Psychology and Law
2023. Vol. 13, no. 3, 161–174
doi:10.17759/psylaw.2023130312
ISSN: 2222-5196 (online)
Psychological Difficulties in Marriage Migrant Women Adaptation
Abstract
The paper is devoted to the theoretical review of psychological difficulties in the adaptation of migrant women, who moved to a new country due to family reunification. In this article, psychological difficulties are understood as any internal barriers, violations, failures, etc., that prevents optimal adaptation, in this case, of migrants. The focus of research by modern scientists is aimed at studying socially disadvantaged migrants and labor migrants. There is not enough research on women who have moved to a new country with their husbands. Four groups of psychological difficulties were identified that impede the successful adaptation of women, as well as the clinical manifestations associated with these difficulties: women’s expectations regarding interaction with society do not coincide with society’s expectations which contributes to the emergence of frustration and deprivation; the predominance of external motivation when moving to another country (following a husband) results in loss of work and familiar environment which often leads to depression and/or somatization; the predominance of compelled contacts in the structure of communication causes an increased irritability; self-image as a migrant before the move does not coincide with real self-image in a new country generates intrapersonal conflicts.
General Information
Keywords: female migrants, marriage migration, adaptation in a new country, psychological difficulties, clinical manifestations of adaptation
Journal rubric: Interdisciplinary Studies
Article type: scientific article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw.2023130312
Received: 10.07.2023
Accepted:
For citation: Mironova O.I., Ruonala L.A. Psychological Difficulties in Marriage Migrant Women Adaptation [Elektronnyi resurs]. Psikhologiya i pravo = Psychology and Law, 2023. Vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 161–174. DOI: 10.17759/psylaw.2023130312.
Full text
Introduction
- women labour migration including involvement in criminal forms of exploitation [15; 19],
- health including mental [14; 38],
- peculiarities of female migrants’ reproductive choice and fertility [10; 35].
State of the Research Problem
- gender socialization in different countries is more diverse than that of men;
- a female migrant is in a more vulnerable position in the labour market, it is especially noticeable at the level of low skilled professions, for a woman it is more difficult to seek a job, a woman is more vulnerable to economical and sexual abuse;
- women with a high level of education when moving are much more likely to find themselves in a situation of downshifting;
- in comparison with a man, a woman of reproductive age faces a number of challenges related to childbearing: if there are children, a woman spends more energy on their adaptation; if there are no children, a woman has to either give up childbearing in favour of adaptation or to be realized in parenthood but “pause” processes associated with integration to society.
- woman’s expectations regarding interaction with a society do not match with society’s expectations;
- predominance of external motivation when moving to a new country (following a husband), as a consequence — loss of job and familiar social environment;
- predominance of compelled contacts in the communication structure;
- self-image as a migrant before the move does not coincide with real self-image in a new country.
do not coincide with society’s expectations
- Oberg [36] identified the following characteristics of “culture shock”:
- efforts to achieve necessary psychological adaptivity bring to tension;
- feeling of loss, deprivation of a circle of friends and relatives, social status and property;
- failure in values and self-identification;
- unexpected anxiety from awareness of cultural differences;
- inability to “cope with” a new social environment is accompanied by feelings of inferiority, helplessness.
- lack of contacts with social environment negatively affects the mental state of an individual and the mechanisms of social adaptation that later can lead to a feeling of loneliness, social deprivation [37, 40];
- discrepancies between expectations and real state of the situation that leads to frustration [20, 41].
- acculturation stress is complicated by gender specificity of migration;
- social deprivation on of marriage migrants can be more pronounced in comparison to labour and educational migrants as well as those migrants who take decision on moving based on diaspora support in the host society;
- dissatisfaction with the conditions of activity, communication and relationships, especially among women with education and high status in their homeland.
Domination of compelled contacts in the communication structure
Self-image as a migrant before the move does not coincide
with real self-image in a new country
Conclusions
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