Reasons For Immigration Research Articles

La santé des migrants consultant la policlinique Baudelaire de l’hôpital Saint-Antoine à Paris, France

Social and health data on the immigrant population remain scarce in France, especially concerning those in irregular situation. The Baudelaire outpatient clinic in Saint- Antoine hospital in Paris (PASS, i.e. specific free medicosocial care for the poor, the uninsured or the undocumented patients) treats a majority of immigrants, a lot of them being in an irregular residence status. The objectives of this study were to describe the social and health status of the immigrant consultants, to compare regular and undocumented migrants and to describe their main reasons for migration. A cross-sectional, descriptive, survey among the immigrant consultants has been performed among this outpatient clinic in April and May 2009. In total, 536 patients were included. Their age mean was 45 years, 62% are male, 49% are in an irregular situation and they have been in France for 12 years in average (19 years for the regular immigrants and 5 years for the undocumented). More than 20% had no health insurance. A majority (55%) of patients were suffering from a chronic disease. The more frequent ones were hypertension (20%), type 2 diabetes (11.6%), chronic infectious diseases - HIV, HBV, HCV - (7%). Reasons for immigration were mostly economical (39%), family (19%) and political (17%). Health reasons were at the 4th rank and concerned 9% of the patients. The main chronic diseases observed among this population are similar to those of the general population of consultants in primary health care, except for the chronic infectious diseases, which are more frequent. Immigration for health reasons represents only a small proportion of all immigration reasons. For this population, free clinics like the one investigated here constitute unique, irreplaceable, access points in the French healthcare system.

Recruitment in North America: an Analysis of Emigrants to Soviet Karelia, 1931–1934

Abstract This article analyzes Finnish immigration from Canada and the United States to Soviet Karelia in the first part of the 1930s. The author places the move in the context of international, national, and regional socio-political discourses. The socio-economic effects of the Great Depression on Finnish communities in North America, coupled with the determination of the recruiters who were acting on behalf of the Karelian leadership, created an opportunity for many left-leaning Finns to seek livelihood in the Soviet Union. The article also examines data from the Resettlement Agency of the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Karelia. Statistical analysis allows for insight into the reasons for immigration and into the differences between the US and Canadian immigrant groups.

Estados de ansiedad, depresión y factores relacionados en la población adulta inmigrante latinoamericana en Canarias

Introduction Immigration is a vital stressful event that could be a higher risk of suffering a mental illness. Objective To compare the prevalence of anxiety-depression in the Latin-American immigrant population living in the Canary Islands and compare them with the non-immigrant population. Material and Method Exploratory analysis of dates and the relationship between variables, including the qualitative analysis. Results The study included 125 patients, with a mean age of 38.9 years (SD: 12.07), of whom 73.6% were women, 42.4% married and 77.6% employed. A total of 44% suffered anxiety (95% CI: 0.527-0.353) and 63.2% had depression (95% CI: 0.714-0.546). Abuse was reported by 13.6% and the 19.2% had psychopathological symptoms in childhood. A history of mental illness was reported in 64.6%. Depression was associated with “marital status” ( P = .012), “family situation” ( P = .0001), “time in Spain” (5.75 years± 3.88 vs. 7.50 years± 7.39 P = .002) and “reason for immigration” ( P = .050). Anxiety was associated with “age” (41.1 years± 12.51 vs. 37.2 years± 11.5 P = .070) and “unemployment” ( P = .014). Anxiety-depression with “abuses” (76.5 vs. 23.5% P = .004), (100 vs. 0% P = .001), “psychopathological symptoms in childhood” (62.5 vs. 37.5% P = .042), (83.3 vs. 16.7% P = .023) and “clinical history of mental illness” (68.4 vs. 31.6% P = .001), (84.2 vs. 15.8% P = .001). “Clinical history of mental illness”, “abuses” and “unemployment” are risk factors for anxiety. Depression is associated with “family situation” as a protective factor and “clinical history of mental illness” and “psychopathological symptoms in childhood” as a risk factor. The qualitative analysis showed “relationships”, “vision of society” and “hope of going back home” as positive factors. Conclusions The prevalence of anxiety is no different to the general population, and the migration factors do not appear to modify our study.

