Human insecurity and psychological well-being in migrants hosted in a Nigerian transit center: A qualitative exploration on risk and protective factors
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online May, 2023
Human insecurity and psychological well-being in migrants hosted in a Nigerian transit center: A qualitative exploration on risk and protective factors
Our explorative work aimed to qualitatively analyze the factors affecting human security and psychological well-being in a group of migrants temporarily hosted in a Nigerian transit center. The study involved 250 migrants from different Western and sub-Saharan African countries who were interviewed during their stay in International Organization for Migration – supported transit centers. Thematic content analysis was performed on the texts of the interviews. Motivations for departure from the home country, resources available for migrants’ sense of security, expectations for their future, experience in the host country, and the relationship between human insecurity and life satisfaction were the main emerging themes.
AddaiI.Opoku-AgyemanC.AmanfuS.K. (2014) ‘Exploring Predictors of Subjective Well-Being in Ghana: A Micro-level Study’, Journal of Happiness Studies15: 869–90.
2.
AdedejiA.BullingerM. (2019) ‘Subjective Integration and Quality of Life of Sub-Saharan African Migrants in Germany’, Public Health174: 134–44.
3.
AdedejiA.SilvaN.BullingerM. (2021) ‘Cognitive and Structural Social Capital as Predictors of Quality of Life for Sub-Saharan African Migrants in Germany’, Applied Research in Quality of Life16: 1003–17.
4.
American Psychological Association (2010) 2010 Amendments to the 2002 ‘Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct’, American Psychologist65: 493. DOI: 10.1037/a0020168
5.
AndrewsF.M.RobinsonJ.P. (1991) ‘Measures of Subjective Well-Being’, in RobinsonJ.P.ShaverP.R.WrightsmanL. S. (eds) Measure of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes, pp.62–114. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
6.
BakewellO. (2008) ‘‘Keeping Them in Their Place’: The Ambivalent Relationship Between Development and Migration in Africa’, Third World Quarterly29: 1341–58.
7.
BrachetJ. (2011) ‘The Blind Spot of Repression: Migration Policies and Human Survival in the Central Sahara’, in BrachetJ. (ed.) Transnational Migration and Human Security, pp. 57–66. Berlin; Heidelberg: Springer.
8.
CamfieldL.Guillen-RoyoM.VelazcoJ. (2010) ‘Does Needs Satisfaction Matter for Psychological and Subjective Wellbeing in Developing Countries: A Mixed-Methods Illustration from Bangladesh and Thailand’, Journal of Happiness Studies11: 497–516.
9.
ChiaraG.RomaioliD. (2021) ‘The Challenge of Migratory Flows in the Mediterranean Sea to Psychology: A Single Case Study from a Social Constructionist Perspective’, Journal of Constructivist Psychology34: 98–115.
ColuccelloS.MasseyS. (2007) ‘Out of Africa: The human trade between Libya and Lampedusa’, Trends in Organized Crime10(4): 77–90.
12.
DanaR.H.AllenJ. (2008) ‘Globalization: Psychological Problems and Social Needs’, in DanaR.H.AllenJ. (eds) Cultural Competency Training in a Global Society, pp. 25–42. New York: Springer.
13.
DasJ.DoQ.T.FriedmanJ.McKenzieD.ScottK. (2007) ‘Mental health and poverty in developing countries: Revisiting the relationship’, Social science & medicine65(3): 467–80.
14.
De HaasH. (2010) ‘Migration and Development: A Theoretical Perspective’, International Migration Review44: 227–64.
15.
De HaasH.FokkemaT.FihriM.F. (2015) ‘Return Migration as Failure or Success?’, Journal of International Migration and Integration16: 415–29.
16.
Delgado WiseR.Márquez CovarrubiasH.PuentesR. (2013) ‘Reframing the Debate on Migration, Development and Human Rights’, Population, Space and Place19: 430–43.
17.
DengF.M. (2004) ‘The Impact of State Failure on Migration’, Mediterranean Quarterly15: 16–36.
18.
DienerE. (2009) ‘Subjective Well-Being’, in DienerE. (ed.) The Science of Well-Being: Social Indicators Research Series, vol. 37, pp. 11–58. Dordrecht: Springer.
19.
FeldnerM. (2019) ‘Return Migration in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah (2013)’, in FeldnerM. (ed.) Narrating the New African Diaspora, pp. 185–99. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
20.
FlickU. (2009) An Introduction to Qualitative Research. London: SAGE.
21.
GasperD. (2011) ‘International Migration, Well-Being and Transnational Ethics’, in GasperD. (ed.) Transnational Migration and Human Security, pp. 259–71. Berlin; Heidelberg: Springer.
22.
GasperD.SinattiG. (2016) ‘Investigating Migration within a Human Security Framework’, Revista Migración y Desarrollo14: 3–42.
23.
GasperD.GómezO.A. (2015) ‘Human Security Thinking in Practice: “Personal Security”, “Citizen Security” and Comprehensive Mappings’, Contemporary Politics21: 100–16.
24.
