Psychological Adjustment To Immigration

This book examines integrative knowledge of multiple fields of content in the domain of immigration and its implications for the individual and his family. The outline of this book reflects the process under discussion: it is based on the immigrants' sample used in the doctoral thesis of Gila and represents the psychological responses of immigrants to the experience of immigration and its relation to different stress factors. The main work refers to relative evaluations that by themselves constitute a stress factor affecting psychological outcomes.

Immigrant children and youth are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, and so their prospects bear heavily on the well-being of the country. Children of Immigrants represents some of the very best and most extensive research efforts to date on the circumstances, health, and development of children in immigrant families and the delivery of health and social services to these children and their families. This book presents new, detailed analyses of more than a dozen existing datasets that constitute a large share of the national system for monitoring the health and well-being of the U.S. population. Prior to these new analyses, few of these datasets had been used to assess the circumstances of children in immigrant families. The analyses enormously expand the available knowledge about the physical and mental health status and risk behaviors, educational experiences and outcomes, and socioeconomic and demographic circumstances of first- and second-generation immigrant children, compared with children with U.S.-born parents.

A Depth Psychology Study of Immigration and Adaptation: The Migrant’s Journey brings current academic research from a range of disciplines into a 12-stage model of human migration. Based on Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey, this depth psychology model addresses pre-migration reasons for leaving, the ordeals of the journey and challenges of post-migration adaptation. One-third of migrants return to homelands while those who remain in newlands face the triple challenges of building a new life, a new identity and sense of belonging. While arrivées carry homelands within, their children, the second generation, born and raised in the newland usually have access to both cultures which enables them to make unique contributions to society. Vital to successful newland adaptation is the acceptance and support of immigrants by host countries. A Depth Psychology Study of Immigration and Adaptation will be an important resource for academics and students in the social sciences, clinical psychologists, health care and social welfare workers, therapists of all backgrounds, policy makers and immigrants themselves seeking an understanding of the inner experiences of migration.

by LOUIS GUTTMAN Fitting it is for the World Mental Health Year that a funda mental research monograph should appear, devoted to one of the universal - but perhaps inadequately recognized - problems of our times: mental health and personal adjustment problems of immigrants. Many types of demographic data on migration are readily available from a variety of official sources. Social scientists who have addressed themselves to the subject have many plausi ble hypotheses about sociopsychological factors leading to mi gration and the effects of migration upon later adjustment. Conclusions based upon empirical psychological and psychiatric research are few and far between. Is it true that a person who is willing to depart his homeland voluntarily for another country must be better adjusted than others in order to be able to brave the idea of making the change? Or is the converse true? While it would be of great interest to study potential migrants before they leave, and the conditions under which they leave, the present monograph is devoted to research at the other end of the problem. What type of immigrant adjusts well after arrival in the new country, and under what conditions? The unusual situation of Israel in absorbing, in a short span of time, people from many countries of origin afforded a unique opportunity for this type of study.

Human migration is a global phenomenon and is on the increase. It occurs as a result of 'push' factors (asylum, natural disaster), or as a result of 'pull' factors (seeking economic or educational improvement). Whatever the cause of the relocation, the outcome requires individuals to adjust to their new surroundings and cope with the stresses involved, and as a result, there is considerable potential for disruption to mental health. This volume explores all aspects of migration, on all scales, and its effect on mental health. It covers migration in the widest sense and does not limit itself to refugee studies. It covers issues specific to the elderly and the young, as well as providing practical tips for clinicians on how to improve their own cultural competence in the work setting. The book will be of interest to all mental health professionals and those involved in establishing health and social policy.

Psychiatric epidemiological research in Israel has been thriving over the years. In recent decades it has expanded its concerns from treated populations to community-based studies.

What will the ethnic, racial and cultural face of the United States look like in the upcoming decades, and how will the American population adapt to these changes? Immigration, Cultural Identity, and Mental Health: Psycho-social Implications of the Reshaping of America outlines the various psychosocial impacts of immigration on cultural identity and its impact on mainstream culture. Thoroughly researched, this book examines how cultural identity relates to individual mental health and should be taken into account in mental health treatment. In a time when globalization is decreasing the importance of national boundaries and impacting cultural identity for both minority and mainstream populations, the authors explore the multiple facets of what immigration means for culture and mental health. The authors review the concept of acculturation and examine not only how the immigrant's identity transforms through this process, but also how the immigrant transforms the host culture through inter-culturation. The authors detail the risk factors and protective factors that affect the first generation and subsequent generations of immigrants in their adaptation to American society, and also seek to dispel myths and clarify statistics of criminality among immigrant populations. Further, the book aims to elucidate the importance of ethnicity and race in the psycho-therapeutic encounter and offers treatment recommendations on how to approach and discuss issues of ethnicity and race in psychotherapy. It also presents evidence-based psychological treatment interventions for immigrants and members of minority populations and shows how psychotherapy involves the creation of new, more adaptive narratives that can provide healing, personal growth, and relevance to the immigrant experience. Throughout, the authors provide clinical case examples to illustrate the concepts presented.