Children in Immigrant Families in Switzerland: Family and Socioeconomic Environment

Switzerland is from the end of World War II an immigration country. After three decades of labour migration, in the early 1980s, family reunification progressively became the most important reason for immigration. At the time of the 2000 Census, there were 1.5 million documented foreigners living in Switzerland. This represented 20% of the resident population, one of the highest proportions of foreigners in any country in Europe. Approximately 39% of children in Switzerland were members of families of foreign origin with at least one foreign-born parent. This paper statistically describes the living conditions and socioeconomic environment of those children, by computing indicators according to the origin. It shows the huge diversity of situations regarding the socioeconomic position of parents and the social background. In particular, children from Western Europe and the United States live in highly skilled families whereas children from Portugal and the Balkans live in families with a very low level of qualification. Such results justify the formulation of integration and school policies that take into account the characteristics of each migration flow.

Living on the margin: disabled Iranians in Belgian society

This paper explores the antecedents, experiences and consequences of marginalization as reported and dealt with by disabled Iranian immigrants in Belgium. This work extends the work of Gallie and colleagues and Siegrist demonstrating that the forces of marginalization applicable to all immigrants are particularly pertinent to disabled immigrants. The research is based on 26 in‐depth, face‐to‐face interviews, focus groups, interviews with government officials and immigration experts, ethnographic work and official government statistics. The findings detail how the combined forces of history, context and reasons for immigration; isolation, vulnerability and perceived loss of control; religion and rejection; lack of reciprocity in social exchanges; problems in obtaining jobs; and difficulties in negotiating an entry into Belgian society combine to sustain marginizalation. As a consequence, disabled immigrants in this group are generally excluded from society and discriminated against in terms of citizenship, education, jobs and general acceptance.

Arrest and detention in international travellers

Systematic published reviews of national arrests of travellers abroad are rare. The pattern of arrest during international travel has implications for travellers and those involved in providing traveller services. There are also consequences for travellers who are arrested and detained abroad. The Consular Affairs Bureau, Foreign Affairs Canada assists Canadian civilians who are abroad. Beginning in 1995 the Consular Management and Operations System was used to track notifications of Canadian arrests abroad. This database was designed for the demographics, destinations, and reported causes of Canadians arrested abroad for 1996-2004. In this period, there were 6514 notifications of arrested Canadians abroad; 1024 (16%) females and 5490 (84%) males with an average age of 33.3 and 36.4 years, respectively. Recorded reasons for arrest were for females: drugs: 420 (41% of females arrested), violence: 75 (7%), other criminal acts: 198 (19%), immigration: 169 (17%), other minor causes: 20 (2%); and for males: drugs: 1554 (28% of males arrested), violence: 581 (11%), other criminal acts: 1468 (27%), immigration: 1056 (20%), other minor causes: 105 (1.9%); or the cause was not recorded for 142 women and 747 men. The USA was the most common host country for arrested Canadians. Alleged drug offences, other criminal activities, and immigration reasons were the most common cited reasons for arrest. Country of arrest reflected the pattern of Canadian international travel for recreation, business, and ancestral linkages. There are a wide-range of potential physical and mental health outcomes to arrest and imprisonment abroad that may be different in foreign jurisdictions due to language, culture, judicial processes and penalties imposed. The prison environment may also pose significant health risks.

Immigration and attendant psychological sequelae: A comparison of three waves of Iraqi immigrants.

Acculturation, the process by which individuals or groups transition from one or more cultures into another, can be complex and often stressful. In many cases, reason for immigration can contribute, both positively and negatively, to levels of acculturative stress. Immigrants to the United States from Iraq over the past several decades have shifted in terms of prevalence, reason for and ease of immigration, and pre and postmigration trauma among individuals and groups. The authors examined the psychological by-products of acculturative stress by measuring posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression among three distinct waves of immigrants from Iraq. The authors found support for the hypotheses that these variables were positively correlated with recency of immigration. Implications for psychological practitioners are discussed.

A Comparison of HIV-Related Factors Among Seropositive Brazilian, South American, and Puerto Rican Gay Men in the United States

Latino men who have sex with men are a group at high risk for HIV infection. Much of the research addressing attitudes and behaviors related to HIV among Latinos in the United States has overlooked differences based on nationality. Brazilian immigrants, in particular, are an understudied subgroup of Latinos. This study compared HIV-positive Brazilian gay men ( n = 75) with their Spanish-speaking counterparts from South America ( n = 103) and Puerto Rico ( n = 61) on a variety of HIV-related factors. Results failed to reveal any significant group differences in disclosure of serostatus or in behaviors relevant to sexual risk. Some differences in demographic characteristics, reasons for immigration, and acculturation, however, did emerge among the three groups. Implications for aggregation of Latino subgroups in HIV-related programs are discussed.

