Author
Borysenko Valentyna
a Doctor of History, a head of the Archival Scientific Funds of Manuscripts and Audio-Recordings Department of M. Rylskyi Institute of Art Studies, Folkloristics and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine).
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1342-2363
Adaptation Processes Among Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine During the Russia-Ukraine War in the ХХІst Century
Abstract
This research exploration issues related to the living conditions and psychological well-being of internally displaced persons (IDPs) during the russo-Ukrainian war in Ukraine, using a case study of one territorial community in Vinnytsia Region. The geography of the newcomers to Yampil Microregion encompasses various cities and villages in the East and South of Ukraine. The majority of IDPs came from Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, and Kherson. The picking of the region for relocation was primarily influenced by existing acquaintances and offers from relatives and classmates. Some IDPs, however, ventured into the unknown, relying on advice from volunteers. This group of individuals is particularly vulnerable due to their sense of helplessness and psychological state in a new environment, especially for those IDPs who were placed in rural areas. Not all IDPs immediately started to put their household in order. Nonetheless, some started to renovate vacant houses and the surrounding areas, and they gratefully accepted assistance from the local population, which provided various household items, clothing, and food. Families that decided to stay and purchased housing integrated most actively into the new conditions. The living conditions of IDPs, interpersonal relationships between local and newcomer populations, and the selflessness and hospitality of the local residents towards those affected by the conflict are also discussed. Nostalgic sentiments among IDPs for their homeland are noted, even though their homes have been destroyed by the aggressors. Based on conducted interviews, it can be concluded that different social groups of IDPs experience adaptation to new geographical conditions differently. Emphasis is placed on the common factors influencing the settlement of IDPs in Yampil Microregion and the display of individual characteristics among IDPs. It has been found that a significant number of IDPs do not rely solely on state aid and the welcoming community but have started their own businesses, making the adaptation process less painful. It is noted that different age groups perceive their temporary stay differently but nearly all of them hope to return to their homes. The issue of insufficient attention to integration processes during the pre-war period is raised, emphasizing the need to strengthen patriotic education in society.
Keywords
internally displaced persons, war, hospitality, selflessness, nostalgia, adaptation, integration.
References
- ZADOROZHNA, Svitlana, Iryna KARPOVA. An Attitude of the Host Communities to Internally Displaced Persons. Problems of Social Work: Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, 2017, no. 2, pp. 43–55 [in Ukrainian].
- VOINALOVYCH, Viktor, ed.-in-chief. Hierarchyof Values of the Population of the East and South of Ukraine: Ethnopolitical Aspect in the Conditions of Russian Aggression. A Monograph. Kyiv: I. Kuras IPENS of the NAS of Ukraine, 2021, 344 pp. [in Ukrainian]. https://doi.org/10.53317/978-966-02-9912-2.
- KERDYVAR, Valentyn, Vitalii KHRYSTENKO. Victim Syndrome among the Internally Displaced Persons from the Zone of Local Military Conflict. Kharkiv: National Institute of the Civil Protection of Ukraine, 2021, 143 pp. [in Ukrainian].
- KOLOMYICHUK, Oleksandr. Living Conditions of Internally Displaced Persons in the Ciscarpathian Region in Context of the Russian War against Ukraine. Folk Art and Ethnology, 2023, no. 3, pp. 7–15 [in Ukrainian]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/nte2023.03.007.
- LOHVYNOVA, Maryna. On the Issue of the Factors of Accommodation of the Internally Displaced Persons from the East of Ukraine. Scientific Bulletin of Kharkiv State University. “Geographic Sciences” Series, 2019, iss. 10, pp. 27 [in Ukrainian]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32999/ksu2413-7391/2019-10-4.
- MALYNOVSKA, Olena. The Ways to Solve the Problem of Internally Displaced Persons: Some Lessons from the Foreign Experience. Social Policy, 2017, no. 9, pp. 26–32 [in Ukrainian].
- BULETSA, Sibilla, Olha KOTLIAR, Yaroslav LAZUR, et al. The Mechanism of Ensuring the Rights of IDPs: National and International Aspects. Uzhhorod: Rik-U, 2017, 348 pp. [in Ukrainian].
- RUSHCHENKO, Ihor. The Great Exodus of Ukrainian People (Phenomenon of Displaced Persons of 2022). Ukrainian Society, 2022, no. 2, pp. 155–169 [in Ukrainian]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/socium2022.02.155.
- SMAL, Valentyna, Oleksii POZNIAK. Internally Displaced Persons: Social and Economic Integration in Host Communities / After the Merials of Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk and Poltava Regions. Kyiv, 2016, p. 17 [in Ukrainian].
- FEDORENKO, Oleksandra. Social and Psychological Mechanisms of Adaptation and Integration of Internally Displaced Persons into the Community. Psychology, 2018, vol. 41, iss. 1, p. 136 [in Ukrainian].
- KHAMITOV, Nazip. Loneliness in the Human Existence. Experience of Metaanthropology. The 2nd ed., revised and supplemented. Kyiv, KNT, 2017, p. 72 [in Ukrainian].