Psychosocial Experiences and Adjustment of Migrants

Coming to the USA

1st Edition - July 26, 2023
Editors: Grant J. Rich, Judy Kuriansky, Uwe P. Gielen, Daniel Kaplin
Language: English
Paperback ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 2 3 7 9 4 - 6
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 2 3 7 9 5 - 3

Psychosocial Experiences and Adjustment of Migrants: Coming to the USA explores the emotional experiences of migrants seeking to come to America, including psychological sequelae… Read more

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Psychosocial Experiences and Adjustment of Migrants: Coming to the USA explores the emotional experiences of migrants seeking to come to America, including psychological sequelae of such relocation from one’s home country to another country. This book is divided into three main parts. The first introduces the reader to the foundational principles of migration. Next, the chapter authors review individuals and families who come to the United States through "orderly" migration, profiling the experiences of immigrants from various countries and regions. The next set of chapters discuss "forced" migration, examining the relative impact of social and legal challenges and the psychological impact. The book wraps up with research, advocacy and mental health and social services options for migrants.

Cover image
Title page
Table of Contents
Copyright
List of contributors
Biographies
Preface
Introduction
Part I. Issues and themes
Chapter 1. Understanding the legal and historical context of migration to the United States
Introduction
Naturalization Act of 1790 and Related Acts
Early citizenship laws adversely impacted Native Americans
Irish migration to the United States
Civil War and reconstruction period
Asian migration to the United States
Anti-Asian immigration laws
Immigration during the industrial revolution and the world wars
Immigration laws during the Gilded Age
World War I
Immigration laws after World War I
Historical context of World War II
Immigration laws in response to the U.S. involvement in WWII
The Cold War, Korean and Vietnam War, and Civil Rights movement
Korean War
The Bracero Program revisited
Cuba, the Cold War, and immigration policy
Vietnam War and civil rights movement
Vietnam and Civil Rights era laws
A generation of immigration legislative reform
Legislation from 1980 to 2000
Immigration law from 9/11 to the present
Conclusion
Chapter 2. Pros and cons of immigrating to the USA: Perspectives from those who live here and those who seek to do so
Issues laying the groundwork
Belief systems
Unity amidst diversity
Pros and cons of coming to the United States
Pros of coming to the USA
Cons of coming to the United States
Enculturation, immersion, and adjustment
Conclusion
Chapter 3. Psychological issues associated with migration
Psychological issues in migration
Definition of migration
Rates of migration
Acculturation and acculturative stress
Family migration
Immigrant risk versus immigrant advantage among youth
Effects of parental separation
Immigrant psychopathology
Trauma and violence
Financial and legal stressors
Future directions
Chapter 4. Cultural issues in migration
Introduction
Foundational principles of human migration
Orderly migration and psychosocial adaptation
Forced migration and the search for safety
The function of the United Nations and other Non-Governmental Organizations NGOs
The role of psychologists in humanitarian relief and further recommendations
Conclusion
Chapter 5. Migration Struggles: A clinical understanding across life cycles
The shared struggles of migration
Concepts relevant to migration
Definition of terms
Different phases of Migration Struggles
Transgenerational trauma
Adjustment of migrants to an individual versus collective culture
Children of migrants: Specific determinants and challenges
Gender-related challenges
Older migrant adults
Clinical issues and applications
Conclusion
Recommendations
Chapter 6. Securitization of migration and hate crimes toward immigrants and refugees
Securitization of migration and hate crimes toward immigrants and refugees
Victims
Perpetrators
Social milieux and structural determinants
Policies
Conclusion
Chapter 7. Gender and migration: Women and nonbinary individuals at risk
Introduction
Diversity among immigrants, intersectionality: Five women's stories
Diverse gender and sexual identities
Why migrate
The journey and detention
Transnational families
Conclusions
Chapter 8. Psychological issues and support systems for children and youth refugees and immigrants
Psychological issues
Strengths and support systems
Recommendations for psychologists
Conclusion
Chapter 9. The culturagram matrix: Domains of migration identities
Background
Introduction
Number and diversity of immigrants in the United States
Cultural competency and cultural humility
Case example
From assessment to intervention
Summary and future directions for the culturagram
Chapter 10. Is immigration good or bad for the United States? A professional's personal reflection on the concepts of coloniality and mutual benefit in migration
Introduction
Background
The influence of laws
The dichotomous American dream
Colonialism in universities
Human nature and migration
Migration: Good, bad, or mutually beneficial?
Reasons for migration
How human nature has been manipulated by the politics of migration
The dichotomous thinking in the question: “Is Immigration good or bad for the United States?”
Superficial false dichotomous thinking versus reality
Lived experience as a migrant woman
Solutions/recommendations
Part II. Migration to the USA
Chapter 11. Two roads diverged: Inequities associated with variations in the migration path from Mexico to the United States
Declarations
Introduction
Objective of this chapter
Immigration legal status as a determinant of challenges migrants face
Mexican migration as a case study
A brief take on Mexico's domestic conditions that determine U.S.-bound migration
Psychosocial challenges of Mexican migrants
Economic challenges of Mexican migrants
Conclusion: A path forward to reducing inequities from divergent migration paths
Chapter 12. Central American diasporas: Psychological considerations for immigrants and refugees from the northern triangle
Introduction
Overview of central American migration to the United States
Push–pull factors to migration
The mayan diaspora: Narratives of despair and hope
Legacies of salvadorian migrations
Sex trafficking from Honduras
Gender and political violence in Nicaragua
Clinical implications
Chapter 13. Caribbean immigrants in the United States and Canada: A diverse mosaic
Historical patterns in migration and sociodemographic factors
Separation and (Re)unification
Sociodemographic characteristics
Religious belief systems
Marital and mating patterns and parenting
Childrearing beliefs and practices
