IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v68y2022i8p1607-1613.html

Idioms of resilience: Mental health and migration in India

Author

Listed:
  • Raghu Raghavan
  • Brian Brown
  • Jonathan Coope
  • Mark Crossley
  • Muthusamy Sivakami
  • Nilesh Gawde
  • Tejasi Pendse
  • Saba Jamwal
  • Andy Barrett
  • Ashok Dyalchand
  • Santosh Chaturvedi
  • Abhijeet Chowdary
  • Dhanashree Heblikar

Abstract

Background: Resilience has proved to be a versatile notion to explain why people are not defeated by hardship and adversity, yet so far, we know little of how it might apply to communities and cultures in low to middle income countries. Aim: This paper aims to explore the notion of resilience in cross-cultural context through considering the lived experience of internal migration. Methods: A sample of 30 participants with experience of migration was recruited from a low-income slum dwelling neighbourhood in the city of Pune, India. These individuals participated in biographical narrative interviews in which they were encouraged to talk about their experience of migration, their adaptation to life in their new environment and making new lives for themselves. Results: Participants referred to a variety of intra-individual and external factors that sustained their resilience, including acceptance of their circumstances, the importance of memory, hope for their children’s futures as well as kindness from family friends and community members and aspects of the physical environment which were conducive to an improvement in their lives. Conclusions: By analogy with the widely used term ‘idioms of distress’, we advocate attention to the locally nuanced and culturally inflected ‘idioms of resilience’ or ‘eudaemonic idioms’ which are of crucial importance as migration and movement become ever more prominent in discussions of human problems. The nature and extent of people’s coping abilities, their aspirations and strategies for tackling adversity, their idioms of resilience and eudaemonic repertoires merit attention so that services can genuinely support their adjustment and progress in their new-found circumstances.

