StFX psychology professor Dr. Tara Callaghan has led an international team on a collaborative research project to promote prosociality and social emotional well-being in Rohingya refugee children living in one of the largest refugee camps in the world, located in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. In August 2017, following years of persecution, over 750,000 Rohingya fled genocidal violence in Myanmar, over half of whom were children, with the majority migrating to Bangladesh. The research was conducted in partnership with the Rohingya Centre of Canada and UNHCR Canada, with the invaluable support of young Rohingya researchers living in the camp.
The results of the project were published August 16, 2024 as the latest in the series Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, and titled Fostering Prosociality in Refugee Children: An Intervention with Rohingya Children http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mono.12477.
Dr. Callaghan and the project team explored “the resilience of human prosociality in the face of extreme adversity” by testing the benefits of an intervention program promoting cooperation in Rohingya children. The results showed overall increases in children’s kind behaviors and well-being after the intervention, with some benefits being even greater for severely traumatized children, she says.
The study findings highlight prosociality as a “fundamental characteristic in humanity that can be preserved even in highly adverse contexts” as well as the importance of working together with children and families to sensitively promote their potential for positive development in contexts of conflict, forced migration, and displacement. The research was funded by a Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Saifullah Muhammad of the Rohingya Centre of Canada, a partner in the research, points out that the persecution of Rohingya continues unabated with the Rohingya people facing one of the darkest chapters in their long history of suffering. “The Rohingya crisis is deeply relevant to Canadians as it challenges the values of human rights and justice that Canada prides itself on.”