Tri-cultural orientation, remote acculturation, and cultural identity
Remittances: Obligation to relatives and dreaming of going back home
A final word
Chapter 14. Coming to America, the European experience
Coming to America, the European experience
Why they came
Barriers to immigration
Life in the tenements
Getting a job
Land of opportunity
European immigration today
Chapter 15. African immigrants in America: Finding home through stories of resilience
Introduction
Introduction: African immigrants in the United States
Why the increase of African immigrants in the United States
Challenges faced by African immigrants
African immigrants and mental health
African immigrants and education
Variety of experience: Case studies
The universality of experience for African immigrants
Variety of experience
The postmigration experience
Summary
Chapter 16. Coming to America from South Asia
Introduction
Vignette
Background on the country/region of origin
Demographic profile of South Asians in the United States
Unique challenges in migration and adjustment
Clinical issues
Hate crimes and violence against South Asians
Concluding remarks and recommendations
Useful resources
Chapter 17. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese immigration to the US: Migration patterns and psychological adjustment
Key historical factors affecting migration patterns
Postmigration stressors and traumas affecting psychological adjustment and health
Conclusion
Chapter 18. Coming from southeast Asia: Psychosocial experiences and adjustment of southeast Asian immigrants and refugees
Immigration history of southeast Asia
Current make-up of the southeast Asian community in the United States
Cultural adjustment
Mental health within the southeast Asian community
Protective factors
Treatment barriers and clinical implications
Conclusion
Chapter 19. Forced displacement from the Northern Triangle region: Implications for clinical intervention and training
Introduction: Factors that contribute to forced displacement in the Northern Triangle region
Case illustration: Josefina, forced displacement from the Northern Triangle
Forcibly displaced people: A global crisis
Forced displacement as a regional crisis in the Northern Triangle
Mental health supports for forcibly displaced communities from the Northern Triangle: Clinical considerations, a systemic, contextual framework for intervention
Trilateral Migration Trauma model: Clinical implications
Trilateral migration trauma model: Implications for teaching and training
Conclusion
Chapter 20. “You in Americuh, now”: African forced migrants in the 21st century United States
Introduction
Positionality of authors
Background
Unique challenges faced
Challenges to accessing mental health services
Cultural considerations for interventions for this population
Documented effective treatment models
Gaps
Conclusion
Chapter 21. Understanding and working with Middle Eastern and Syrian migrants and refugees
Introduction
A profile of the Middle East and Syrian nation
The psychology of migration
Voluntary migration versus forced migration
Revisiting the concept of acculturation
Understanding the so-called Arab-Americans
Psychosocial adaptations and intercultural adjustments
Practical guidelines for working with migrants and refugees
Chapter 22. Refugees from Afghanistan
Chapter 23. Afghan girl refugees coming to America
Introduction
Women in Afghanistan
Afghan girl refugees coming to America: Approaches to adjustment and empowerment
NGO CSW forum
The event program
Conclusion
Chapter 24. The role of social capital provided by the established ethnic enclaves in Ukrainian refugees' resettlement in the United States
Part III. Stakeholders' roles, advocacy, and international agreements
Chapter 25. Diplomatic psychology at the United Nations: The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration
Introduction
The GCM
The situation in the pivotal year of 2015
A negotiation deeply rooted in psychology
The United States and the GCM
Failure to engage beyond the negotiation room
Four years after the adoption of the GCM: Follow-up and review
Chapter 26. UNHCR and the Global Compact on Refugees: The negotiation and current issues
Introduction
Brief overview of the development of the Refugee Compact
Opportunities following the Compact's affirmation
Challenges to the Compact's implementation
Progress on the Compact's four objectives
Conclusion and way forward
Chapter 27. Doing what matters: The NGO Committee on migration
Introduction
Formation and mission
Migration's rise to the top of the UN agenda, 2002–2022
Here come a pair of global compacts
A member-driven coalition of NGOs
Activities, priorities and foci for advocacy
Recent (2021–2022) work plan of the NGO committee on migration
Monthly programs
Side events
Mission visits
Participation in panels organized by the UN, states, or others
Resources: Brochures, infographics, policy briefs, practices, reports
The NGO committee voice in the UN high-level political forum
A vote and voice for existing good practices
NGO committee action in joint civil society mobilization
Uniting civil society advocacy for migrants and refugees together
How it comes together
Seeing and connecting people: Refugees and migrants
Seeing and connecting issues: Mental health and psychosocial well-being
Seeing and connecting in COVID-time
The great connector: The global forum on migration and development
An essential engine of dialogue
Conclusions: Doing what matters
Chapter 28. Psychosocial support for migrants and refugees: Similarities and differences in historic international Compacts
Introduction and background
Definitions
Separation of the two documents
Extent of the situation
Controversy: Pros and cons of movement
Psychological issues
The Compacts recognize psychology
Global Compact for Migration
Psychological concepts in the Global Compact on Migration
Global Compact on Refugees
Psychological concepts in the Global Compact on Refugees
Comparison of Psychological terms in the Compacts
Implementation of the Global Compacts
Follow-up on psychological issues for the Compact on Migration
Conclusion
Chapter 29. How can governments at the United Nations work with NGOs on immigration? Experience and perspective of a UN Ambassador Emeritus
Introduction
How governments work with NGOs
NGOs at the United Nations
Immigration and the United States
U.S. Government and NGOs
Discord in the United States
The debate over immigration good or bad for the host country
The impact of COVID
Challenges of immigrants
Recommendations
Chapter 30. Migrating to the United States: Aspirations and challenges of international students of psychology
Introduction
Overview
“American Dream”
Defining home
Bureaucratic stressors
Future directions
Chapter 31. Psychosocial experiences and adjustment of migrants: Coming to the United States
Index

