The Resettlement Blues: The Role of Social Support in Newcomer Women’s Mental Health

Abstract

Introduction: Adequate social support is associated with well-being and mental health, whereas disruptions to social support have been linked to elevated risk of psychological distress (e.g. anxiety, depression), especially in immigrant women, a population particularly vulnerable to distress during the process of resettlement. Immigration and resettlement entail opportunities and challenges for newcomers, and for most newcomers, a common challenge is change in availability of social support and the absence of social networks, resulting in significant decreases in perceived and experienced social support during the initial years in the host country. This study examined the relationship between social support and newcomer women’s mental health in a sample of 96 female newcomers living in the greater Toronto area.

Main Body: Participants emigrated from various Caribbean islands, Columbia, Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico, Angola, Portugal, and the Azores. Immigrants were 22–58 years of age with a mean of 38.9 and had lived in Canada from 1 to 12 years with a mean stay of 4 years. A significant positive relationship was found between the Oslo Social Support Scale and reported psychological distress as measured by the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) (r = .76.5, p < .001). A regression analysis found that 53 % (adjusted R ²) of the dependent variable of newcomers’ score on the MHI-5 was accounted for by their score on the independent variable of Social Support (F = 19.09, p = .001).

Discussion: Social support is a crucial factor in newcomer women’s mental health, with over half of the variance in regard to a measure of symptoms of anxiety and depression being accounted for by the women’s perceived social support in the community in which they live. In addition to disruption of the social networks and communities in the country of origin, language barriers and cultural differences contribute to isolation and lack of support in the host country, often leading to decreases in mental health following arrival.

Implications: Neighbourhood and community centres can promote (1) social contact and interaction and (2) access to culturally appropriate primary and mental health care services for newcomer women. Recommendations for public policy and further research are presented.

Response

• Sabine Lehr 

1. Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria,, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8T 1A8

   Sabine Lehr

Where Are You From?

“Where are you from?” is a question often asked of newcomers when they interact with those deemed to make up “mainstream society”. The seemingly innocent question points to a reality that newcomers sometimes desperately try to shed: the fact that they are different from those in the “mainstream” by virtue of their origin. Instead of fitting neatly into Canada’s cultural mosaic, the question “Where are you from?” serves as a constant reminder of their difference, their otherness, their not-quite-belonging. And yet, if they attempt to answer this question, they are often met with little more than a cursory expression of interest, a fleeting moment during which the newcomer may hope for some empathy and understanding that their social interactions may deviate from those of “mainstream” Canadians. Frequently, though, when interacting with persons in private or organizational spheres, the expectation that follows this question is that newcomers will conduct themselves just like any Canadian-born person. There is little comprehension in the general public that newcomers’ social worlds and the social worlds of those born in Canada may be light years apart.

As discussed in this chapter, social supports in the community play a vital role in bridging the gap between newcomers’ social worlds and their surrounding environment. For the past 2 years, I have worked in Victoria’s settlement sector with the newcomer community, and I have witnessed first-hand the importance of settlement agencies in the early stages after arrival. In my organization, when a newcomer is asked, “Where are you from?” he or she understands that the answer to this question elicits compassion and a culturally and linguistically appropriate response to the person’s life situation. Even though our staff are not counsellors in the professional sense of the term, they do counsel and provide emotional support to persons with challenging and trauma-laden backgrounds and to those who are experiencing psychological problems as a result of the migration experience itself. Our staff members act as sociocultural brokers as they accompany newcomers during their first visits to institutions that can be intimidating and alien places for those from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds: a medical office, social service agency, or the school where their children are enrolled.

In communities outside the main metropolitan centres that receive the vast majority of newcomers (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver), there is enhanced pressure on settlement workers to provide psycho-social support to newcomers. Victoria has a very limited number of interculturally trained psychologists, and most recent newcomers do not have health benefits or sufficient assets that allow them to attend sessions with a trained counsellor. The situation is particularly severe for those who fall through the cracks because they are not eligible for any settlement supports from government-funded programmes. Among those most affected are refugee claimants and the majority of temporary foreign workers, with both groups frequently experiencing more stressors than other groups of newcomers. Cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program that came into effect in 2012 have cut off refugee claimants partially or entirely from receiving necessary health care. Among them are extremely vulnerable claimants, such as survivors of torture and people with severe health problems or disabilities (Canadian Council for Refugees [CCR], 2013b).

Temporary foreign workers (migrant workers) are another group who receive less favourable treatment. Often regarded as the “disposable” segment of the workforce, they experience frequent human rights abuses and discrimination due to a lack of legal protection. Migrant workers are not eligible for any support under federally funded settlement programmes. A number of Canadian provinces have taken steps to address these workers’ precarious situation; however, my home province of British Columbia—host to over 74,000 temporary foreign workers on 1 December 2012—received an overall “C” grade in a national report card on migrant workers issued by the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR, 2013a).

Community organizations and institutional forms of settlement support are vitally important for the social and psychological well-being of newcomers; however, equally important is the broad involvement of the community and the public in creating a welcoming environment in which newcomers can thrive socially, mentally, and economically. In my organization, we say that newcomers have successfully settled in their new country when they do not see a need any longer to visit a settlement agency. This necessitates that the community at large develop their capacity to support newcomers with diverse backgrounds. The Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria leads a Community Partnership Network (CPN) that consists of over 100 member organizations committed to welcoming and integrating newcomers into Victoria’s communities, workplaces, and institutions. We provide diversity training for CPN staff members and diversity summits where community leaders can exchange ideas and experiences and enhance their intercultural competences. We hope that, over time, Victoria will become a community where all newcomers, regardless of immigration status and eligibility for government funding, will receive culturally sensitive social supports through specialized agencies, mainstream agencies, and/or the community at large.

I conclude my response with a short dialogical poem that I wrote while reflecting on a day at work when we helped a woman with mental–emotional challenges who was not deemed eligible for services by our governmental funding agency due to her immigration status. I should note that the dialogue is based on the reality of the situation, but otherwise fictional, and is obviously not reflective of how our settlement advisor interacted with this person.

Woman from nowhere

“Where are you from?”

“Vengo de ninguna parte”.

“Do you speak English?”

“No hablo inglés”.

“Can I see your immigration paper?”

“No paper”.

“I am sorry, but you are ineligible for services”.

“Ineligible? No comprendo”.

“It means we cannot help you”.

“No help? Am I not a human being? What means ‘Welcome BC’?”

“It’s only for those with status”.

“Ministry has taken my children. Landlord has taken my house. Husband has taken my self-respect. Now you take my dignity.—You ask where I am from?”

“Yes…”

“I am from the depths of despair. I am from the heights of deceit. I am from the darkness of a contorted soul”.

“I am really sorry”.

“I come from nowhere. I am nowhere. I am going nowhere. There is nowhere to go”.