Understanding Settings for Early Childhood Socialization: Evidence from the Rohingya Camps

In this brief, Global TIES researchers demonstrate the utility of rapid ethnography to understand the socialization context of Rohingya children living in Cox’s Bazar Camps, where factors such as economic instability, natural disasters, and the Covid-19 pandemic have continued to change the individual- and family-level environment for Rohingya communities. Results from rapid ethnographic data in conjunction with in-depth parent interviews highlight several key elements contributing to the socialization of young Rohingya refugee children, including: 1) supervision and care of children often extending beyond biological parents and immediate family; 2) agents of socialization and learning extending beyond biological parents and immediate family; 3) parents considering spaces near or around their homes to be unsafe, while children’s behavior indicate otherwise; 4) learning “pockets” or humanitarian play labs (HPLs) within household clusters providing unique opportunities for children to learn and play; and 5) HPL children having access to artifacts for socialization beyond improvised objects from the immediate surroundings.

Access the brief here.