrian-Refugees-to-BC-Taking-Stock-Two-Years-After-Arrival.pdf.
Jamil, H., Farrag, M., Hakim-Larson, J., Kafaji, T., Abdulkhaleq, H., and Hammad, A. (2007). “Mental Health Symptoms in Iraqi Refugees: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety, and Depression,” Journal of Cultural Diversity, 14(1), 19-25.
Kale, A., and Kindon, S. (2020). “Gender, (im)mobility and citizenship in a refugee women’s driving programme: exploring emotional citizenry in Aotearoa New Zealand,” Gender, Place & Culture, 28(10), 1472-1492. DOI: 10.1080/0966369X.2020.1846499
Kaugen, S. (2019). ““We Feel Like We’re Home”: The Resettlement and Integration of Syrian Refugees in Smaller and Rural Canadian Communities,” Refuge, 35(2), 53-63. DOI: 10.7202/1064819ar
Khawaja, N. G., Hebbani, A., Gallois, C., and Mackinnon, M. (2019). “Predictors of employment status: A study of former refugee communities in Australia,” Australian Psychologist, 54(5), 427-437. DOI: 10/1111/ap.12388
Krahn, H., Derwing, T., Mulder, M., and Wilkinson, L. (2000). “Educated and Underemployed: Refugee Integration into the Canadian Labour Market,” Journal of International Migration and Integration, 1(1) (Winter 2000), 59-84.
Lapping, K. Marsh, D. R., Rosenbaum, J., Swedberg, E., Sternin, J., Sternin, M., & Shroeder, D. G. (2002). “The positive deviance approach: challenges and opportunities for the future,” Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 23(4), 128-135.
Lipson, J. G., and Miller, S. (1994). “Changing roles of Afghan refugee women in the United States,” Health Care for Women International, 15(3), 171-180 DOI: 10.1080/07399339409516110
Liversage, A. (2019). “Polygamy, wellbeing, and ill-being amongst ethnic Muslim minorities,” in Tiilikainen, M., Al-Sharmiani, M., and Mustasaari, S. (Eds.), Wellbeing of Transnational Muslim Families: Marriage, Law and Gender (59-93). Routledge.
Lokot, M. (2018). “Syrian refugees: thinking beyond gender stereotypes,” Forced Migration Review, 57, 33-35.
Nasser-Eddin, N. (2017). “Gender performativity in diaspora: Syrian refugee women in the UK,” A Gendered Approach to the Syrian Refugee Crisis, 142-154.
Owino, J. & Weber, C. (2020). International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 74, 69-79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2019.10.011
Thompson, N. & Nasimi, R. (2020). “‘This place means freedom to me’: needs-based engagement with marginalized migrant Muslim women in London,” Oxford University Press and Development Journal, 00(00), 1-21.
Porter, M., and Haslam, N. (2005). “Predisplacement and Postdisplacement Factors Associated With Mental Health of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: A Meta-analysis,” The Journal of the American Medical Association, 295(5), 602- 612.
Qutranji, L., Silahlı N. Y., Baris, H. E., and Boran, P. (2020). “Refugee women’s well-being, needs and challenges: implications for health policymakers,” Journal of Public Health, 42(4), e506-e512. DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdaa163
Sandra, T., and Ravinder, S. (2012). “Supporting Refugee Students in Schools: What Constitutes Inclusive Education?” International Journal of Inclusive Education, 16(1), 39-56. DOI: 10.1080/13603110903560085
Scullion, L. C. (2008). “Women asylum seekers and refugees: Opportunities, constraints and the role of agency,” Social Policy and Society, 7(3) (2008), 281-292. DOI: 10.1017/S1474746408004260
Spreitzer, G. M., & Sonenshein, S. (20040. “Toward the Construct Definition of Positive Deviance,” American Behavioral Scientist, 47(6). DOI: 10.1177/0002764203260212
UNHCR [The United Nations Refugee Agency] (2021). “Basic needs approach in the refugee response,” https://www.unhcr.org/protection/operations/590aefc77/basic-needs-approach-refugee-response.html. Accessed on August 22, 2021.
Verwiebe, R., Kittel, B., Dellinger, F., Liebhard, C., Schiestl, D., Haindorfer, R., and Liedl, B. (2018). “Finding your way into employment against all odds? Successful job search of refugees in Austria,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 45(9), 1401-1418. DOI: 10/10801369183X.2018.1552826
Weatherby, G. A. (2016). “Daring To Be Different: The Impact of Positive Deviance on the Global Stage,” Voyages Journal of Contemporary Humanism, (2016). http://voyagesjournal.org/daring-to-be-different-the-impact-of-positive-deviance-on-the-global-stage/ Accessed on Sep. 19, 2024.
Wilkinson, L. (2017). “The Labour Market Experience of Refugees in Canada,” Structural Context of Refugee Integration in Canada and Germany, (2017), 93-98.
Zetter, R., & Ruaudel, H. (2018). “Refugees’ right to work and access to labour markets: constraints, challenges and ways forward,” Forced Migration Review, 58 (2018), 4-7.
Zhao, R. & Cao, L. (2010). “Social change and anomie: a cross-national study,” Social Forces, 88(3), 1209-1229. DOI: 10.1353/sof.0.0312
Published
2025-01-06
How to Cite
Stewart, J. (2025). Positive Anomie: Paradigm Shifts and Unintended Benefits Caused by Normlessness, a Case of Syrian Refugees in Canada. International Journal of Social Science Research and Review, 8(1), 178-192. https://doi.org/10.47814/ijssrr.v8i1.2545
Section
Main Articles
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