“I Don't Have Answers, What Must I Say?”: Maternal Communication in Forcibly Displaced Families Who Are Seeking International Protection in Ireland

As forced displacement and migration reach unprecedented levels globally, the ways in which parents communicate stories of trauma, displacement, and post-migration adversities to their children offer unique insight into how these experiences affect forcibly displaced families. The present study aimed to explore how mothers communicate with their children about their experiences of trauma, displacement, and mental health whilst seeking International Protection in Ireland. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 19 mothers who had children aged between four and 17 years. All mothers were applicants for, or recipients of, International Protection in Ireland. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Two superordinate themes were developed from the analysis. ‘Guarding communication’ occurred when mothers used strategies including avoiding certain topics of conversation, silencing their children, and withholding information from their children. ‘Grappling with communication’ occurred when mothers sought to be child centred yet doubted themselves and were inconsistent in how they communicated with their children. Mothers do not adopt one strategy for communicating with their children. Rather, communication was fluid and dynamic as mothers oscillated between silence and narration. The findings show how difficult it can be for mothers to tell their narratives to their children, and have implications for the provision of therapeutic support for parents and families. What matters most may be to support mothers’ agency in choosing the manner, timing, and content of their communication with their children.