Trauma and resilient functioning among Syrian refugee children FATIMA TUBA YAYLACI Istanbul Sehir University Abstract Following the civil war in Syria, there has been a growing interest in the impact of war, violent conflict, and refuge on the development and mental health of refugee children in general and Syrian refugee children in particular. The objective of this paper is threefold: (a) to critically review the existing literature on the psychological functioning of Syrian refugee children, with a particular focus on those residing in the urban areas or camps in Turkey; (b) to identify the main theoretical and methodological problems of this emerging literature; and (c) to suggest guidelines for how to improve research and practice in this field. The reviewed literature predominantly focuses on psychological trauma, trauma-related symptomatology or other maladaptive functioning in children, and psychosocial interventions conducted toward alleviating these issues. This paper will summarize the research findings in the above-mentioned topicsto discern what can be known from the existing literature on Syrian refugee children. Since the eruption of the civil war in 2011, about 14 million Syrians had to leave their homes and many of them sought re- fuge in another country. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2018), 5,604,005 Syrians are registered as refugees 1 in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq, as of June 2018. A total of 2 million refugees live in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt, whereas more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees are registered by the government of Turkey alone. Approximately 50% of this population are under 18 years old (Ministry of Interior Directorate General of Migration Management, 2018; United Nations High Com- missioner for Refugees, 2018). The number of Syrian chil- dren in Turkey is rapidly increasing due to the high birth rate among Syrian refugees (about 200,000 per year; Human Rights Watch, 2016). Turkey had an “open-door” policy that offered refuge to all Syrians fleeing persecution, as is stipula- ted by international law. However, Syrian refugees in Turkey do not have a legal refugee status with protected rights under international law. Rather, the state granted Syrian migrants a “temporary protection status,” which is a provisional status where the state provides services under exceptional proce- dures. Historically, Turkey has been a transit country where refugees and asylum seekers pass through on the way to, mostly, European destinations. In line with the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees, Turkey exerts a “geo- graphical limitation” to the right to receive refugee status. Only asylum seekers from European countries are to be gran- ted refugee status, and refugees from non-European locations are only granted “temporary stay” in Turkey while pending resettlement to other countries (Kiris ¸ci, 2014). Recently, there has been a growing worldwide interest in the impact of war, violent conflict, and refuge on the develop- ment and mental health of refugee children in general and of Syrian refugee children in particular. The researchers have so far been interested mostly in topics related to risk and mala- daptation in these children’s development, such as stress, trauma, parenting difficulties, and psychopathology. In addi- tion, in response to the urgency of these children’s need for psychosocial adaptation, interventions are implemented and some of them are tested for their effectiveness. With this ris- ing interest, the literature on Syrian refugee children’s func- tioning is expanding. Initial findings on Syrian refugee chil- dren indicate that the war and conflict-related stressors adversely impact children. Yet, the literature has major theo- retical and methodological issues that require attention. The objective of this paper is threefold: (a) to critically re- view the existing literature on the psychological functioning of Syrian refugee children, with a particular focus on those re- siding in the urban areas or camps in Turkey; (b) to identify the main theoretical and methodological problems of this emerging literature; and (c) to suggest guidelines for how to improve research and practice in this field. Most studies in this field have been conducted as a first response to war-re- lated trauma and stress experienced by Syrian children and their families. As a result, the literature reviewed predomi- nantly focused on psychological trauma, trauma-related Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Fatima Tuba Yaylaci, Department of Psychology, Istanbul Sehir University, Orhantepe Mahallesi, Turgut Ozal Bulvari, No: 21, 34865 Dragos, Kartal/Istanbul, Turkey; E-mail: fatimatubayaylaci@sehir.edu.tr. 1. In this paper, I will use “refugee” as a general term regardless of legal sta- tus per local or international law to refer to individuals who left their coun- try of origin due to violent conflict or war. For the purposes of this paper, the term “refugee” may include definitions of asylum seekers, refugees, or migrants. I would like to acknowledge my students at the Development and Psychopa- thology Lab for their valuable contribution with reviewing the literature, and providing ideas for this manuscript. Development and Psychopathology, 2018, page 1 of 14 # Cambridge University Press 2018 doi:10.1017/S0954579418001293 1