Religion, Migration and the New African Diaspora
A Psychological Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.21032Keywords:
identity, migration, new African diaspora, object relations theory, religion/spirituality, transitional processesAbstract
The new African diaspora has emerged from the recent migratory movements of Africans. This population is tasked with finding effective methods of adjusting to new environments. Through the psychoanalytic lens of object relations, this article explores the role of religion in shaping migration experiences of the new African diaspora. It considers the psychological processes that intersect with religion to influence migrant adjustment. First, drawing from object relations theory, the role of early relational experiences in shaping self-concept is conveyed. Second, ways are explored in which religious phenomena can support transitional processes within a migration context. Third, the object relations framework is used to review some of the psychological tasks involved in the migration experience (e.g., processing of attachment disruptions, expansion of cultural identity). It is theorized that a migrant’s relationship with the sacred represents a transitional phenomenon that contributes to positive adjustment via a post-migration experience. The article concludes with some practical considerations.
References
Abu-Raiya, Hisham, Kenneth I. Pargament, Neal Krause and Gail Ironson 2015 Robust Links between Religious/Spiritual Struggles, Psychological Distress, and Well-being in a National Sample of American Adults. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 85(6): 565–75. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000084
Aderibigbe, Ibigbolade S. 2015 Religious Traditions in Africa: An Overview of Origins, Basic Beliefs, and Practices. In Contemporary Perspectives on Religions in Africa and the African Diaspora, edited by Ibigbolade S. Aderibigbe and Carolyn M. J. Medine, 7–29. Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Adogame, Afeosemime U., and James V. Spickard (eds) 2010 Religion Crossing Boundaries: Transnational Religious and Social Dynamics in Africa and the New African Diaspora. Brill, Boston.
Ainsworth, Mary D. 1963 The Development of Infant-Mother Interaction among the Ganda. In Determinants of Infant Behavior II, edited by Brian M. Foss, 67–104. Methuen, London.
Attachments Beyond Infancy. The American Psychologist 44(4): 709–16. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.4.709
Akinade, Akintunde E. 2007 Non-Western Christianity in the Western World: African Immigrant Churches in the Diaspora. In African Immigrant Religions in America, edited by Jacob K. Olupona and Regina Gemignani, 89–101. New York University Press, New York.
Alex-Assensoh, Yvette 2009 African Immigrants and African-Americans: An Analysis of Voluntary African Immigration and the Evolution of Black Ethnic Politics in America. African and Asian Studies 8(1–2): 89–124. https://doi.org/10.1163/156921009X413171
Asamoah-Gyadu, Johnson K. 2014 Faith, an Alien and Narrow Path of Christian Ethics in Migration. Exchange 43(1): 68–88. https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543X-12341303
Barrett, Justin L. 2000 Exploring the Natural Foundations of Religion. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 4(1): 29–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(99)01419-9
Beaman, Jean 2017 Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Bongmba, Elias, K. 2007 Portable Faith: The Global Mission of African Initiated Churches. In African Immigrant Religions in America, edited by Jacob K. Olupona and Regina Gemignani, 102–32. New York University Press, New York.
Bowlby, John 1988 A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. Basic Books, New York.
Bradshaw, Matt, Christopher G. Ellison and Jack P. Marcum 2010 Attachment to God, Images of God, and Psychological Distress in a Nationwide Sample of Presbyterians. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 20(2): 130–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508611003608049
Bretherton, Inge 1985 Attachment Theory: Retrospect and Prospect. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 50(1–2): 3–35. https://doi.org/10.2307/3333824
Bryce-Laporte, Roy Simon 1972 Black Immigrants: The Experience of Invisibility and Inequality. Journal of Black Studies 3(1): 29–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/002193477200300103
Chao, Melody M., Franki Y. H. Kung and Donna Jingdan Yao 2015 Understanding the Divergent Effects of Multicultural Exposure. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 47: 78–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.03.032
Clark, Msia Kibona 2008 Identity among First and Second Generation African Immigrants in the United States. African Identities 6(2): 169–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/14725840801933999
Conroy, Grace P. 2016 Migration Trauma, Culture, and Finding the Psychological Home Within: Views from British Object Relations Theory. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham.
