Understanding and coping with immigration detention: Social identity as cure and curse

et al. 2019

Euro J Social Psych

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Food insecurity in developed countries has increased rapidly. Research has suggested that stigma may inhibit food‐aid help‐seeking, but has failed to determine how such barriers might be overcome. Adopting a social identity perspective, this study explored the processes involved in food‐aid helping transactions and sought to identify conditions that facilitate positive helping outcomes. Interviews were conducted with 18 clients and 12 volunteers at two English foodbanks, and a theoretically guided thematic analysis was conducted. Two primary themes were identified: ‘Here to Help’ and ‘The Legitimate Recipient’. This article offers a distinct and novel contribution by applying a social identity perspective to foodbank helping transactions, thereby demonstrating how group dynamics and behaviours are integral to these interactions, and by moving beyond the typical ‘Social Curse’ focus on barriers to help‐seeking to explore how such obstacles may be overcome. Suggestions for addressing stigma‐laden helping transactions and promoting successful delivery of aid are provided.

Section: The Social Curse Of Intergroup Helpingsupporting

confidence: 88%

‘Sometimes, it's not just about the food': The social identity dynamics of foodbank helping transactions

et al. 2019

Euro J Social Psych

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“…Even the availability of social support does not inevitably prevent Social Curse processes, as evidenced by Kellezi, Bowe, Wakefield, McNamara, and Bosworth's () work with immigrants in UK Immigration Removal Centres. Despite reporting high distress, some detainees did not want to share their negative experiences with family and friends for fear of upsetting them, which led to a lack of desperately needed social support.…”

Section: The Darker Side Of the Social Cure: Intra‐group Social Cursementioning

confidence: 99%

When groups help and when groups harm: Origins, developments, and future directions of the “Social Cure” perspective of group dynamics

Social & Personality Psych

et al. 2019

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A substantial literature supports the important role that social group memberships play in enhancing health. While the processes through which group memberships constitute a "Social Cure" are becoming increasingly well defined, the mechanisms through which these groups contribute to vulnerability and act as a "Social Curse" are less understood.We present an overview of the Social Cure literature and then go beyond this to show how the processes underpinning the health benefits of group membership can also negatively affect individuals through their absence. First, we provide an overview of early Social Cure research. We then describe later research concerning the potential health benefits of identifying with multiple groups, before moving on to consider the "darker side" of the Social Cure by exploring how intra-group dynamics can foster Curse processes. Finally, we synthesise evidence from both the Cure and Curse literatures to highlight the complex interplay between these phenomena and how they are influenced by both intra-and inter-group processes. We conclude by considering areas we deem vital for future investigation within the discipline.

“…Being a member of such a group has been shown to confer many benefits (see Wakefield, Bowe, Kellezi, McNamara, & Stevenson, 2019, for a review). In turn, these benefits have been shown to enhance health/well-being across numerous populations and contexts, from people with multiple sclerosis (Wakefield, Bickley, & Sani, 2013) and detainees (Kellezi, Bowe, Wakefield, McNamara, & Bosworth, 2019) to people recovering from stroke (Haslam et al, 2008) and new mothers (Seymour-Smith, Cruwys, Haslam, & Brodribb, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal associations between family identification, loneliness, depression, and sleep quality

British J Health Psychol

et al. 2019

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Objectives. The prevalence of depression and loneliness is increasing in Western nations, and both have been shown to cause poor sleep quality, with evidence suggesting that loneliness also predicts depression. The Social Cure perspective can shed light on these relationships and thus informs the present study. Specifically, it was hypothesized that the extent of participants' identification with a significant social group, their family, would positively predict sleep quality and that this relationship would be mediated by loneliness and depression. Design. A two-lave longitudinal online survey was used.Methods. Participants completed an online survey at T1 (N = 387) and 1 year later at T2 (N = 122) assessing the extent to which they identified with their family. Their loneliness, depressive symptomology, and sleep quality/insomnia severity were also measured.Results. Consistent with predictions, cross-sectional and longitudinal serial mediation models indicated that family identification was a negative predictor of loneliness, which in turn was a positive predictor of depression, which predicted poor sleep quality/insomnia.Conclusions. This is the first Social Cure study to explore the mediated relationship between social identification and sleep quality. As well as advancing the Social Cure perspective, these results have implications for how health professionals understand, prevent, and treat sleep problems. Statement of contributionWhat is already known on this subject?The prevalence of depression and loneliness is increasing in Western nations, and both have been shown to cause poor sleep quality. Weak social networks have been shown to predict restless sleep over time, and that depressed mood mediates this relationship.What does this study add? Family identification negatively predicted poor sleep quality cross-sectionally. Depression and loneliness positively predicted poor sleep quality over time.Depression and loneliness mediated the family identification-sleep quality relationship over time.