Migration-related detention centers: the challenges of an ecological perspective with a focus on justice

Abstract

BackgroundIn recent years, border control and migration-related detention have become increasingly widespread practices affecting the lives of undocumented migrants, their families, and communities at large. In spite of the concern within academia, few studies have directly witnessed the life and experiences of people confined to migration-related detention centers. In the medical and psychological fields, a considerable body of research has demonstrated the pathogenic nature of detention in terms of mental health, showing an association between length of detention and severity of distress. Nevertheless, it was limited to the assessment of individuals’ clinical consequences, mainly focusing on asylum seekers. There currently exists a need to adopt an ecological perspective from which to study detained migrants’ experiences as context-dependent, and influenced by power inequalities. This paper addresses this gap.DiscussionDrawing upon advances in community psychology, we illustrate an ecological framework for the study of migration-related detention contexts, and their effects on the lives of detained migrants and all people exposed to them. Making use of existing literature, Kelly’s four principles (interdependence, cycling of resources, adaptation, succession) are analyzed at multiple ecological levels (personal, interpersonal, organizational, communal), highlighting implications for future research in this field. A focus on justice, as a key-dimension of analysis, is also discussed. Wellbeing is acknowledged as a multilevel, dynamic, and value-dependent phenomenon.SummaryIn presenting this alternative framework, the potential for studying migration-related detention through an ecological lens is highlighted, pointing the way for future fields of study. We argue that ecological multilevel analyses, conceptualized in terms of interdependent systems and with a focus on justice, can enhance the comprehension of the dynamics at play in migration-related detention centers, providing an effective tool to address the multi-level challenges of doing research within them. Furthermore, they can contribute to the development of policies and practices concerned with health, equality, and human rights of all people exposed to migration-related detention. Consistent with these assumptions, empirical studies adopting such a framework are strongly encouraged. These studies should use mixed and multi-method culturally situated designs, based on the development of collaborative and empowering relationships with participants. Ethnographic approaches are recommended.

Ecology of Sites of Confinement: Everyday Life in a Detention Center for Illegalized Non‐citizens

“…Brabeck, Porterfield, & Loughry, ), may have the side effect of medicalizing people's experiences, in addition to dehistoricizing, decontextualizing, and ultimately depoliticizing them. Moreover, this approach could lend support to the perception of medical care as the primary solution to detention (Esposito, Ornelas, & Arcidiacono, 2015b; Lykes, ; McGregor, ). Conversely, an ecological community psychology approach, focused on the structural forces and power relations in which individual lived experiences are embedded and the multiple meanings that protagonists construct from them, is well‐fitted for challenging a focus on victims’ pathologies in favor of one centered on people's historically contextualized and self‐critical “psychosocial praxis” (Lykes, , p. 775), thus contributing to struggles for justice and transformative change (Nelson, Kloos, & Ornelas, ).…”

“…Fieldnotes focused on (a) significant processes occurring in the detention setting, (b) interactions/conversations among various actors, (c) meaning making processes and processes of self‐understanding, (d) topics discussed, (e) daily activities/routines, (f) key events or occurrences, (g) physical/environmental characteristics, (h) sensory information, (i) the researcher's feelings, perceptions, and (self‐) reflections, and (l) any other relevant observations. The justice‐focused ecological framework that we developed at the beginning of our research (Esposito et al, 2015b), and, which was described in the introduction, also guided the data collection process.…”

“…This is the first academic study to be conducted at this site, and one of the few studies on life inside migration‐related detention in Italy (for other examples see Campesi, ; Iyengar et al., ). To analyze our findings, we adopt a previously developed ecological perspective with a focus on justice (Esposito et al, 2015b). The dimension of Justice, as conceptualized by Prilleltensky (), and Kelly's () principles of Interdependence, Cycling of Resources, Adaptation, and Succession are used to examine the everyday interactions and lived experiences of people in Ponte Galeria.…”

“…Second, we aim to elucidate the potential of the proposed analytical framework (Esposito et al, 2015b), as guided by community psychology's values and principles, and to encourage its use among those who are engaged in the study of detention worldwide. Such a framework provides an alternative to the individual‐centric perspectives that prevail in this area of psychological research.…”

Practicing ethnography in migration-related detention centers: A reflexive account

“…Over the years this mechanism has become stricter, increasingly affecting the lives of undocumented migrants, their family members, and communities at large (Esposito, Ornelas, & Arcidiacono, 2014).…”