Liliane Sayegh, Jean-Claude Lasry
Acculturative stress and mental health : lebanese immigrants in Montréal – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 23 to 51)
This cross-sectional study examined the effect of immigration and acculturative stress on the mental health of a sample of 197 Lebanese immigrants in Montréal. An Orthogonal Model of Cultural Identification was used to determine whether the acculturation style adopted by immigrants had any effect on mental health or on acculturative stress. Results revealed no significant differences in psychological distress between the Lebanese sample and a comparative group of Québec native-born. Among the indices of acculturative stress, adaptation problems alone predicted psychological distress. Finally, acculturation styles did not have any effect on psychological distress or on acculturative stress indices, with discrimination excepted. Individuals who adopted the Assimilation style reported less discrimination that those in the Ethnocentric and Integration groups. Results are discussed with reference to findings reported in the literature on Canadian studies.
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Laurence J. Kirmayer, Ellen Corin, André Corriveau, Christopher Fletcher
Culture and mental health of the Inuit of Nunavik – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 52 to 70)
While the major psychiatric disorders described in current nosology can be found among the Inuit of Northern Québec (Nunavik), there are important cultural influences on the symptomatology, social response and course of these disorders. A litterature review, consideration of experiences with psychiatric consultation among the Inuit and the preliminary results of ongoing ethnographic research underscore the importance of the study of Inuit ethnopsychology and current attitudes toward the mentally ill in developing culturally sensitive phychiatric care.
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Margalit Cohen-Émérique
Intercultural approach in the support process – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 71 to 91)
This study is the outcome of research carried out on a migrant group in France, of training experience with social work and psychology professionals dealing with migrant communities and of research focused on these training experiences. It is the result of many experiences in the worlds of theory and of practice, all of which revolve around the interaction between migrant populations and the agents responsible for their integration in France, namely social workers, psychologists, paramedical personnel, teachers and training professionals. Interaction here is defined as an exchange process which, through communication, ensures reciprocity.
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Louise Tassé
Feathers : an encounter with Algonquin elders from Kitigan Zibi – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 93 to 108)
The author explores the symbolic efficiency of strangeness she experienced when meeting those people whom, as a child, she learned to consider as the strangest of strangers : the American Indians. The author identifies three signifiers on which Algonquins build their individual and collective identities : the patronymic, the accomplishments of the elders and the earth. These three signifiers were key to developing ties that connect the present with the past, while still emphasizing the differences that ensure cultural symbolism and, therefore, their distinction from the White man's world.
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Hanna Malewska-Peyre
Negative identity and immigrant youth – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 109 to 123)
Immigrants experience conflicting values more frequently than native citizens. When experienced by immigrants in their teens, clashing values can give rise to feelings of rejection, as well as a negative self-image and image of others ; in some cases, these opposing values even lead to family breakups. The identity crisis worsens if the messages conveyed by the social environment are contradictory or incoherent. If these messages present negative aspects, the self-image is threatened by being discredited, for example in the case of racist stereotypes and xenophobic reactions. The most dangerous response is the internalization of a discredited image. Youth react agressively or repress a racist experience by negating it. For some, assimilation goes as far as putting down one's very own community. On the other hand, some will place enormous value on their differences and follow a strategy that can lead to political activism, which is not without its own forms of excess. These various strategies depend on specific factors : cultural traits, political trends, community links.
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Romano Scandariato
Therapy and the immigrant family – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 125 to 142)
This article illustrates through clinical examples a number of specific aspects related to work carried out with immigrant families. Topic include the disorganizing effects of immigration, the place of the father and magical thinking in immigrant families.
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Richard Rechtman, Geneviève Welsh
Transcultural approach of non francophone patients originating from Southeast Asia in the psychiatric service network of Paris' XIIIth Arrondissement – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 143 to 161)
Following the political upheaval that shook the Indochinese peninsula in the middle of the 1970s, many refugees originating from Southeast Asia re-established themselves in France. Since 1976, many of these refugees have formed a large Asian community in the XIIIth arrondissement of Paris. As a result, the arrondissement's psychiatric services, which cover the entire Asian neighborhood, have been confronted with the arrival of increasing numbers of non francophone patients from this ethnic minority. In this article, the authors present the steps that were taken by the psychiatric services to meet the very particular historical, cultural and psychopathological needs of this population.
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Mahfoud Boucebci
Aspects of psychological development of children from the Maghreb – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 163 to 178)
Studies on the psychological development of the Maghreb child, from the psychomotor as well as the emotional points of view, are still quite rare, as is literature and research on the Maghreb child's family and environment. This article synthesizes various data, while identifying what is generally unknown or misunderstood about the Maghreb. This is namely the case of information surrounding the Islam faith. Also, by raising questions about the female child, the author examines one of today's major sociocultural and political problems in Islamic countries : the female citizen of tomorrow in a changing world – an issue which the author considers essential to any endeavour in the field of mental health.
