260 research outputs found
The Asylum Seekers Photographic Interview (ASPI): Evaluation of a new method to increase Nigerian asylum seekers’ narrative meaning-making after trauma
No full textDue to severe traumatization, the narrative meaning-making processes of asylum seekers are often disrupted. However, the ability of asylum seekers to integrate trauma into their personal narratives has strong implications on their mental health as well as on their asylum claim. Objective: Starting with the presentation of a new method, the Asylum Seekers Photographic Interview (ASPI), developed through participatory processes and aimed to increase meaning-making processes, the article evaluates the effects of the ASPI on asylum seekers’ narrative organization. Method: A quasi-experimental research design was carried out. The posttraumatic symptomatology of 36 Nigerian asylum seekers hosted in Italy was assessed. Participants were then randomly divided into two groups: an intervention group assessed by the ASPI and a control group assessed by a non-image-mediated narrative interview. Quantitative data were analyzed through a descriptive analysis, and the interviews were analyzed according to various dimensions of narrative meaning-making processes. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was then carried out to evaluate the significance of eventual differences of narrative indexes between the groups. Results: The MANOVA showed statistically significant differences of narrative indexes in the intervention group in the Word Count, Internal States, and Coherence categories, caused by the only effect of “intervention vs. control group,” F(8, 25) = 5.902, p = .000, h2 partial = .65). Conclusion: The results showed the effectiveness of the new methodology in increasing the narrative organization of experiences, contributing to the research on trauma and narratives in the context of forced migration. © 2021 American Psychological Associatio
A review of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Italy: Where is the psychological research going?
No full textAccording to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), nowadays, 65,3 million individuals have been forcibly displaced worldwide. In Europe, Italy is one of the countries with the highest number of asylum seeker arrivals per year and the emergency nature of the present-day migratory flows are increasingly involving researchers and clinicians to come up with and develop new models of research and interventions. This article aims to conduct a review of the Italian psychological research in the field of forced migration in order to systematise the Italian studies, to compare the Italian situation with the international one and to define limits, resources and future directions of current Italian research. A literature review in the databases Scopus, PubMed and Web of Knowledge for documents published from 2012 to 2017 was conducted. From the analysis, twelve articles emerged principally following two main trajectories of investigation: a clinical and mental health-related trajectory and a psychosocial and community-based one. Compared with the wider international field of research, a general underdevelopment of Italian research emerged. Research into protective factors with regard to the development of psychopathological outcomes and on interventions is highly recommended. Results highlighted support for future research on the theme of asylum seekers and refugees. Some cause for reflection as regards levels of criticality, the direction of future research and specific links between research and Italian social policies were given
Qualitative methods and practices in transcultural research with forced migrants: the Asylum Seekers Photographic Interview (ASPI) methodological protocol
No full textThe present study aims to describe the methodological procedures
which led to the development of the ASPI, a photoelicitation
method aimed at exploring the life stories of
Nigerian asylum seekers. The purposes of the manuscript are
to share a research and methodological protocol for the development
of similar methods as well as, through this, to extract
and offer some methodological and operational research practices
and criteria useful for transcultural research with forced
migrants. The questioning attitude of researcher, intended as
a methodological praxis in transcultural research, combined
with the psychological function played by participatory research,
which also engages a ‘third gaze’ on the traumatic experiences
of asylum seekers, will be discussed to highlight and reflect
upon the potentialities of qualitative research in this field
OFFERING ASYLUM TO TRAUMA. TRAUMA AND RESPONSE TO ADVERSITY IN ASYLUM SEEKERS’ NARRATIVES.
No full textIntroduction: Traumatic experiences are “events” that hit and disorganize the psychic structure, interrupting the identity coherence. Evidence emerging from the field of refugee mental health has revealed that the traumatic events experienced by asylum seekers and refugees, generally interrelated and cumulative, lead to increased risk of psychological distress and psychopathology (Slewa-Younan et al. 2015; Rohlof et al., 2013). Nevertheless, it’s been also highlighted how important is to consider that the response to adversities varies from individual to individual, and includes a lot of factors (Thomas et al., 2011; Papadopoulos, 2007). According to us, to improve our understanding of the deep complexity of asylum seekers’ experience, diagnostic models need to be connected to models that focus on the relationship between individual needs and contextual factors.
Method: The study aims to 1) evaluate traumatic and resilience levels in asylum seekers; 2) explore the meanings of pre and post-migration experiences considering the role of traumatic and resilient levels. We met 20 North-African asylum seekers, hosted in Asylum Seekers’ Shelters. PTSD Checklist, Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Resilience Scale and in-depth interviews were administered. The interviews were analysed by the software T-LAB.
Results: Only 35% of participants presented a Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (M PCL-C: 47; SD: 13,27) but more than 50% reported a traumatic impact regarding the experience in Libya (M IES-R: 37,9; SD: 20). Moderately high resilience levels emerged (M RS: 141,15; SD: 21,24). The analysis of the interviews shows 4 thematic clusters: From death to life across the sea; Land of care; A godforsaken place; Memories from the past.
