Ambiguous Loss in Transnational Families’ Adolescents: An Exploratory Study in Ecuador

In psychosocial migration literature, the perspective of ambiguous loss has been relevant to articulate personal and relational experiences in the context of transnational families and ongoing separation. Most studies have focused on adult members’ experiences of transnational families, but research exploring ambiguous loss in adolescents whose parents have migrated is still lacking. The present study aimed to explore adolescents’ lived experiences of parental migration. In a pilot explorative study, 14 adolescents with at least one parent who migrated were interviewed about their lived experiences of transnational parent-child relationships and ongoing parent-child separation. Data analysis identified four themes in participants’ accounts: practices of separation creating confusion; current relationship with migrant parents permeated by ambiguity; distrustful representations of migrant parents; and family and social dynamics reactivating the pain of loss. The findings reveal how in the context of parental migration, patterns of separation and ongoing relational processes, compounded by the uncertainty of reunification and an exclusionary social fabric, constitute core elements that shape adolescents’ lived experiences of parent-child relationships characterized by ambiguity.     

Bonds to the homeland: Patterns and determinants of women's transnational travel frequency among three immigrant groups in Germany

Technology developments have changed immigrants' adaptation patterns in modern societies, allowing immigrants to sustain dense, complex connections with homeland while adjusting in the host country, a new phenomenon termed transnationalism. As empirical studies on immigrant transnationalism are still scarce, the purpose of this study was to investigate mean levels and determinants of a core component of transnationalism—transnational travel. Hypotheses were based on context of exiting homeland, living conditions in Germany and demographic and sociocultural variables. Transnational travel behaviour was assessed as frequency of return trips in three immigrant groups in Germany: ethnic Germans, Russian Jews and Turks. Interviews were conducted with 894 women participants from these groups. Results showed substantial transnational travel behaviour in all groups with Turks reporting higher levels than ethnic Germans and Russian Jews. Interindividual differences in transnational travel within groups were also examined. Results indicated similarities (e.g. network size in home country related positively to transnational travel frequency in all groups) and group‐specific associations (e.g. co‐ethnic identifying related positively to transnational travel frequency among Turks, but negatively for the other groups). Our study highlights the need for a new understanding of immigration and emphasises the consideration of group‐specific mechanisms in transnational travel behaviour.     

Gendered contours of contemporary South Asian religious practices in the context of migration: second-generation Jain women and men in Britain and the US

Viewing religion through the social constructionist lens and adopting the methodological approach of ‘lived religion’, this article draws attention to the gendered contours of contemporary Jain practice. Although Jain dharma is a non-theistic, non-institutionalised religion, gender differences are embedded within lay practice in India. In contrast, analysis of qualitative data (interviews conducted with 50 second-generation, middle- and upper middle-class Jain women and men in Britain and the US) reveals a gender convergence in patterns of everyday religious practice and performance. I argue that the social turn in late modern societies, together with the dominance of a neo-orthodox approach among diasporic Jains, facilitates this convergence. Further, shifting patterns of religious practices suggest that religion is an important site for the negotiation of gender identities in the context of migration. The construction of Jain religious selves enables young Jains—both women and men—to navigate multiple and contradictory femininities and masculinities and to display more affective, relational, and compassionate selves in late modern societies.     

Immigration and femininity in Southern Europe: A gender‐based psychosocial analysis

Despite the growing presence of female immigrants in Western countries, research on the subject highlights two important biases that hinder appropriate explanation of the migratory phenomenon and hence prevent adequate intervention. First, most of the research studies conducted so far focus on male migration; second, the macro‐social perspective has prevailed in these areas of study since socio‐economic and political aspects have taken centre stage in analyses on migratory phenomena, From a gender‐based psychosocial perspective, this study addresses the migration project of 53 women from different South American countries, the Maghreb region and Eastern Europe now living in Southern Spain. For this purpose we conducted 23 in‐depth interviews, and staged six discussion groups with the aim of elucidating to what extent gender‐based psychosocial beliefs—stereotypes, ideology and identity—determine women's migration process. Our results suggest that the main stages in the process—deciding to emigrate, itinerary for social and labour integration in the host country, and general assessment of the migration experience—are strongly influenced by psychosociological constructs which arise as a result of female gender‐typing or female profile. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Guilt: A gendered bond within the transnational family

