Ecological model to study an immigrant community in a local situation

The following study applied Prilleltensky’s ecological model to the study of a local situation. The aim was to identify the factors that characterize the life of the immigrant community in the countryside around Aversa. The specific area examined is that of San Marcellino, a small village on the outskirts of Caserta, a land dominated by crime, injustice and immigration. For some years now a community of North African Muslims have been permanent residents in this community full of contradictions. The study adopted multiple levels of analysis ranging from that of the individual to the socio-environmental level, identifying the various factors promoting well being as well as the opposite factors of risk. To this end we used Grounded Theory Methodology, which helped us to construct emergent theories based on interviews given by participants. We then considered the role of power structures and politics in the well being of this community, identifying the factors that allow us to analyze issues that are not usually investigated, such as inaccessibility to the infrastructures, rigid bureaucracy and the absence of legislative safeguards. A large number of local voluntary associations take on responsibility for these deficiencies and act as a social support for immigrants. The principal organization among these is the local mosque, which functions as a place for meeting, support and sharing.

Keywords: Migrations, grounded theory, acculturation, ecological model, justice, power.

Caterina Arcidiacono, Fortuna Procentese, Agostino Carbone, Maria Grazia Cerasuolo, Alfredo Natale, Il modello ecologico come strumento di analisi di una comunità di migranti in una realtà locale in "PSICOLOGIA DI COMUNITA’" 1/2010, pp 41-52, DOI: 10.3280/PSC2010-001004