Immigration as a Dynamic Experience: Personal Narratives and Clinical Implications for Family Therapists

This is a reflective account of the experiences of the authors who immigrated to the United States from India at different developmental, historical, political, and social stages. Although their culture-of-origin was the same, the meaning and experience of immigration was different for each author. The narratives show a natural continuum of experiences based on their developmental stage during immigration, reasons for immigration, and the historical context of both India and the US at the time of immigration. A common theme is the ambivalence experienced by them in their process of creating a physical and psychological home in a different culture.

Adaptation to American Culture

This naturalistic study explores the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual adaptation of Asian Indian elderly immigrants to American culture. The individuals interviewed suggested that while they physically adapted to American life, many of them encountered social, emotional, and spiritual obstacles that often impeded successful adaptation. Factors such as family proximity, reasons for immigration, and conflicting values helped predict the adaptation success of Asian Indian elderly immigrants. The study points to possible intervention strategies that social workers can use to promote more successful adaptation of Asian Indian elderly immigrants to American culture.

IMMIGRANTS AND ATTACHMENT STATUS: RESEARCH FINDINGS WITH DUTCH AND BELGIAN IMMIGRANTS IN CALIFORNIA

Although immigrants are an extremely diverse group, adults who emigrate nearly always experience separation from family of origin, extended family and country. This research examines state of mind with respect to attachment, using the Adult Attachment Projective (George & West, 2003; George, West, & Pettem, 1999), and compares the attachment status of adult Californians who still live near their family of origin in the area in which they were born and raised (m 12, f 18) to that of individuals who emigrated from the Netherlands and Belgium as adults to California (m 29, f 41). The findings showed a significant relationship between being an immigrant and unresolved attachment status (n= 100, X2 =5.81, p=< 0.0160) unrelated to time in the US, reason for immigration, being married or single. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.

How Do Migrants Fare in a Post-Apartheid South African Labor Market?

South African policies have historically emphasized employment as the reason for immigration. In post-apartheid South Africa, stories about how “immigrants take away our jobs” abound in the mass media, yet few empirical studies have been undertaken to examine the validity of this claim. This study looks at the relationship between migration status, nativity and labor force outcomes in the post-apartheid labor market. Our results suggest that migrants are more likely to participate in the labor force and to be gainfully employed than the indigenous population. Foreign migrants enjoy the highest labor force participation rates and employment rates in South Africa. South African-born internal migrants also have significantly higher labor force outcomes than do nonmigrants.

Estimating the Refugee Population from PUMS Data: Issues and Demographic Implications

Discussions of immigration, settlement and adjustment within the U.S. do not typically refer to immigrant status (i.e., refugee versus family preference), and instead refer to the foreign–born population as an aggregate. Distinguishing between refugees and other immigrant arrivals likely means differences with respect to their geographic distribution and embodied human capital owing to differences associated with the reasons for immigration (forced versus voluntary), period of arrival, and immigration policy. The lack of differentiation by group within the existing literature is typically due to a shortfall of detailed information relating to admission status within publicly released data files. Yet concrete knowledge of differences by admission category is important in understanding overall patterns of settlement and adjustment within the foreign–born population. This paper therefore explores potential differences with respect to settlement and endowed human capital between immigrants and refugees. Identification of the major sources of refugees within Immigration and Naturalization Service data files allows the refugee population to be identified within the 1990 Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), therefore increasing the range of variables and measures associated with the refugee population available to researchers, and points to the diversity of the refugee population.

The Demographic Psychosocial Inventory: A New Instrument to Measure Risk Factors for Adjustment Problems Among Immigrants

Objective-The purpose of this study was to develop and test the Demographic Psychosocial Inventory (DPSI), a self-report questionnaire that assesses demographic and background characteristics of immigrants, and psychosocial risk factors of demoralization. Method-Based on a review of instruments used to study immigrants, and researchers' experience in this area, an 85-item questionnaire was developed that includes 10 scales and three general indices. Subjects are asked to indicate their level of satisfaction with various aspects of their lives, their reasons for immigration, and problems they had encountered since they immigrated. Results-DPSI (Demographic Psychological Inventory) was tested on 1,200 adult immigrants who came to Israel from the former USSR since 1989. The reliability of the scales and general indices was generally high as measured by Cronbaeh's Alpha. For one general index and two scales it was above .78, for one general index and two scales it was between .60 and .73, for one general index and two scales between.41 and .55, and for one scale .23. The general indices were highly correlated with the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview Demoralization Scale (PERI-D) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). The results suggest that the greatest risk factors of demoralization are a greater number of distress sources, difficulty in dealing with conflict, greater discrepancy between actual difficulties encountered and those expected, and more reasons for immigration. The single most important variable in predicting a demoralization case was the number of distress sources. We developed DPSI cutting points for caseness based on comparisons to BSI and PERI-D. For the BSI, DPSI cutting points are .44 for males, and .48 for females. These cutting points recognize about 61% of those who are cases according to BSI, and about 72% of those who are not cases according to BSI. For the PERI-D, DPSI cutting points for caseness are .42 for males and .44 for females. These cutting points recognize about 63% of those who are demoralized according to PERI-D and about 68% of those who are not demoralized according to PERI-D. DPSI tends to recognize slightly more cases as being at risk of demoralization than those who are demoralized according to PERI-D, and slightly less than those identified as cases according to BSI. Conclusions-DPSI is a promising instrument for gathering demographic and background characteristics of immigrants, and for studying psychosocial risk factors for development of demoralization. DPSI is available in English, Hebrew, and Russian.