Between 1999 and 2003 Argentinians lived an economic, social and political crisis that led some of them to emigrate, mainly to the United States and Spain. There are few studies on Argentinean migration and even fewer studies that take emotions and gender during the migration process into account. The aim of this work was to understand the link between gender and guilt within the migration process. In order to consider this, I analyzed the expression of guilt within the narrative of Argentinean migrants in Miami, United States and Barcelona, Spain. In-depth interviews of Argentinean migrants were conducted in both cities. Research shows that guilt is a gendered emotion, which allows migrants to temporarily stay attached to their family in a gendered way during the migration process. Nonetheless, its expression depends on four different factors that are interrelated: representations of gender role and “imagined family”, representations' changes during the migration process and the context of departure and the context of arrival.     

Disadvantage, Ethnic Niching or Pursuit of a Vision?

As immigrant groups grow older, host societies are faced with new challenges of integration. In a labor market that is structured by ethnicity and gender, the demand for culturally competent care provides immigrant women with the opportunity to become entrepreneurs within the care sector. This article analyzes 20 in-depth interviews with immigrant women from 13 countries who are entrepreneurs in home-help services for elderly people. The article analyzes the complex motives behind the women??s entrepreneurship. Ethnic entrepreneurship has mainly been approached as a way for immigrants to survive in the labor market??the disadvantage theory??or as a means to create job opportunities for co-ethnics within ethnic economies. Opposed to this, three main motives appear in the analysis: first, the processes of ethnic and gender sorting in the care sector; second, ethnic strategies in the labor market; and third, the wish to gain independence and improve the quality of care. Only in a few cases is ethnic entrepreneurship practiced within ethnic economies; instead, it is mainly found within cross-cultural economies, consisting of employees and customers of mixed origin who are embedded in a majority society. The women construct their ethnic identities to compete in the segmented Swedish labor market by creating ethnic identities of care that are adjusted to meet the needs of their customers in a cross-cultural society.     

Three Decades of State Feminism and Gender Equality Policies in Multi-governed Spain

Spain’s evolution from an authoritarian regime to a well-established multi-governed democracy in a short period of time, has been accompanied by incredibly rapid social change and a varied (depending on the governmental period), but overall steady, consideration of gender equality as a political priority. This has also led to the rapid development and consolidation of women’s and equality machineries–state feminism–and well-established policies devoted to promoting gender equality over the last three decades, both at national and regional governmental levels. This article aims to present a consolidated policy area which has enough elements to survive and to keep on developing, although in an increasingly fragmented manner, among regions, despite the ongoing economic crisis and the conservative political turn. Based on theories of state feminism and discursive politics, this article analyzes four important elements for understanding this claim and the evolution of national and regional Spanish gender policies and institutions during the last three decades: women’s machinery, the relations between that machinery and women’s and feminist movements, the policy discourses present in gender equality policies, and the policy instruments used by those machineries and policies.     

PSYCHOLOGY RECONSTRUCTS THE FEMALE 1968–1988

Recent work on the psychology of gender is pluralistic, stemming from varied specialty areas within psychology, grounded in several intellectual frameworks, and reflecting a spectrum of feminist perspectives. This article is a critical appraisal of diverse approaches to the study of women and gender. It first describes prefeminist or "womanless" psychology, then analyzes four co-existing frameworks that have generated recent research. The four frameworks are: Exceptional Women , in which empirical research focuses on the correlates of high achievement for women, and women's history in the discipline is re-evaluated; Women as Problem (or Anomaly ), in which research emphasizes explanations for female "deficiencies" (e.g., fear of success); the Psychology of Gender , in which the focus of inquiry shifts from women to gender, conceived as a principle of social organization that structures relations between women and men; and a (currently relatively undeveloped) Transformation framework that reflexively challenges the values, assumptions, and normative practices of the discipline. Examples of research programs within each approach are described, and the strengths and limitations of each approach are critically examined.     

