Abstract
Context: Diasporic Cameroonians are increasingly leading a transnational life in which family members are sustained through networks of relations and obligations. However, before arriving in Europe, the vast majority of African migrants who take the Mediterranean route are exposed to trauma and hardship. Moreover, the joint occurrence of forced displacement, trauma, and extended separation from families has a significant impact on mental health.Objectives: This study explores the role of culture-specific conceptualizations of family structures and transnationalism in explanatory models of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among male Cameroonian asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants in Europe.Methods: An in-depth study of two samples of Cameroonian migrants with a precarious residency status in Europe was conducted. Focus group discussions and interviews were carried out with asylum seekers in Germany (n = 8) and undocumented migrants and failed asylum seekers in France (n = 9). The verbatim transcripts of these interviews served as the data for interpretative phenomenological analyses.Results, Analysis, and Discussion: Family was conceptualized in religious and spiritual terms, and relational spirituality appeared to be a crucial element of family cohesion. Explanatory models of PTSD were mainly based on an intersection of family and spirituality. The disrespect of transgenerational, traditional, and spiritual obligations toward parents and ancestral spirits represented a crucial causal attribution for post-traumatic symptoms.Conclusions: Conceptualizations of post-traumatic stress were based on a collective family and spiritual level instead of an individualized illness-centered perception. The Western psychological and psychiatric perspective on post-traumatic stress might conflict with traditional, religious, and spiritual practices in the context of family conceptualizations of Cameroonian forced migrants with a precarious residency status.
Highlights
According to the United Nations, the security and human rights situation in Cameroon has significantly deteriorated [1], leading to substantial displacement and irregular migration flows toward the European continent via the Mediterranean route [1,2,3]
We described the interrelatedness of family and spirituality and the way in which symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were conceptualized among asylum seekers from Sub-Saharan Africa in Germany [15, 43]
The importance of family, spirituality and transnationalism in explanatory models appeared as in response to our initial research question and emerged in the themes generated from the transcripts (Table 3)
Summary
According to the United Nations, the security and human rights situation in Cameroon has significantly deteriorated [1], leading to substantial displacement and irregular migration flows toward the European continent via the Mediterranean route [1,2,3]. The term “transnationalism” describes the unique diasporic experiences of migrant families in terms of maintaining family relationships within and across nations simultaneously [7]. Diasporic Cameroonians are increasingly leading a transnational life, in which family ties are sustained through networks of relations, obligations and resources that are located in different nation states [4, 8]. The complexity of relationships that arise from transnational connections calls dominant discourses about family bonds into question and requires the adoption of new theory and treatment considerations within a transcultural context [9, 10]. Transnational families are one form of contemporary families that demand new analytical frameworks for understanding family relationships [10]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