The Dalmatian influence on the New Zealand wine industry: 1895–1946

This paper charts the influence of the Dalmatians during the period 1895–1946. In particular, it focuses on the reasons for immigration, settlement patterns, the persecution of and the influence that Dalmatian winemakers had on the New Zealand wine industry. The intention is to show how in spite of numerous hinderences and overt attacks Dalmatians have played, and continue to play, a proactive role in the development and maintenance of the New Zealand wine industry.

"Germany will be One Single Concrete Block..."

This study analyses the effects of point of view on reference to topic aspects in dyadic discussions in which interlocutors disagreed. A total of 18 dyadic discussions about restrictions on immigration into Germany (one proponent of restrictions and one opponent) were analysed, using a category system of seven main aspects and 37 sub aspects. From linguistic perspectivity theory, it was proposed that different points of view would lead to differences in frequency and quality of reference to main aspects and sub aspects. Results indicated that both groups referred to the same pool of aspects. Proponents of restrictions, however, referred more often to the sub aspect "population density in Germany" than did opponents. In addition, proponents stressed "economic reasons for immigration," whereas opponents emphasised "global economic interrelations" and "moral responsibility for refugees. "A qualitative analysis of the sequential interactive use of aspect showed different patterns of aspect negotiation in the dialogues, suggesting directions for future research on such negotiation processes in naturally occurring dialogues.

The Use of Culturagrams to Assess and Empower Culturally Diverse Families

The culturagram was developed in response to the cultural diversity of families and the need for ethnic-sensitive practice. This family-assessment tool assesses (1) reasons for immigration; (2) length of time in community; (3) legal status; (4) age at time of immigration; (5) language spoken at home and in the community; (6) health beliefs; (7) celebrated holidays and special events; (8) impact of crisis events; (9) values regarding family, education, and work; and (10) contact with cultural institutions. With the culturagram, social workers are able to assess the impact of culture on the family, individualize ethnically similar families, become more empathic with regard to cultural differences, and empower culturally diverse clients and their families.

Internal Migration for Recent Immigrants to Canada

Internal migration decisionmaking for recent immigrants may occur under conditions of extreme uncertainty and limited information. Migration behavior may be constrained by language barriers, availability of settlement assistance, and differential levels and access to information about alternative locations and opportunities. Poisson regression models are estimated for the number of internal migrations experienced by immigrants in the first three years of residence in Canada. The results suggest that internal migration in the first year after arrival is strongly affected by characteristics such as admission status, destination at arrival, reason for immigration, and area of origin. With increasing length of residence in Canada, though, the effect of these admission factors on internal migration behavior diminishes.

The Truth of Historical Fiction: Researching Osseo Senior High

Several years ago, while researching my family's history, I became disillusioned. The history books I had been reading on life in Sweden were fine, scholarly works that told the reasons for immigration, the names of kings and government officials, and the economic conditions of the times, but these works just didn't give me a sense of the immigration experience. In none of these books could I picture my great-grandfather as he troubled over his decision to leave his country forever. I couldn't hear the arguments that must have surrounded this decision or see the struggles of establishing a new life in a new country. These histories didn't tell me my story. Then I stumbled onto the works of Vilhelm

Internal Migration for Recent Immigrants to Canada

"This study examines the extent to which internal migration among recent immigrants to Canada is affected and constrained by characteristics related to admission. By examining measures of information and personal ties, it may be possible to establish that migration behavior is rational regardless of economic incentives." It is suggested that "internal migration in the first year after arrival is strongly affected by characteristics such as admission status, destination at arrival, reason for immigration, and area of origin. With increasing length of residence in Canada, though, the effect of these admission factors on internal migration behavior diminishes." This is a revised version of a paper originally presented at the 1992 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America.