Fading Majority Cultures: The Implications of Transnationalism and Demographic Changes for Immigrant Acculturation

Processes of globalisation, migration, and increasing cultural diversity within nations have resulted in a growing need to understand intercultural relations in plural societies. Accordingly, this paper highlights the relations between immigrants and members of host societies and considers how social and demographic changes may affect acculturation and intercultural relations and shape future psychological theory and research in these areas. Based on a combination of empirical data and informed speculation, we discuss three significant changes. First is the growing importance of transnational relations due to a large degree of faster and cheaper forms of communication and traveling. A second important factor is changing demographics characterised by the growth of mega‐cities and the increasing proportion of first and second generation of immigrants in contemporary immigration nations and – consequently – the diminishing size of native majority groups. Third is the greater acceptance of a global culture, which is shaped by globalisation and coloured by local multi‐ethnic characteristics and creolisation processes in each country of settlement. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sexism and gender inequality across 57 societies

Theory predicts that individuals' sexism serves to exacerbate inequality in their society's gender hierarchy. Past research, however, has provided only correlational evidence to support this hypothesis. In this study, I analyzed a large longitudinal data set that included representative data from 57 societies. Multilevel modeling showed that sexism directly predicted increases in gender inequality. This study provides the first evidence that sexist ideologies can create gender inequality within societies, and this finding suggests that sexism not only legitimizes the societal status quo, but also actively enhances the severity of the gender hierarchy. Three potential mechanisms for this effect are discussed briefly.     

Immigrants’ Transnational Entrepreneurial Activities: the Case of Ghanaian Immigrants in Canada

Immigrant entrepreneurship comes in two forms: domestic and transnational entrepreneurship. Domestic immigrant entrepreneurs depend on the host society for business success while transnational immigrant entrepreneurs depend on the contacts and partners in their countries of origin and other countries. In recent years, immigrants’ entrepreneurial activity has moved from the domestic to the transnational level because of the simultaneous business activities that such entrepreneurs conduct between their home and host countries. Transnational entrepreneurship has become one of the pathways that immigrants use to settle and integrate into the host society’s labor market, and at the same time contribute to their countries of origin. From this perspective, this paper explores the causes, nature, and practices of transnational entrepreneurial activities of Ghanaian immigrants in Canada. Using in-depth interviews and focus groups, the study finds that transnational entrepreneurship has become an essential strategy among Ghanaian immigrant entrepreneurs due to the large and growing number of immigrant communities and demand for ethnic products and services that are not produced in Canada. The study also finds that transnational entrepreneurship has become an avenue for immigrants to connect and create ties with Ghana and contribute to its economic development.     

Gender and the Cultural Construction of Good and Bad Suicides

Some cultures distinguish two or more types of suicide which are evaluated differently. The more acceptable or esteemed ones are often not equally accessible to everyone within the same society. This article focuses on gender differences in the cultural construction of suicide options, and on the exclusion of women from superior options. The analysis is based on ethnographic and historical data from Native Americans of the Great Plains, Muslim societies in Southeast Asia, and tribal societies in the Amazon area of South America.     

Indigenous Healing Practices in Australia

ABSTRACT

Indigenous Australian women are among the most disadvantaged women in the world. Over two centuries of colonization have had a damaging impact on perceptions of their gender roles and status as well as many other consequential oppressions. These experiences have affected the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous women of all ages, resulting in socio-economic ghettoization, higher suicide rates, psychological distress, illness, and poverty. Generations of women have experienced the forced removal of their children, resulting in complex forms of historical trauma. Despite this, Indigenous women have also maintained strong leadership roles and have kept families and communities intact. In the last few decades, the Australian Indigenous mental health movement has emerged within the context of a broader self-determination movement, restoring and strengthening women’s traditional therapeutic practices. This article offers an overview of the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous women within neocolonial Australia and explores women’s relationship to traditional therapeutic practices. Future directions and key issues for the capacity building of Indigenous women’s healing are explored.     

Mobility and migration experiences of transnational coaches within the Israeli handball context

ObjectivesDespite a growing body of literature on athletes' migration, the mobility and migration experiences of coaches have received limited attention. In this study, we explored the mobility and migration experiences of transnational coaches operating within the Israeli handball context.DesignA qualitative study was conducted, underpinned by our relativist ontology and a constructionist epistemological position.MethodsEight male professionals (e.g., national team coaches, senior team coaches, youth coaches), working (currently, or most recently) in national teams and clubs, who migrated to Israeli handball within the past five years were interviewed. A thematic analysis, integrating inductive and deductive reasoning, was applied in data analysis. Meticulousness was enhanced by focusing on a worthy topic, maintaining credibility, critical friends, producing generalization, and making a significant contribution.ResultsThe analysis yielded raw-data codes, further organized into lower-order themes and three higher-order themes reflecting transnational coaches' migration and mobility experiences within the Israeli handball context, including (a) cultural transition, (b) cultural adaption, and (c) coaches' personal insights about mobility and migration. The findings are conceptually analyzed and discussed in relation to the previous research on coaches' career migration.Discussion and conclusionThe findings emphasize the complexity of the migration process, accompanied by varying motivations, demands and barriers, active decision-making; all within the framework of cultural adaptation. The participants endorsed a transnational coaching career, driven by their open-mind mentality and personal-professional growth.     

