Explores the role of social networks as refugees integrate into British society by finding employment, gaining education, learning the language, acquiring acceptance in the community, and aspiring for citizenship and social equality. Social networks enable refugees to learn how to: (1) fulfill immediate functional needs; (2) build emotional resources to enhance social connection, coping strategies, and self-confidence; and (3) increase knowledge to fulfill long-term goals. Two types of social networks were identified: “bonded” relationships characterized by shared ethnic, language, or cultural identities vs. “bridged” relationships generated by community contacts at school, work, childcare facilities, and places of worship. While the benefits of strong social networks include economic and emotional success, barriers exist to deter refugees’ access and maintenance of social networks, such as limited choices in housing, employment, and educational options; monetary constraints or unemployment that limits social engagement; and unstable immigration status that restricts access to services and produces social stigmas. Recommended improvements to the refugee integration process require coordinated and sustained policies and services at the national and local levels as well as from faith-based and not-for-profit (voluntary) organizations in education, entitlement support, community services, heath care delivery, and racial equality programs and policies. (IP)
