Violence and Victimization in the Refugee Patient. II. Content of the Refugee Interview.

This paper, the second in a series, focuses on the content of the diagnostic interview, in a clinical context, with refugee patients who have been victimized by physical violence. It is organized around a list of 11 introductory questions that will facilitate discussion of traumatic events in the patient's past. The questions focus on: (1) physical assessment; (2) adjustment to host country; (3) problems encountered in host country; (4) problems in country of first refuge; (5) flight from home country; (6) decision to leave home country; (7) life in home country; (8) experiences of purposeful mistreatment or torture; (9) subjection to threats or coercion; (10) wartime or combat experiences as civilian; and (11) wartime or combat exposure in military. In the discussion that accompanies each interview question, case histories are cited of common traumatic experiences that are unfamiliar to those who have never been refugees or war victims, and information is provided which may have clinical relevance either from a somatic perspective (e.g., central nervous system damage) or a psychosocial perspective (e.g., survival-oriented behavior inconsistent with previous personality). References are included. (TE)