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Social Workers Help Somalians Adjust to Life in U.S.

Minnesota social worker Abdulahi Mohamed helps Safiya Mohamed interpret a bill. Photo courtesy of Minnesota Public Radio.

Minnesota Public Radio is doing a bang-up job covering the problems local Somalian immigrants face adapting to life in the United States.

Many fled civil war and are struggling with post traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and delinquency.

The latest installment of the Minnesota Public Radio series, “The turmoil within: Somali families try to fit in, struggle to forget,” talks about the work social workers are doing helping immigrants cope.

“For many Somalis, as I understand it, they have no concept of mental illness except ‘crazy,'” social worker David McGraw Schuchman said. “And when they think of crazy, it’s extreme cases, like practically throwing-off-your-clothes-in-public kind of crazy. So you’re either crazy, or you’re sane.”

To read the full article click here.

Q: Do you work with immigrant communities? What are some of the special challenges social workers face in this arena?

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