Resiliency among Khmer survivors of genocide: A multiple case study

A multiple case study research design was conducted, in which six Khmer participants, ranging in ages between 57 and 64, responded to 19 open-ended and demographic questions in the course of exploratory and in-depth interviews. The research inquiries were designed to explore the nature of resiliency, deriving from Khmer participants' personal experiences during the genocide committed by the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and1980, following their dramatically uprooted lives in bordering and international refugee camps. The inquiry also addressed issues of the final resettlement experiences in which the refugees continuously struggle to adapt and cope in self-sustaining ways under conditions of urban poverty and under-resourced communities, even after more than 30 years of resettlement in the United States. Multiple theoretical concepts of psychological resiliency and trauma were examined in the literature review to illuminate the broad framework of resiliency and trauma, narrowing those concepts in relation to the lives of Khmer survivors. This research study also sought to explore emerging themes associated with resiliency and trauma in order to form a substantial theoretical framework of psychological resiliency among survivors of genocide. Within the theoretical framework of the Khmer participants' life stories, the study investigated U.S. resettlement and genocide experiences, along with the participants' perceptual understanding related to community support; life satisfaction; personal, spiritual, and religious values; and current daily life. Research findings revealed emerging themes of resiliency among all six participants in light of the values of self-reliance, Buddhist spirituality in terms of the "bunh," which is solidly associated with a sense of self-value, and a strong sense of appreciation and gratitude for having survived the genocide and coming to live in the U.S. with government support.