Effective social inclusion of people from refugee backgrounds in host communities is vital to the success of their resettlement. This study focused on how an NGO-organised care-oriented programme may foster the social inclusion of migrant women from refugee backgrounds in Australia.
We looked at how the programme’s adoption of an ethics-of-care approach might affect migrant women’s social capital, hence social inclusion. About 55 migrant women from a regional city in Australia were recruited for the study, and quantitative and qualitative data were collected.
The study revealed that the NGO’s adoption of the care ethics and principles to design and implement the physical activity program significantly increased refugee migrant women’s bonding and bridging social capital, which in turn promoted their social inclusion in the host community.
This study highlights the importance of adopting care ethics and care practices to inform initiatives designed to promote the social inclusion of marginalised groups such as refugee migrant women settling in regional cities in Australia. It also emphasises the need for NGOs and other organisations supporting new migrant groups to focus on increasing opportunities for such community groups to develop bonding and bridging relationships with people within and outside their language groups or ethnicity.