Grant J. Rich

Grant J. Rich received his Ph.D. in Psychology: Human Development from the University of Chicago. His work focuses on optimal cross-cultural human development and international positive psychology, including resilience and posttraumatic growth. Dr. Rich is senior editor of eight books, including Pathfinders in International Psychology (2015), Internationalizing the Teaching of Psychology (2017), Human Strengths and Resilience: Developmental, Cross-Cultural, and International Perspectives (2018), Teaching Psychology Around the World, Volume 4 (2018), Teaching Psychology Around the World, Volume 5 (2020), Psychology in Southeast Asia: Sociocultural, clinical and health perspectives (2020), and Psychology in Oceania and the Caribbean (2022). A Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), and a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), Dr. Rich has taught at institutions around the globe, recently in Alaska, Cambodia, and India. Since 2013, he has served on the faculty of Walden University. Dr. Rich has published over 75 peer-reviewed journal articles/book chapters in top journals including American Psychologist, Humanistic Psychologist, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Journal of Positive Psychology, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma, and Professional Psychology. A board-certified massage therapist (NCBTMB), he is editor of the academic book of quantitative research Massage Therapy: The Evidence for Practice (2002, Elsevier) and served a term as NCBTMB National Board Member (2018-2019). A licensed social worker, he has served on medical missions internationally. He serves on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals, including PLOS One, and APA’s journals Traumatology and Peace & Conflict. He currently is lead editor another book in contract, The International Handbook of Media Psychology (co-edited with past APA President Frank Farley and Krishna Kumar). Dr. Rich is President-Elect of two APA divisions, the Society for Media Psychology and Technology, and the Society for Peace, Conflict, & Violence.

