'On the Run' - How does a role-play develop empathy for refugees?

Abstract: The thesis investigates the relation between empathy for refugees and the experience of participation in a role-play as an educational tool, by focusing on the role-play “On the Run” by the Swedish Red Cross Youth Association. This role-play starts with an introduction, includes a one-hour long play where the participants take roles of family members who have to flee their country, and ends with a debriefing that is argued to be important for the emotional understanding of the participation in the role-play. The thesis explores how this role-play develops empathy for refugees, and how it affects the learning process. The result of the study is presented, which employed an online questionnaire with open-ended questions concerning how the former participants experienced and reflected on the role-play. The analysis of the answers shows that the participants generally appreciated the role-play, that empathy can be identified in their answers as a result of the participation, and that both affective empathy and perspective-taking empathy can be identified as outcomes of that role-play.