Counted, Victor 2016 Making Sense of Place Attachment: Towards a Holistic Understanding of People-Place Relationships and Experiences. Environment, Space, Place 8(1): 7–32. https://doi.org/10.5840/esplace2016811
Attachment Theory and Religious Violence: Theorizing Adult Religious Psychopathology. Journal for the Study of Religion 30(1): 78–109. https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3027/2017/v30n1a4
The Circle of Place Spirituality (CoPS): Towards an Attachment and Exploration Motivational Systems Approach in the Psychology of Religion. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion 29: 149–78.
a The Role of Spirituality in Promoting Sense of Place among Foreigners of African Background in the Netherlands. Ecopsychology 11(2): 101–109. https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2018.0070
b African Christian Diaspora Religion and/or Spirituality: A Concept Analysis and Reinterpretation. Critical Research on Religion 7(1): 58–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/2050303218823258
Migrants and the Bond with God: Attachment and Survival are Linked. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/migrants-and-the-bond-with-god-attachment-and-survival-are-linked-128873 (accessed 16 November 2020).
Counted, Victor, and Hetty Zock 2019 Place Spirituality: An Attachment Perspective. Archive for the Psychology of Religion 41(1): 12–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/0084672419833448
Counted, Victor, Megan A. Neff, Laura Captari and Richard G. Cowden 2020 Transcending Place Attachment Disruptions during a Public Health Crisis: Spiritual Struggles, Resilience, and Transformation. Journal of Psychology and Christianity 39(4): 276–87.
Counted, Victor, Adam Possamai, Cameron McAuliffe and Tanya Meade 2020 Attachment to Australia, Attachment to God, and Quality of Life Outcomes among African Christian Diasporas in New South Wales: A Cross-sectional Study. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health 22(1): 65–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2018.1499165
Cowden, Richard G., Victor Counted and M. Y. Ho In press. Positive Psychology and Religion/Spirituality across Cultures in Africa, Asia, and Oceania. In Handbook of Positive Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality, edited by E. B. Davis, E. L. Worthington, Jr. and S. A. Schnitker. Springer, New York.
Davis, Edward. B., Glendon L. Moriarty and Joseph C. Mauch 2013 God Images and God Concepts: Definitions, Development, and Dynamics. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 5(1): 51–60. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029289
Egharevba, Stephen 2006 Do African Immigrants in Turku Experience More Racist Harassment in Finland? A Victim-oriented-approach. International Review of Victimology 13(1): 71–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/026975800601300104
Eriksen, Stian S., Tomas S. Drønen and Ingrid Løland 2019 African Migrant Christianities—Delocalization or Relocalization of Identities? In Faith in African Lived Christianity, edited by Karen Lauterbach and Mika Vähäkangas, 227–48. Brill, Leiden.
Fairbairn, W. Ronald Dodds 1952 Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality. Routledge, London.
Flahaux, Marie-Laurence, and Hein De Haas 2016 African Migration: Trends, Patterns, Drivers. Comparative Migration Studies 4(1): 1–25.
Garzon, Fernando 2007 A Neuroscientific Approach and the God Image. In God Image Handbook, edited by Glendon L. Moriarty and Louis Hoffman, 139–55. Haworth Pastoral Press, Binghamton, NY.
Granqvist, Pehr 2020 Attachment in Religion and Spirituality: A Wider View. Guilford Publications, New York.
Greenberg, Jay R., and Stephen A. Mitchell 1983 Object Relations and Psychoanalytic Theory. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Hamilton, Gregory N. 1988 Self and Others: Object Relations Theory in Practice. Jason Aronson Inc., Northvale, NJ.
Hoffman, Louis 2007 Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy and God Image. In God Image Handbook, edited by Glendon L. Moriarty and Louis Hoffman, 105–137. Haworth Pastoral Press, Binghamton, NY.
