The mental map of the concept of “refugee”: a comparative analysis of the cognitive structures of Turkish, Syrian, and Iraqi students

Türkiye currently hosts millions of forcibly displaced people, making social integration a national priority. Schools are pivotal in shaping how youth perceive refugees, influencing cohesion or conflict. However, few studies have compared Turkish, Syrian, and Iraqi students’ conceptualisations of “refugee”. This study aimed to examine and compare how Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi students aged 10–15 conceptualise “refugee.” A multi-stage descriptive approach was employed to examine students’ cognitive structures regarding the concept of “refugee”. The study engaged 307 secondary school students aged 10–15, enrolled in schools with high enrolment of forcibly displaced students in Samsun, Türkiye. Data were collected using the Word Association Test, a technique designed to reveal cognitive constructs, perceptions, and perspectives of different groups about a concept. Descriptive analysis was used to determine the frequency distributions and cut-off points of the associated words, while thematic analysis was conducted to categorise their semantic meanings. In addition, a comparative analysis was carried out to identify similarities and differences in the conceptual structures across participant groups. The research findings indicate that the themes of Security and Threat, Country and Geography, and Negative Perception, Blaming, and Othering carry significant weight in Turkish students’ perceptions of refugees. However, the emergence of the themes Positive Perspective and Attributes, and Sadness and Compassion, reveals the Turkish students’ sense of empathy and solidarity. In contrast, Syrian and Iraqi students’ perceptions centred on themes associated with forced displacement, such as Poverty and the Struggle for Survival, Violence and Death, and Physical and Emotional Pain. Syrian and Iraqi students also associated the concept of “refugee” with a search for hope. Correspondence analysis indicated a statistically significant thematic divergence between the Turkish group and the Syrian and Iraqi groups. These findings reveal a significant divergence between Turkish students’ perceptions, which encompass security- and threat-related associations alongside empathetic and positive meanings, and Syrian and Iraqi students’ perspectives, characterised by associations with displacement, hardship, and hope. Educational interventions are needed to reduce stereotypical and exclusionary associations and to strengthen empathy, perspective-taking, and shared human values. Schools and educators should use these insights to challenge exclusionary narratives, promote inclusive peer relations, and create supportive environments that foster children from forced-migration backgrounds’ inclusion and well-being.