Cultural Bereavement And Cultural Identity Article Analysis

Migration, Cultural Bereavement and Cultural Identity

The central topic of the Migration, Cultural Bereavement, and Cultural Identity article is about how different cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds reacted during the process of migration. Because this movement had been going on for decades, Dinesh Bhugara and Matthew A Becker had decided to investigate different aspects of how do migrants react after deciding to take the journey for a new beginning? These are some of the questions the were raised about migration, and with the help of many psychologists and biologists from different universities all over the world, hopefully some of the questions can be answered like, what are the three stages of migration? What are the

difference between immigrants and refugees? How does cultural bereavement, migration, and culture identity really mean?
People migrate for many reasons, including broadly political, socioeconomic and educational. Two types of groups called immigrants and refugees were forced to migrate from one country to another and because of that decision many suffered from some type of psychological disorder in the process. Migrants can be classified as immigrants and sojourners when the change in their location results in contact voluntarily, for potential economic and educational advancement. Refugees are deemed to change their location involuntarily and forced to migrate thus be in contact with the majority population involuntary and to escape persecution. Both groups are faced with the three stages of migration, which are: pre-migration, migration, post-migration. Medicals professionals looked into different aspects that contributed to different disorders most of the migrants are facing short and long term.

The first stage is pre-migration, involving the decision and preparation to move. During this stage many people face anxiety and depression, not knowing if they are making the right decisions. The second stage is migration, the physical relocation of individuals from one place to another. This is the actual journey from one place to another. For some people this stage can be very long and dangerous depending on what method of transportation and how far do they need to go. The third stage is post migration, defined as the absorption of the immigrant within the social and cultural framework of the new society. This is when the family arrives to the new place and not knowing what to expect. This stage is the longest and toughest for most people, it’s when reality sets in. This leads to culture shock and conflict, both of which may lead to a sense of cultural confusion, feelings of alienation and isolation, and depression. Host society's attitudes, including racism, compounded by the stresses of unemployment, a discrepancy between achievement and expectations, financial hardships, legal concerns, poor housing and a general lack of opportunities for advancement within the host society. Because of their issues, many people suffer from mental health problems such as: PTSD, Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Anxiety, and Depression.
Because of so many psychiatric disorders are related to people migrating, Bhugra came up with a hypothesis between migration and mental illness that states, “individuals who migrate from collectivistic or socio-centric societies, who themselves are socio-centric, into individualist or egocentric societies may experience feelings of alienation and mental distress, with consequent difficulty in settling into the new society”. Another issue with the new comers is Cultural Bereavement as defined by Eisenbruch as "the experience of the uprooted person - or group - resulting from loss of social structures, cultural values and self-identity: the person - or group - continues to live in the past, is visited by supernatural forces from the past while asleep or awake, suffers feelings of guilt over abandoning culture and homeland, feels pain if memories of the past begin to fade, but finds constant images of the past (including traumatic images) intruding into daily life, yearns to complete obligations to the dead, and feels stricken by anxieties, morbid thoughts, and anger that mar the ability to get on with daily life". Dinesh Bhugara and Matthew A Becker had used different Medical Professionals to support their claim about the different reasons immigrants and refuges suffer from many medical disorders. One event that they looked at and took information from was during the history of migration between 1991-2001 in the UK. A total of 1.6 million people migrated from countries like Africa, Caribbean, India, Pakistan, and Eastern Europe. Since this was such a big event in history, many researchers looked at this to figure out the cause and effect of this issue.
This article was interesting and convincing because I can relate to it because of my journey to the US.

While reading it, I was able to picture my road to America. Because of so many facts in the article, I am able to understand why things happened the way they did. Starting with the pre-migration stage when my parents played to lottery for a visa to the United States. I remember that day like it was yesterday. The mailman brought us biggest envelope that I have ever seen. My parents opened it and told me if I wanted to go the America. My only answer was, “only if I can bring my dog”. A long process of medical physicals and selling everything we had, knowing that we will not return. Next was the migration stage, my favorite because we got to fly in an airplane for the first time. Landing at O’Hare and seeing so many different strange faces was a little scary. The post-migration stage was the most difficult, especially for my dad. He suffered with anxiety and depression because of the culture shock. He had a hard time finding a job because of the language barrier and lack of confidence. As time went on we started settling down, but my father never got acclimated to the new culture. Twenty years later, because of this article I am able to look back and understand why some things happened the way they

did.
By reading this article and living in a predominant immigrant neighborhood, I can relate with the community and the way some people act. Everyone has a different story on how they came to America, but most of us share the same reason why we came and it is for a better future.

References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1414713/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK45721/