Return as Social Interaction: Networks and Perceptions Among Yezidi and Christian IDPs from Ninewa Governorate
This study examines how social networks and perceptions influence return decision-making over time among internally displaced Yezidi and Christian populations from Ninewa Governorate. Using an innovative social network analysis design, findings from the first wave of analysis show that decision-making around resolving displacement is not an independent act taken solely within the household. Rather, it is a relatively social endeavor. Yezidi and Christian IDP communities’ willingness to return is shaped by their perceptions of material and social conditions in their places of origin and the networks they are embedded in. These findings are drawn from original data collected from 317 IDP participants and their 917 unique discussion alters. Subsequent waves of panel data collection will track changes in movement, perceptions, and networks of the IDP participants to be able to more concretely say how these elements tie together in the decision-making and action toward resolving displacement, specifically return.
Download the first wave findings report here.