Pathways to Help-Seeking and Mental Health Service Provision for African Female Survivors of Conflict-Related Sexualized Gender-Based Violence

ABSTRACT

African migration to Canada is a relatively new development. There is a dearth of literature on the mental health of this newer immigrant population, especially those from the conflict zones of Sub-Saharan Africa. Our exploratory study examined the experiences of African female survivors of conflict-related sexualized violence based on the insights of six community mental health professionals. Guided by interpretive inquiry, semi-structured interviews were analyzed thematically and interpreted in light of multicultural feminist and transnational perspectives. Findings highlight refugee women’s resilience in the face of threats of social isolation and stigma. Their prioritization of assistance with practical needs, parenting, community/social supports, and education attainment in the context of counseling raises questions about agency and identity in understanding the relationships between female survivors, what they identify as important to their recovery, and their pathways to accessing mental health services.     

Transnational grandparenting: Child care arrangements among migrants from the People’s Republic of China to Australia

This article examines child care arrangements in a group of 40 recent Chinese migrants to Australia. A pattern of child care has emerged that is summarized as “transnational grandparenting.” This pattern is related to gender ideology and gender role performances that migrants brought with them from the People’s Republic of China. It also relates to barriers migrants face in a new country as well as cultural differences in family values and kinship relations. The significance of transnational grandparenting is multifaceted. It is neither traditional nor modern, but a practice that migrants adopt to meet the needs of families. It has social and cultural implications beyond its immediate aid.     

“I Believe People Need to Know Us in Order to Integrate Us”: Immigrant Women’s Cultural Attitudes and Needs

The integration of immigrant women is crucial for achieving coexistence and social cohesion in diverse societies. In particular, the analysis of the role of migrant women has a recent but strong tradition within sociology literature. From a gender perspective, this paper analyzes how immigrant women conceive of themselves in a process of sociocultural integration. Methodologically, this is a qualitative investigation based on in-depth semi-structured interviews of 60 immigrant women. The interviews were conducted in Galicia (Spain) and include diverse nationalities from Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Following an intersectional approach, the analysis of their responses showed that the value they placed on themselves, their cultures, and/or their languages of origin in a receiving society varied depending on the co-articulation of variables such as class, race, and formal level of education. For example, being the level of education the categorizing variable, participants from the higher-educated (HE) group stressed the importance of bringing attention to their cultural particularities in order to favor immigrants’ integration, whereas those from the lower-educated (LE) group did not see any relationship between the preservation of their cultural background and the process of integration.     

Gender Research in Spanish Psychology: An Overview for International Readers

In the last decades, many political and socioeconomic transformations occurred in Western countries with a considerable impact on gender equality. In this special issue, we aim to show how these transformations can generate changes in gender research by presenting Spain as an example of remarkable growth in gender studies, following the intense societal advancement of the country toward gender equality policies. In particular, we examine the evolution of gender research in Spain analyzing the presence of Spanish gender research in international journals, national journals, book reviews, and conferences. This first volume also includes a presentation of several original studies covering three specific research areas: gender stereotypes, gender violence, and gender issues at work. Finally, we discuss how the unique socioeconomic scenario created in this country may serve for international readers and gender researchers.     

Landscape,nation and globe: Theoretical nuances in the analysis of Asian Christianity

This brief afterword comments on the papers from this special issue, arguing that each explores current complexities of interactions between national and transnational orientations, but also helps to nuance understandings of the global through the invocation of history. As a result, we not only observe the interplay between colonial and post-colonial regimes of religion and politics, but also gain an appreciation of transnational religious impulses that were in operation well before the last few decades of explicitly ‘global consciousness’. Christianisation has a significant history in the regions covered, but it cannot be understood through crude, unilinear models of development or progress.