Suggested Citation

  • Raghu Raghavan & Brian Brown & Jonathan Coope & Mark Crossley & Muthusamy Sivakami & Nilesh Gawde & Tejasi Pendse & Saba Jamwal & Andy Barrett & Ashok Dyalchand & Santosh Chaturvedi & Abhijeet Chowdar, 2022. "Idioms of resilience: Mental health and migration in India," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(8), pages 1607-1613, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:68:y:2022:i:8:p:1607-1613
    DOI: 10.1177/00207640211042916
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00207640211042916
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00207640211042916?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Subbaraman, Ramnath & Nolan, Laura & Shitole, Tejal & Sawant, Kiran & Shitole, Shrutika & Sood, Kunal & Nanarkar, Mahesh & Ghannam, Jess & Betancourt, Theresa S. & Bloom, David E. & Patil-Deshmukh, An, 2014. "The psychological toll of slum living in Mumbai, India: A mixed methods study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 155-169.
    2. Eggerman, Mark & Panter-Brick, Catherine, 2010. "Suffering, hope, and entrapment: Resilience and cultural values in Afghanistan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 71-83, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dean A. Shepherd & Vinit Parida & Joakim Wincent, 2021. "Entrepreneurship and Poverty Alleviation: The Importance of Health and Children’s Education for Slum Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(2), pages 350-385, March.
    2. Sean B Nine & Abdul Fattah Najm & Emily B Allan & Petra C Gronholm, 2022. "Mental health stigma among community members in Afghanistan: A cross-sectional survey," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(7), pages 1470-1485, November.
    3. Seguin, Maureen & Lewis, Ruth & Amirejibi, Tinatin & Razmadze, Mariam & Makhashvili, Nino & Roberts, Bayard, 2016. "Our flesh is here but our soul stayed there: A qualitative study on resource loss due to war and displacement among internally-displaced women in the Republic of Georgia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 239-247.
    4. Laura B. Nolan, 2015. "Slum Definitions in Urban India: Implications for the Measurement of Health Inequalities," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 41(1), pages 59-84, March.
    5. Schrank, Beate & Bird, Victoria & Rudnick, Abraham & Slade, Mike, 2012. "Determinants, self-management strategies and interventions for hope in people with mental disorders: Systematic search and narrative review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(4), pages 554-564.
    6. Panter-Brick, Catherine & Eggerman, Mark, 2018. "The field of medical anthropology in Social Science & Medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 233-239.
    7. Mendelsohn, Joshua B. & Rhodes, Tim & Spiegel, Paul & Schilperoord, Marian & Burton, John Wagacha & Balasundaram, Susheela & Wong, Chunting & Ross, David A., 2014. "Bounded agency in humanitarian settings: A qualitative study of adherence to antiretroviral therapy among refugees situated in Kenya and Malaysia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 387-395.
    8. repec:plo:pone00:0240152 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Brewis, Alexandra & Choudhary, Neetu & Wutich, Amber, 2019. "Household water insecurity may influence common mental disorders directly and indirectly through multiple pathways: Evidence from Haiti," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Sanchez, Mari & Lamont, Michèle & Zilberstein, Shira, 2022. "How American college students understand social resilience and navigate towards the future during covid and the movement for racial justice," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    11. Teerawichitchainan, Bussarawan & Korinek, Kim, 2012. "The long-term impact of war on health and wellbeing in Northern Vietnam: Some glimpses from a recent survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(12), pages 1995-2004.
    12. Koon, Adam D. & Mendenhall, Emily & Eich, Lori & Adams, Abby & Borus, Zach A., 2021. "A spectrum of (Dis)Belief: Coronavirus frames in a rural midwestern town in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    13. Deldar Morad Abdulah & Bayar Mohammed Omar Abdulla & Pranee Liamputtong, 2023. "The lived experience of surviving from the Islamic State attack and capture in Iraq and Syria: An arts-based qualitative study with Yazidi young women," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(1), pages 117-133, February.
    14. Khraisha, Qusai & Sawalha, Lama & Hadfield, Kristin & Al-Soleiti, Majd & Dajani, Rana & Panter-Brick, Catherine, 2024. "Coparenting, mental health, and the pursuit of dignity: A systems-level analysis of refugee father-mother narratives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    15. Nho, Choong Rai & Yoon, Sukyoung & Ko, Juae, 2018. "Voices of refugee children in Korea," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 606-616.
    16. Helen Elsey & Shraddha Manandah & Dilip Sah & Sudeepa Khanal & Frances MacGuire & Rebecca King & Hilary Wallace & Sushil Chandra Baral, 2016. "Public Health Risks in Urban Slums: Findings of the Qualitative ‘Healthy Kitchens Healthy Cities’ Study in Kathmandu, Nepal," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(9), pages 1-17, September.
    17. Tay, Alvin Kuowei & Rees, Susan & Chan, Jack & Kareth, Moses & Silove, Derrick, 2015. "Examining the broader psychosocial effects of mass conflict on PTSD symptoms and functional impairment amongst West Papuan refugees resettled in Papua New Guinea (PNG)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 70-78.
    18. Achyuta Adhvaryu & James Fenske, 2013. "War, resilience and political engagement in Africa," CSAE Working Paper Series 2013-08, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    19. Rees, Susan & Thorpe, Rosamund & Tol, Wietse & Fonseca, Mira & Silove, Derrick, 2015. "Testing a cycle of family violence model in conflict-affected, low-income countries: A qualitative study from Timor-Leste," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 284-291.
    20. Sheikh, Zainab Afshan & Jensen, Anja M.B., 2019. "Channeling hope: An ethnographic study of how research encounters become meaningful for families suffering from genetic disease in Pakistan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 103-110.
    21. Alameddine, M. & Fouad, Fouad M. & Diaconu, K. & Jamal, Z. & Lough, G. & Witter, S. & Ager, A., 2019. "Resilience capacities of health systems: Accommodating the needs of Palestinian refugees from Syria," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 22-30.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:68:y:2022:i:8:p:1607-1613. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.