Book Description

""Cultural Identity and Mental Health is a unique book because it defines culture and identity from a developmental perspective; therefore delving more deeply into the psychological, social and biological aspects of the immigrant and refugee experience in the U.S.A. and it explains how these experiences help to shape the development of the person's cultural identity. The book presents a very detailed discussion on the concept of acculturation and reviews all of the available literature on the subject. It also covers the sociological, anthropological, political and economic aspects of the immigrant and refugee experience and how these variables impact on mental health, thus presenting the experience of migration from a very broad and humanistic perspective. This book embarks on a deep exploration of the psychodynamic experience of immigration, while at the same time covering the epidemiological risk factors and protective factors related to the immigrant experience; thus, presenting ample and up to date empirically-based data. The book has a unique chapter addressing the true and accurate statistics of immigrant criminality and explores and analyzes this data under a new lens, helping to dispel the myths that result from contemporary anti-immigrant rhetoric. It also explains the types of crimes committed by immigrants, immigrants as victims of crime, cultural crimes, and motivations and the explanatory narratives presented by those who violate immigration laws. In addition, it also covers the history of immigrant criminality in the United States. The book has another important chapter addressing Immigrant Narratives and the role and importance of the personal-historical narrative in life-story construction, and the narrative as a therapeutic tool that can help to repair the trauma of loss and dislocation suffered by many immigrants when they leave their country of origin and begin a life in a new host country. It also introduces the role of the new immigrant narratives in contemporary literature and how this literature can be used by teachers and parents to help integrate the experiences of the different generations of the immigrant family, as well as to educate the younger generations of Americans about the country's new cultural diversity. There is a chapter that explains the new concept of Transnational Identities that result from the improved communication technologies, as well as from more accessible travel, which have deeply changed the immigrant experience and are part of the new phenomenon of globalization. Another interesting chapter analyzes the phenomenon of Return Migrations comparing the points of view of the returning immigrant with those of the ones who stayed behind, further analyzing this topic from a psychological and socioeconomic perspective. It also explains the psychological meaning of Pilgrimages in which the pilgrim visits, not necessarily the land of his or her actual birth or upbringing, but the land of the ancestral family history, in an attempt to bridge the gaps between the generations and to better integrate the pilgrim's sense of ethnic and cultural identity. In addition, this book also has an extensive and well-documented chapter on the refugee experience, outlining the current world-wide refugee crisis and explaining the sociopolitical reasons behind the crisis, as well as offering new evidence-based treatments for this population. This is a very comprehensive and well-written book that covers adults, children, adolescents and families and describes the sociocultural experience of the various generations of immigrants in their adaptation to life in the U.S. It also explores the immigration-related family separations as well as the psychological impact faced by the children that stay behind and later re-unify with their parents in the U.S., as well as those families that are separated by deportation. Finally, the book also presents a comprehensive chapter on culturally-sensitive and culturally-competent evidence-based mental health treatments for the various generations of these populations, including recommendations on ethno-pharmacology. One of the many strengths of the book are the very compelling and clearly explained clinical cases, which help to illustrate the theoretical concepts that are presented in each chapter. This book is a very timely and very valuable contribution to the bio-psycho-social study of the immigrant experience to the U.S. in its first generation and beyond, and is an essential tool for students and professionals in the social sciences, in the fields of social work, psychology, medicine and psychiatry, and for members of government organizations responsible for urban planning, policy and budgets, as well as for agencies dealing with the reception, placement and assistance of immigrants and refugees. ""--