Affiliations and expertise

Walden University, Juneau, Alaska, USA

Judy Kuriansky

Dr. Judy Kuriansky is a noted international clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University Teachers College. At the United Nations, she is the main NGO Representative of the International Association of Applied Psychology and World Council for Psychotherapy for the past 20 years, serves on many NGO Committees, and moderates, co-produces and serves as a speaker for innumerable events co-sponsored by Member States and the World Health Organization on varied subjects. As a member of the UN NGO Committee on Migration, she participated in years-long negotiations regarding the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, meeting with many government delegates and then invited to the final negotiations in Morocco in December 2018. She has spoken about migration at many conferences, including for the UN Commission on the Status of Women NGO/NY Forum on issues about women and men, transgenerational trauma, and intersection with climate change, and also briefed the UN Group of Friends on Migration about psychological issues. As President of the Psychology Coalition of NGOs accredited by the UN Economic and Social Council, she partnered with the Ambassador of Palau on a successful campaign on the intergovernmental level to secure the inclusion of mental health and wellbeing in the UN Global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and similarly advocated successfully regarding the Universal Health Coverage Political Declaration, the Sendai Framework, and the Global Compact for Migration. She chaired the Global Council on Health of the “SDGS in Action” initiative of the United Arab Emirates, featuring the “Health in Your Hands” platform for health innovations she co-founded. She co-developed a Girls Empowerment Camp in Africa, and has led trainings of community leaders and volunteers in psychosocial support worldwide after disasters, for example, in Haiti, Japan, China, St Maarten, Iran, and the US, as well as for Syrian refugees and during the Ebola epidemic. A member of the Board of Trustees of the United African Congress, she has co-produced innumerable events including a series on COVID-19 in Africa during the pandemic. Also a board member of the Library of American Broadcasting, she is a pioneer of radio call-in advice talk, a long-time television feature reporter, and magazine and newspaper columnist, for the Singapore Straits Times, the South China Morning Post, the New York Daily News.com and many others, currently for Black Star News. She has published innumerable articles in professional journals and her many books address healthy relationships and children’s adjustment, and co-edited books on disaster recovery, sexuality education, Ebola, ecopsychology and environmental protection. Her many awards include for Lifetime Achievement from the Society for Media Psychology and Technology of the American Psychological Association of which she is a lifetime member and fellow, as well as the Grand Commander of the Order of the Rokel of the Republic of Sierra Leone and the Humanitarian Award for Lifetime Achievement in Global Peace and Tolerance. Expert in practice, research and advocacy, she also serves as policy advisor to the Ambassador of Sierra Leone to the United States.

Affiliations and expertise

Clinical Psychologist, Faculty of Columbia University Teachers College, USA, United Nations representative of the International Association of Applied Psychology and World Council of Psychotherapy, and Advisor, Mission of Sierra Leone to the United Nations

Uwe P. Gielen

Dr. Uwe P. Gielen has written, edited, or co-edited 33 books. He grew up as a refugee in Germany and later earned his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard University. He is Former Executive Director of the Institute for International and Cross-Cultural Psychology and Professor-Emeritus of Psychology at St. Francis College, New York. His 33 edited/co-edited/co-authored books, which have appeared in five languages, deal with a broad range of psychological topics from an international and culturally informed perspective. Having lectured on more than 340 occasions in 34 countries, he has served as president of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, the International Council of Psychologists, and APA’s Division of International Psychology as well as chair of the Psychology Section at the New York Academy of Sciences.

Affiliations and expertise

Executive Director, Institute for International and Cross-Cultural Psychology and Professor-Emeritus of Psychology, St. Francis College, New York, USA

Daniel Kaplin

Dr. Daniel Kaplin is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at St. Francis College and Co-founder and Director of its Forum on Migration. He received his doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology in 2014 from Walden University’s Department of Psychology. His research examines ways to improve the treatment and access to care for minority communities. Dr. Kaplin has served on numerous boards and committees at the local, state, and national levels. He was recently invited to guest edit an issue of the Journal of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy on the topic of forced migration. Dr. Kaplin has received many awards and recognitions, which include being a Leadership Institute Fellow (2012), the DCRE Dissertation Award (2015), Distinguished Fellow at New York State Psychological Association (2017), and NYSPA’s Diversity Award (2018).

Affiliations and expertise

Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, St. Francis College, Staten Island, USA

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Psychosocial Experiences and Adjustment of Migrants

Coming to the USA

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Grant J. Rich

Judy Kuriansky

Uwe P. Gielen

Daniel Kaplin