Seeking refuge, losing hope: Parents and children in immigration detention

Abstract

Objective: To record observations made by the authors on a series of visits between December 2001 and March 2002 to two of Australia's immigration detention centers and to consider the mental health consequences of Australia's policy of mandatory immigration detention of asylum seekers for families and children. Conclusions: Parents and children in immigration detention are often vulnerable to mental health problems before they reach Australia. Experiences in prolonged detention add to their burden of trauma, which has an impact not only on the individual adults and children, but on the family process itself. Immigration detention profoundly undermines the parental role, renders the parent i..