GawlewiczA. (2016) ‘Beyond Openness and Prejudice: The Consequences of Migrant Encounters with Difference’, Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space48: 256–72.
25.
HamoodS. (2006) African Transit Migration through Libya to Europe: The Human Cost. Cairo, Egypt: Forced Migration and Refugee Studies, American University in Cairo.
26.
HendrixC.S.GlaserS.M. (2007) ‘Trends and Triggers: Climate, Climate Change and Civil Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa’, Political Geography26: 695–715.
27.
HenninkM.HutterI.BaileyA. (2011) Qualitative Research Methods. London: SAGE.
28.
HoveyJ.D.MaganaC. (2000) ‘Acculturative Stress, Anxiety, and Depression among Mexican Immigrant Farm Workers in the Midwest United States’, Journal of Immigrant Health2: 119–31.
29.
IqbalZ. (2006) ‘Health and Human Security: The Public Health Impact of Violent Conflict’, International Studies Quarterly50: 631–49.
30.
JuradoD.AlarcónR.D.Martínez-OrtegaJ.M.Mendieta-MarichalY.Gutiérrez-RojasL.GurpeguiM. (2017) ‘Factors Associated with Psychological Distress or Common Mental Disorders in Migrant Populations across the World’, Revista de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental (English Edition)10: 45–58.
31.
KaldorM. (2007) Human Security – Reflections on Globalization and Intervention. Cambridge: Polity Press.
32.
KeyesC.L. (2006) ‘Subjective Well-Being in Mental Health and Human Development Research Worldwide: An Introduction’, Social Indicators Research77: 1–10.
33.
KingN. (2019) ‘Radical Migrant Solidarity in Calais’, in BurridgeA.HellerC.HuemerM.KingN.LakhdarM.LeuenbergerC.AutonomasS. (eds) Open Borders: In Defense of Free Movement, pp. 213–227. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press
34.
LinZ.YangR.LiK.YiG.LiZ.GuoJ.ZhangZ.JunxiangP.LiuY.QiS.HuangG. (2020) ‘Establishment of Age Group Classification for Risk Stratification in Glioma Patients’, BMC Neurology20: 310.
35.
MasangoM.J.OlisaJ.U. (2019) ‘The Pain of Migrants in a Strange Land’, HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies75: 1–10.
OdokG.E. (2019) ‘Economic or Climate Migrants? Human Security Experiences of Nigerian Migrants in South Africa’, Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation8(Special Issue 2): 241–54.
38.
RajaonarisonH.M. (2014) ‘Food and Human Security in Sub-Saharan Africa’, Procedia Environmental Sciences20: 377–85.
39.
SetranaM.B. (2017) ‘Back Home at Last! Factors Influencing Return and Reintegration of Ghanaian Returnees’, Journal of Identity and Migration Studies11: 27–46, 195.
40.
SulemanaI. (2015) ‘The Effect of Fear of Crime and Crime Victimization on Subjective Well-Being in Africa’, Social Indicators Research121: 849–72.
41.
TessitoreF.MargheritaG. (2020) ‘Land of Care Seeking: Pre-and Post-migratory Experiences in Asylum Seekers’ Narratives’, Community Psychology in Global Perspective6: 74–91.
42.
ThelaL.TomitaA.MaharajV.MhlongoM.BurnsJ.K. (2017) ‘Counting the Cost of Afrophobia: Post-Migration Adaptation and Mental Health Challenges of African Refugees in South Africa’, Transcultural Psychiatry54: 715–32.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (1994) Human Development Report 1994: New Dimensions of Human Security. New York: Oxford University Press.
45.
VeroneseG.PepeA.VigliaroniM. (2019a) ‘An Exploratory Multi-site Mixed-Method Study with Migrants at Niger Transit Centers: The Push Factors Underpinning Outward and Return Migration’, International Social Work64: 539–55.
46.
VeroneseG.PepeA.SalaG.VigliaroniM. (2019b) ‘Measuring Subjective Well-Being in an Understudied Population of Young Western-African IDPs and Refugees’, International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. Epub ahead of print November. DOI: 10.1108/IJMHSC-07-2018-0043.
47.
VeroneseG.PepeA.SalaG.YamienI.VigliaroniM. (2019c) ‘Positive Experience, Psychological Functioning, and Hope for the Future as Factors Associated with Mental Health among Young Sub-Saharan Internally Displaced People (IDP): A Quantitative Pilot Study’, International Journal of Mental Health48: 165–87.
48.
VeroneseG.PepeA.AddimandoL.SalaG.VigliaroniM. (2020) ‘“It’s Paradise There, I Saw It on TV”: Psychological Wellbeing, Migratory Motivators, and Expectations of Return among West African Migrants’, Nordic Psychology72: 33–50.
49.
WählischM. (2014) ‘Human Security: Concept and Evolution in the United Nations’, Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law Online18: 1–31.
50.
ZografosC.GouldenM.C.KallisG. (2014) ‘Sources of Human Insecurity in the Face of Hydro-Climatic Change’, Global Environmental Change29: 327–36.
