Cross-border legacies of conflict exposure: understanding social well-being of Syrian refugees in Jordan

When refugees flee violent conflict, they carry the legacies of their experiences across borders. Using representative survey data from refugees living in Jordan, we examine how pre-displacement exposure to violent conflict shapes the long-term social well-being of refugees. We find that specific dimensions of conflict (exposure to conflict events and exposure to conflict fatalities) have different outcomes on three measures of social well-being: life satisfaction, social trust, and social safety nets. The effects of conflict change depending on individual and household characteristics, such as gender or household composition. The evidence also supports the conclusion that mental health, specifically depression, is a relevant path through which conflict legacies affect individuals’ well-being.

In this brief, we summarise the findings from a forthcoming study, where we disentangle the dynamics of cross-border forced displacement by examining the lasting impacts of two dimensions of conflict exposure in the origin location – namely, exposure to conflict events and exposure to conflict fatalities – on Syrian refugees in Jordan. More specifically, we look at the intersection between forced displacement, violent conflict, and environmental stress, and how these affect social outcomes in the long term.