The trauma faces: an explorative study on asylum seekers

Journal title INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY TRAUMA STUDIES
Author/s Emanuele Caroppo, Patrizia Brogna
Publishing Year 2016 Issue 2016/1
Language English Pages 13 P. 77-89 File size 243 KB
DOI 10.3280/IJM2016-001008
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

This study aims at better understanding the traumatic experience in the asylum seekers that was transferred in Italy in application of Dublin II and III Regulation. In particular we analyzed the asylum seekers that was transferred, at the moment of the identification of the European State Members (EU SM) competence of the asylum procedure, like vulnerable target. This is a common category established by the Art. 8 of the Legislative Decree 140/2005 foresees in Italy and its including: minors, disabled people, elderly people, pregnant women, single parents with children and persons who have been subjected to torture, rape or other serious forms of psychological, physical or sexual violence. We shall highlight the particular way in which people with this legal situation perceive their trauma life events and specifically how they are exposed to the greatest risk of PTSD and suicide. To this end we shall analyze the prevalence and incidence of mental health diseases in the asylum seekers and how the bias prevalence about the Dublin Regulation increased the risk of the chronic vulnerability conditions especially the increase of psychological reactive syndromes, addiction and deliberate self-harm behaviours and suicide attempt. Our hypothesis is that the absence of a common program treatment, the dissemination of health information amongst Member States can have a negative impact on the global health of this target people.

Keywords: Vulnerable target, asylum seekers, trauma, PTSD, management of migration flows.

  1. Alley J.C. (1982). Life-threatening indicators among the Indochinese refugees. Suicide. Life Threat Behav., 12(1):46-51.
  2. APA (2013). Manuale diagnostico e statistico dei disturbi mentali DSM-5. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2014.
  3. Bhugra D. and Bhui K (2007). Textbook of Cultural Psychiatry. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  4. Bhui K., Craig T., Mohamud S., Warfa N., Stansfeld S.A., Thornicroft G., Curtis S. and Mc Crone P. (2006). Mental disorders among Somali refugees: developing culturally appropriate measures and assessing socio-cultural risk factors. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol., 41(5):400-8.
  5. Bria P. and Caroppo E. (2006). Antropologia culturale e psicopatologia: sistemi di pensiero a confronto. Roma: Alpes.
  6. Bria P., Caroppo E., Brogna P. e Colimberti M. (2010). Trattato Italiano di Psichiatria Culturale e delle migrazioni. Roma: SEU.
  7. Cacioppo J.T., Hawkley L.C. and Thisted R.A. (2010). Perceived social isolation makes me sad: 5-year cross-lagged analyses of loneliness and depressive symptomatology in the Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study. Psychol Aging., 25(2):453-63. DOI: 10.1037/a0017216
  8. Caroppo E. e Bria P. (2008). Salute mentale, migrazioni e pluralismo culturale. Roma: Alpes.
  9. Caroppo E. e Brogna P. (2011). Vite spezzate: l’esperienza mentale del Trauma. Arel La Rivista, 1.
  10. Caroppo E. (2013). L’heure bleue della mente: quel momento in cui tutto è possibile. La Sindrome dei Dublino. Arel la Rivista, 2:180-187.
  11. Caroppo E., Almadori A., Giannuzzi V., Brogna P., Diodati A. and Bria P. (2014). Health care for immigrant women in Italy: are we really ready? A survey on knowledge about female genital mutilation. Ann Ist Super Sanità. 50(1): 49-53. DOI: 10.4415/ANN_14_01_08
  12. Caroppo E., Muscelli C., Brogna P., Paci M., Camerino C. and Bria P. (2009). Relating with migrants: etnopsychiatry and psychotherapy. Ann Ist super sanità, 45(3): 331-340
  13. Cohen J. (2008). Safe in our hands?: a study of suicide and self-harm in asylum seekers. J Forensic Leg Med. 15(4):235-44. DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2007.11.001
  14. Coric V., Stock E.G., Pultz J., Marcus R. and Sheehan D.V. (2009). Sheehan Suicidality Tracking Scale (Sheehan-STS): Preliminary results from a multicenter clinical trial in generalized anxiety disorder. Psychiatry 6(1):26-31.
  15. Hallas P., Hansen A.R., Staehr M.A., Munk-Andersen E. and Jorgensen H.L. (2007). Length of stay in asylum centres and mental health in asylum seekers: a retrospective study from Denmark. BMC Public Health, 7:288.
  16. Hawkley L.C. and Cacioppo J.T. (2012). Loneliness Matters: A Theoretical and Empirical Review of Consequences and Mechanisms. Ann Behav Med. 40(2):218-27. DOI: 10.1007/s12160
  17. Hougen H.P. (1988). Physical and psychological sequelae to torture. A controlled clinical study of exiled asylum applicants. Forensic Sci Int. 39(1):5-11.
  18. Lurie I. (2009). Psychiatric care in restricted conditions for work migrants, refugees and asylum seekers: experience of the Open Clinic for Work Migrants and Refugees, Israel 2006. Israel J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 46(3):172-81.
  19. Masmas T.N., Møller E., Buhmannr C., Bunch V., Jensen J.H., Hansen T.N., Jørgensen L.M., Kjaer C., Mannstaedt M., Oxholm A., Skau J., Theilade L., Worm L. and Ekstrøm M. (2008). Asylum seekers in Denmark--a study of health status and grade of traumatization of newly arrived asylum seekers. Torture, 18(2):77-86.
  20. Merleau-Ponty M. (1945). Fenomenologia della percezione. Milano: Il Saggiatore, 1965.
  21. Mollica R.F., Sarajlic N., Chernoff M., Lavelle J., Vukovic I.S. and Massagli M.P. (2001). Longitudinal study of psychiatric symptoms, disability, mortality, and emigration among Bosnian refugees. JAMA, 286(5):546-554.
  22. Panagioti M., Gooding P. and Tarrier N. (2009). Post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal behavior: A narrative review. Clin Psychol Rev., 29(6):471-82. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2009.05.001
  23. Sironi F. (2010). Violenze collettive. Saggio di psicologia geopolitica clinica. Milano: Feltrinelli.
  24. Steel Z., Chey T., Silove D., Marnane C., Bryant R.A. and van Ommeren M. (2009). Association of torture and other potentially traumatic events with mental health outcomes among populations exposed to mass conflict and displacement: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 302(5):537-49. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2009.1132
  25. Thornton T. (2007). Essential Philosophy of Psychiatry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  26. Wenzel T., Rushiti F., Aghani F., Diaconu G., Maxhuni B. and Zitterl W. (2009). Suicidal ideation, post-traumatic stress and suicide statistics in Kosovo. An analysis five years after the war. Suicidal ideation in Kosovo. Torture, 19(3):238-47.
  27. Yu S.E. and Jeon W.T. (2008). Mental health of north korean refugees in protective facilities in China. Psychiatry Investig., 5(2):70-7. DOI: 10.4306/pi.2008.5.2.70
  28. Zahavi D. and Parnas J. (1998). Phenomenal consciousness and self-awareness. A phenomenological critique of representational theory. Journal of Cosciousness Studies, 5(1):687-705.

Emanuele Caroppo, Patrizia Brogna, The trauma faces: an explorative study on asylum seekers in "INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY TRAUMA STUDIES" 1/2016, pp 77-89, DOI: 10.3280/IJM2016-001008