A qualitative study of refugee interpreters' experiences of interpreting for refugees and asylum seekers in mental health contexts

摘要

Background: Refugees come to Britain from over forty-one countries (Home Office,\ud2002) and are entitled to the same health care as the local population. As there are few\udbilingual workers, interpreters are vital (Hodes & Goldberg, 2002). Many interpreters are,\udhowever, refugees themselves and have similar histories to their clients (Tribe &\udMorrissey, 2003), thus the impact that this work has on them is worthy of study. The aim\udof this research was to gain a better understanding of the professional and emotional\udneeds of refugee interpreters and to use this to develop a theoretical grounding from\udwhich to inform clinical practice with interpreters.\udMethod: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine interpreters who were\udrefugees. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using Interpretative\udPhenomenological Analysis (IPA, Smith, 2004).\udAnalysis: Three super-ordinate themes emerged. (1) Bridging the gap, (2) Vocational\udDiscord, (3) Vocational Catharsis. Theme 1 draws together the interpreters'\udphenomenological experiences of how they did their work and what doing the work\udinvolved. Work was, however, often the catalyst for reflection, re-evaluation and\udreinstatement of their refugee experiences. Therefore, the impact of work formed the\udbasis of themes 2 and 3. Vocational Discord is illustrative of the conflict and ambiguity\udpresent in their role. Work often intensified and/or brought to the fore personal, cultural\udand societal dilemmas and tensions. Vocational Catharsis (3) the antithesis of discord\udhowever, encapsulated how through their work, the interpreters were also able to make\udsense of their own experiences and in so doing satisfy some of their moral, cultural and\udhumanitarian responsibilities.\udImplications: The main implications as they relate to clinical work with interpreters and\udmental health provision to refugees were: value and compassion for the similarity of the\udinterpreters' experiences; non-pathologising supervision and support; clearer definition of\udthe interpreter's role; collaboration and partnership with other professionals; challenging\udassumptions and accommodating difference in the context of refugee mental health.