Family in the Web of Protracted Forced Migration: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Family Resilience and Psychological Well-being in North-Eastern Nigeria and Gaza Strip

Abstract

Sustained exposure to armed conflict, displacement, economic deprivation, and psychosocial distress are submerged in forced migration that continues to reshape families with untold significant humanitarian challenges in recent memories. These have transformed family structures, social relationships, and psychosocial well-being. There has been extensive examination of experiences of refugees, internally displaced persons, women, and children. However, family as an integrated resilience system and the psychological well-being of fathers, husbands, and brothers within displaced households are often ignored or considered inconsequential. This study comparatively examines family resilience in North-Eastern Nigeria and the Gaza Strip within the theoretical anchorage of Family Systems, Ecological Systems, Ambiguous Loss, and Resilience theories. The patterns and realignments of family functioning across different cultural contexts immersed in prolonged conflict are explained. The study develops the Integrated Family Resilience Framework for Forced Migration (IFRFM) as an analytical model. Findings indicate that despite contextual differences, families in both regions experience disruption and adaptation of semblance patterns. The study concludes that sustainable humanitarian recovery requires family-centred interventions that strengthen the psychosocial, economic, and relational capacities of all family members including fathers, husbands, brothers, women, children, and older adults, rather than addressing vulnerabilities in isolation.