The word 'friend' is common, but loyalty is rare. Loneliness and interpersonal relationships in the migration experience

Journal title MONDI MIGRANTI
Author/s Monica Perez, Cristiano Santinello, Giuseppe Sciortino
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2017/2
Language Italian Pages 22 P. 125-146 File size 196 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2017-002007
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Very little is known about the social lives of the foreign-born population in Italy. In this paper, we explore the diffusion of the feeling of loneliness among immigrants in Italy, as well as the composition - in terms of the type of relationship - of immigrant trust networks. We do so using the data collected by Istat in his national survey «Condizione e integrazione sociale dei cittadini stranieri» (Social Integration and Living Conditions of Foreign Citizens). Our results acknowledge that territorial mobility implies some disruption of the migrant’s personal networks. At the same time, however, we show that loneliness and isolation are far from being endemic features of the migration experience. Both loneliness and isolation, moreover, tend to decrease along the process of settlement. We also stress that kinship ties play a key role in shaping the composition of migrant networks.

Keywords: Loneliness, friendship, trust networks

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Monica Perez, Cristiano Santinello, Giuseppe Sciortino, Raro è un amico fedele. Relazioni interpersonali e solitudine nell’esperienza migratoria in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 2/2017, pp 125-146, DOI: 10.3280/MM2017-002007