Discussion: Themes emerged from asylum seekers’ narratives seem to be independent from traumatic and resilient levels suggesting an homogeneous field of experience in which migration trauma is narrated
Facing the Traumatic Field in the Clinical and Social Work with Forced Migrants Through a Psychodynamic Perspective: from “Refugee Trauma” to the Clinic of Social Links
No full textThis article aims to rethink the clinical and social work with forced migrants through the concept of “field” as it is described
in the context of Bionian psychoanalysis. The proposed approach goes beyond the individual trauma of the refugee, to arrive
at a clinic of the “traumatic field” that includes, but also overcomes, the dyadic relationship searching for the link between
intra-psychic, inter-psychic and social dimensions. The work with mediation “devices”, the dream field, and the group as a
social witness will be discussed as operational tools of a clinical social practice of intervention extended to relevant emerging
social contexts
NO COUNTRY FOR YOUNG AFRICAN WOMEN: GENDER DIMENSIONS IN ASYLUM SEEKERS’ WOMEN NARRATIVES
No full textIntroduction: Among the generable category of asylum seekers and refugees, women and minors have to be considered as vulnerable populations by virtue of their susceptibility to sexual and gender-based violence and of their specific needs (UNHCR, 2017). Studies focused on women as forced migrants have mainly looked at their higher exposure to sexual violence (Bradley & Tawfiq, 2006; Rogstad & Dale, 2004; Boersma, 2003) as well as on their higher risk, compared to men, to develop post-traumatic stress disorders (Breslau & Anthony, 2007; Tolin & Foa, 2006), somatic symptoms or emotional outbursts (Renner & Salem, 2009) as consequence of traumatic events. However, although the displacement phenomenon, in its current serious state, is relatively recent and the international literature on asylum seekers and refugees is wide, research on vulnerable populations, especially on women, is still underdeveloped and need to be increased (Keygnaert et al., 2014; Kalt et al., 2013).
Method: The present study aimed to explore the meanings that asylum-seekers women attribute to their migratory experiences. 10 Nigerian asylum seekers women (mean age 25), hosted in an Extraordinary Reception Centre were met. Semi-structured interviews based on the whole migratory experience were administered and analysed according to the principles of the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methodology (Smith & Osborn, 2003; Smith et al., 2009).
Results: 3 Superordinate themes emerged: No Country for young African women; Face to face with death; Learning to be myself.
Discussion: On the background of the complexity of all migratory phases, the gender dimension assumes a key role in defining and influencing experiences. Being an African woman exposes to a high mandate in the Mother Earth as well as to stigma and preconceptions in the hosting country. The capability to resist and re-invent themselves as women and/or mothers emerged as positive aspect to face with challenges and obstacles
From individual to social and relational dimensions in asylum-seekers’ narratives: A multidimensional approach
No full textTaking a psychodynamic perspective, the present exploratory study proposes an integrated approach to explore the forced migratory experience, focusing simultaneously on mental health risk and protective factors and on the quality of the subjective experience of migration. We aimed to evaluate trauma and protective factors and to explore in-depth representations and meanings asylum seekers hosted in Italy attribute to their experiences. Levels of trauma and resilience were first evaluated for twenty asylum seekers hosted in two Reception Centres; then, in-depth interviews were administered. Six out of twenty participants presented with symptoms of trauma and all presented with moderately high resilience levels. The interviews were analysed using a quality-quantitative methodology via T-Lab software, and showed four the- matic clusters: A godforsaken place; From death to life across the sea; Memories from the past; Searching for a land of care. In line with the identity fracture highlighted in psychodynamic literature, our results show a breakdown between the deeper and original aspects of participants’ identity and their new cultural identity as migrants, which has many social components. Reflections on the implications of the study will be outlined
Il campo traumatico nella clinica della migrazione forzata: dal “trauma del rifugiato” alla clinica del legame sociale
No full textThe asylum aeekers photographic Interview (ASPI): the role of visual-verbal stimuli in increasing narrative organization of traumatized asylum seekers
No full textReverse-phase protein microarray highlights HER2 signaling activation in immunohistochemistry/FISH/HER2-negative breast cancers.
No full text"Evaluation of: Wulfkuhle JD, Berg D, Wolff C et al. Molecular analysis of HER2 signaling in human breast cancer by functional protein pathway activation mapping. Clin. Cancer Res. 18(23), 6426-6435 (2012). Exhaustive characterization and mapping of pivotal molecules and downstream effectors deregulated in breast cancer is of fundamental clinical value to define the most effective therapy. Wulfkuhle et al. applied reverse-phase protein microarray, a highly sensitive immunoassay able to perform quantitative and multiplexed analysis of total and\/or modified cellular proteins, to assess protein levels and activation\/phosphorylation status of the HER family (EGFR, HER2, HER3) and downstream signaling molecules in HER2(+) and HER2(-) breast cancers. The research was performed using laser capture microdissected tumor epithelial cells from frozen samples and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded specimens, which were also analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and FISH. This study identified a subgroup of IHC\/FISH\/HER2(-) patients with HER2 activation\/phosphorylation levels comparable with those obtained from IHC\/FISH\/HER2(+) tumors. HER2 signaling activation was independent from total HER2 expression and involved HER3 and EGFR activation. These findings indicate that molecular characterization by reverse-phase protein microarray of HER2 and its partners\/effectors in the signaling cascade enables the identification of a subgroup of IHC\/FISH\/HER2(-) patients showing HER2 signaling activation. These patients, currently excluded from targeted therapy administration, could potentially benefit from this and it could improve prognosis and survival.
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