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Emerson Douyon
Police and ethnic-minority relations – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 179 to 191)
In this testimony, the author presents a critical analysis of relations between the police and black minorities in particular. The author explores the underlying mechanisms and the origins of the deterioration of these relations, and suggests measures to change the respective perceptions and attitudes, and to create a positive climate leading to mutual trust.
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André Jacob
The integration process of refugees, a major explanatory factor during intervention – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 193 to 209)
In light of scientific literature produced over the last ten years, it appears that health and social work professionals should, when dealing with people belonging to minority cultures, go beyond the purely interpersonal approach to problems. Rather, they should lend an ear to the different notions of life and society, and adjust their intervention patterns to the integration conditions of immigrants. The special situation of refugees requires a special approach based on the knowledge of their pre-migrant conditions, as well as on the establishment of closer ties between welcoming institutions and these migrant families.
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Elena Alvarado
Youth from cultural communities – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 211 to 226)
In Québec, young immigrants must adapt themselves at the same time as their families to changes imposed by a society which is itself experiencing problems related to minorities and language conflicts. Parents, which have high hopes for their young, are torn between their own values and those of the new nation. Because immigrants families, especially mothers, have a poor understanding of the language, as well as the educational and social services, it is difficult for them to avoid being labelled in the academic and legal worlds. Discipline is often at the center of problems with teens. The conflict between generations takes on special meaning, as youth are able to adapt faster and easier to the new society's culture. Nevertheless, placing value on cultural origins can help youth challenge racism and rejection. The author believes that more effort should be invested in information services for parents, as well as in schools and their cultural and pedagogical adaptation measures.
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François Béland, Anne Lemay, Ginette Lavoie
Psychiatric emergencies in a context of sectorialization – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 227 to 250)
Psychiatric services dispensed according to geographic sectors has been a reality of the Montréal area psychiatric care system for about fifteen years. In a dense urban environment where the territorial limits of sectors do not necessarily follow the borders of residential areas, divisions by sector can create serious access problems. On a different note, when the distribution of mental health services is patterned after the main urban arteries, sectorialization becomes the validation of an existing situation, its success thereby ensured by the force of circumstances. In this article, the access to emergency psychiatric services over the sectorialized territory of Ile Jesus is examined based on archival data provided by Sacré-Coeur and Cité de la Santé hospitals. The data reveal that patients with a psychiatric ailment present themselves to the emergency ward of the hospital of their sector. These patients of emergency services are characterized by usage patterns that are no different from those of users of all types of health care services, psychiatric or not, regardless of the reason of the visit. However, the place of use of sectorialized psychiatric services has a halo effect on non-sectorialized psychiatric services. The impact of sectorialization on the usage and access of services is therefore a complex phenomenon.
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Guylaine Racine
Interventions in mental health : an unexpected function of shelters for homeless women – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 251 to 268)
The development of services for the homeless is today the target of widespread criticism. Institutions are tending to duplicate services to ensure their survival, which brings about the risk of creating second-rate services for this area of the population. In addition, many critics fear that, because of policies establihed by institutions, services for the homeless tend to foster rather than fight transience. Based on an analysis of the evolution of mandates of shelters for homeless women, the author suggests that the development of services for the homeless has been influenced by factors other than the survival instinct of these organizations.
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Christine Veilleux, Denise St-Cyr-Tribble, Denise Paul
Parents of adolescents and their perceptions and attitudes about suicide – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 (p. 269 to 286)
In the context of parents reacting with surprise to the suicidal tendencies of their teenage child, the authors prepared a questionnaire for 380 parents of adolescents to gauge the realism of their perceptions on the topic. The authors noted differences of opinion between fathers and mothers among parents who have experienced a variety of situations related to suicide and others who have received information on the matter. These differing points of view concern the impulsive nature of the gesture, the age of the suicidal person, the opportunity to intervene and the level of acceptance of suicide. In addition, this study underscores the importance of implementing prevention programs that go beyond the simple distribution of information.
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Francine Perrault, Daniel Fortin
Experiences and perceptions of clients of crisis centres – Volume XVIII, Number 1, Spring 1993 p. 287 to 301)
The article presents the results of a series of semi-directed interviews conducted with fifty former clients of a crisis centre. Collected data relate to the experiences of residents and their appreciation of services supplied, to the social workers and to results of intervention carried out by the centre.
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