Immigrant Experience and Its Psychological Toll Information Term Paper

Total Length: 3416 words ( 11 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 10

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Immigrant Experience

And Its Psychological Toll

Information Competency & Library Use

San Francisco, CA

The theoretical framework centers of the immigrant experience and how it changes the individual while navigating his or her new society. The topic statement seeks to explore these phenomena by focusing on the psychological experience and its relationship to violence and economics. The idea that the action of immigrating is profoundly disruptive on ideas of self-worth, identity and economic status are explored.

I address the various experiences of dislocation arising from migration. Distinctions are made between experiences of voluntary immigrants and refugees and asylum seekers and between legal and undocumented immigrants in their risk for trauma exposure and differential impacts of trauma in the context of immigration. Refugee status as inherently founded in trauma is analyzed, with a brief description of torture survivors among refugees. The issue of trafficked migrants is also discussed. What is core to cultural competence in work with immigrants is that the psychotherapist remain cognizant of how even the most dominant culture person experiences disruptions as a result of dislocation, no matter how voluntary, no matter how easily accomplished, and no matter how positive and successful the outcome; considering the impact of those dislocations on subsequent or prior trauma will enhance cultural competence in work with immigrants.

The researcher will examine holistic immigration experience and empathy via psychology and economics with related phenomenon such as PTSD and violence. The researcher will focus on examples of these relationships.

Search Strategy

The researcher initially discovered a significant amount of material derived from the general categories of psychology, culture studies and sociology. Each of these subjects presented vast material in their own right. I had initially thought it would be challenging to find specific material on the immigrant experience but instead found that there was extensive data available. The research challenge was locating material that reflected the interdisciplinary focus of the work. My strategy then was to combine keywords, for example immigrant and psychology to get more specific results.

In general, when constructing my annotated research list I followed the guideline below to formulate my search topics and modifying the results. This approach can be followed for nearly any search request, whether it be simple or complex. A basic search strategy can help keep things organized and maximize efficiency: a) Identify the important concepts of your search; b) Choose the keywords that describe these concepts; c) Determine whether there are synonyms, related terms, or other variations of the keywords that should be included; d) Determine which search features may apply, including truncation, proximity operators, Boolean operators, and so forth; e) Read the search instructions on the search engine's home page. Look for sections entitled "Help," "Advanced Search," "Frequently Asked Questions,"; f) Create a search expression, using syntax, which is appropriate for the search engine; g) Evaluate the results.

Stuck Writing Your "Immigrant Experience and Its Psychological Toll Information" Term Paper?

How many hits were returned? Were the results relevant to your query?; Modify your search if needed.

The books (Inclan, 2003 and Boutakidis, 2006) retrieved from the library database deal effectively with the immigrant experience, violence and psychotherapy. Both are ideal sources for research relating to my topic. The articles (Villeda, 2011; Ngyuen, 2007 and Consedine, 2007) were retrieved from Ebsco, Eric and PsycInfo respectively. Villeda (2011) focuses on the psychological toll of immigration and how it can be examined via a post traumatic stress disorder framework. Nguyen (2007) highlights the unique immigration experience of the Asian population and how issues of life stage and identity can help resolve conflict between the immigrant family and the larger community. Lastly, Consedine (2007) takes a psychological perspective on how ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic factors impact information sharing between clinicians and their immigrant patients and Berleant (2000) focused on the aesthetic experience of being an immigrant and how the psychological and emotional impact colors one's psychological profile. Beyond these sources, I wanted to extend my research into areas I am more unfamiliar with, such as economics, to strengthen the interdisciplinary foundation. Kandel (2011) looks at the economic challenges faced by Hispanic immigrants, while Hall (2010) wage disparities and legal issues faced by the community.

In short, these sources helped me in composing a comprehensive annotated bibliography. In constructing the list it was valuable to keep the purpose of annotation in mind. Each entry of an annotated bibliography must provide full bibliographical information as well as commentary about each source. An evaluative annotation includes an evaluation of the quality of the information; in answering the question of how successfully the author achieved what he/she set out to do. The key to a successful annotated bibliography is to be concise; since each entry's commentary is brief, you need to select the information carefully. Determine the source's central idea and be concise in conveying that information. This will require the ability both to determine what is central and to write about the ideas concisely and objectively.

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"Immigrant Experience And Its Psychological Toll Information" (2012, March 03) Retrieved April 27, 2024, from
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"Immigrant Experience And Its Psychological Toll Information" 03 March 2012. Web.27 April. 2024. <
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Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

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"Immigrant Experience And Its Psychological Toll Information", 03 March 2012, Accessed.27 April. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/immigrant-experience-psychological-toll-114374