The Gdansk Lecture

Migration and its Consequences for Health - Role of Religion

Prof. Dr. Halina Grzymała-Moszczynska, MD

Jagiellonian University, Krakow (Poland)

Abstract

They are several models explaining migration. Most commonly they rely primarily on economic factors and social networks (Massey et al. 1987; Stark, Bloom 1985). According to these accounts potential migrants make a cost-benefit analysis between the places of origin and potential destinations, including an assesment of intervening factors, the psychological costs of leaving familiar envinronment and predicted sucess (financial) in the new place. Such analysis describes decision process of voluntary, mostly economic migrants. Situation gets more complicated when involuntary migrants are taken into account. Immediate danger stimulates migratory decision which is often against best migrant's interest, the major (at times only) factor defining such decision is a hope for reaching safety.

Few students of religion or international migration clearly understand the role of religion in moving people across international borders, the way religion changes upon settlement in the destination country, the help or hindrance religion can be in the struggle for immigrant success and first and foremost how religion makes an impact on health related outcomes of migration process. In this presentation role of religion for health of several groups of migrants will be analyzed. As an example of role of religion for wellbeing of voluntary migrants, results of research among Polish economic migrants in UK will be presented. Research results collected among two other groups will serve as an examples of the role of religion for mental health of refugees. These groups are Chechens refugees in Poland and Syrian refugees in Turkey. For both groups faith become their sustenance, helps to find meaning and create order in times of crisis and substitute for agency component in the migration or settlemet experience. As a working model for understanding of the role of religion in mental health of refugees Silove's (2013) model ADAPT (Adaptation and Development after Persecution and Trauma) will be applied.

PowerPoint slides of the presentation (PDF)