TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding and coping with immigration detention
T2 - Social identity as cure and curse
AU - Këllezi, Blerina
AU - Bowe, Mhairi
AU - Wakefield, Juliet R. H.
AU - McNamara, Niamh
AU - Bosworth, Mary
N1 - Funding Information:
The research was funded by Nottingham Trent University QR Kickstarter Fund, Psychology Department. The authors would like to thank all the participants in this research and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PY - 2019/3
Y1 - 2019/3
N2 - Over 29,000 foreign nationals are detained yearly in British Immigration Removal Centres for undefined periods. This study investigated the role played by social identities in the way detainees are affected by, make sense of, and deal with detention. An opportunity sample of 40 detainees was interviewed on topics including support, identity, and well-being, and data were analysed using theoretical thematic analysis. Participants struggled with loss of social networks, loss of rights, loss of agency, and joining a stigmatised group. Social identities guided exchange of support, aided meaning-making, and mitigated distrust, serving as ‘Social Cures’. However, shared identities could also be sources of burden, ostracism, and distress, serving as ‘Social Curses’. Inability to maintain existing identities or create new ones fuelled feelings of isolation. Participants also reported rejection/avoidance of social identities to maximise their benefits. This study is the first to apply the Social Identity Approach to the experience of immigration detention.
AB - Over 29,000 foreign nationals are detained yearly in British Immigration Removal Centres for undefined periods. This study investigated the role played by social identities in the way detainees are affected by, make sense of, and deal with detention. An opportunity sample of 40 detainees was interviewed on topics including support, identity, and well-being, and data were analysed using theoretical thematic analysis. Participants struggled with loss of social networks, loss of rights, loss of agency, and joining a stigmatised group. Social identities guided exchange of support, aided meaning-making, and mitigated distrust, serving as ‘Social Cures’. However, shared identities could also be sources of burden, ostracism, and distress, serving as ‘Social Curses’. Inability to maintain existing identities or create new ones fuelled feelings of isolation. Participants also reported rejection/avoidance of social identities to maximise their benefits. This study is the first to apply the Social Identity Approach to the experience of immigration detention.
KW - common-fate
KW - coping
KW - immigration detention
KW - social cure
KW - social curse
KW - social identities
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85055719620&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ejsp.2543
DO - 10.1002/ejsp.2543
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85055719620
SN - 0046-2772
VL - 49
SP - 333
EP - 351
JO - European Journal of Social Psychology
JF - European Journal of Social Psychology
IS - 2
ER -