Hong, Ying-yi, Mark Khei, Adrián García-Sierra, Hanna Zagefka, Chi-yue Chiu, Fiona Lee, Seth J. Schwartz, Vivian Vignoles, Qiu Lin, Mary Yoko Brannen, Nairán Ramírez-Esparza, Verónica Benet-Martínez, Rupert Brown, Chi-Ying Cheng, David L. Sam, John W. Berry, Que-Lam Huynh and Angela K. Y. Leung 2014 Dynamic Multiculturalism: The Interplay of Socio-cognitive, Neural and Genetic Mechanisms. In The Oxford Handbook of Multicultural Identity, edited by Verónica Benet-Martinez and Ying-yi Hong, 11–34. Oxford University Press, New York.
Idemudia, E., and K. Boehnke 2020 Psychosocial Experiences of African Migrants in Six European Countries: A Mixed Method Study. Springer Nature, Cham.
Jenkins, Nicole Dezrea 2019 Contested Identities: African Diaspora and Identity Making in a Hair Braiding Salon. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 48(6): 806–835. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241619829210
Johnson, Todd M., and Gina A. Zurlo 2020 World Christian Encyclopedia. 3rd edn. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Jones, James William 1991 Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Religion: Transference and Transcendence. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Religion and Psychology in Transition: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and Theology. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Psychodynamic Theories of the Evolution of the God Image. In God Image Handbook, edited by Glendon L. Moriarty and Louis Hoffman, 33–55. Haworth Pastoral Press, Binghamton, NY.
Playing and Believing: The Uses of D.W. Winnicott in the Psychology of Religion. In Religion, Society, and Psychoanalysis, edited by Janet Liebman Jacobs and Donald Capps, 106–126. Routledge, New York.
Kalu, Ogbu U. 2007 The Andrew Syndrome: Models in Understanding Nigerian Diaspora. In African Immigrant Religions in America, edited by Jacob K. Olupona and Regina Gemignani, 61–88. New York University Press, New York.
Keefer, Lucas A., Mark J. Landau and Daniel Sullivan 2014 Non-human Support: Broadening the Scope of Attachment Theory. Social and Personality Psychology Compass 8(9): 524–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12129
Kirkpatrick, Lee A., and Phillip Shaver 1990 Attachment Theory and Religion: Childhood Attachments, Religious Beliefs, and Conversion. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 29(3): 315–34. https://doi.org/10.2307/1386461
Kobak, Roger, Kristyn Zajac and Stephanie D. Madsen 2016 Attachment Disruptions, Reparative Processes, and Psychopathology. In Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications, edited by Phillip R. Shaver and Cassidy Jude, 25–39. Guilford Press, New York.
Lauterbach, Karen, and Mika Vähäkangas 2019 Faith in African Lived Christianity: Bridging Anthropological and Theological Perspectives. Brill, Leiden.
McClendon, David 2017 Sub-Saharan Africa Will be Home to Growing Shares of the World’s Christians and Muslims. Pew Research Center. Online: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/19/sub-saharan-africa-will-be-home-to-growing-shares-of-the-worlds-christians-and-muslims/
Meissner, William W. 1986 Psychoanalysis and Religious Experience. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Moriarty, Glendon L. 2007 Time Limited Dynamic Psychotherapy and God Image. In God Image Handbook, edited by Glendon L. Moriarty and Louis Hoffman, 79–104. Haworth Pastoral Press, Binghamton, NY.
Nnamani, Amuluche-Greg 2015 The Flow of African Spirituality into World Christianity. Mission Studies 32(3): 331–52. https://doi.org/10.1163/15733831-12341413
Obinna, Elijah 2013 Navigating the Diaspora in an Edinburgh Christian Group. Black Theology 11(1): 117–36. https://doi.org/10.1179/17431670X13A.0000000006
Ogden, Thomas H. 2004 On Holding and Containing, Being and Dreaming. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 85(6): 1349–64. https://doi.org/10.1516/T41H-DGUX-9JY4-GQC7
Destruction Reconceived: On Winnicott’s ‘The Use of an Object and Relating through Identifications’. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 97(5): 1243–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-8315.12554
Okpewho, Isidore, and Nkiru Nzegwu (eds) 2009 The New African Diaspora. Indiana University Press, Indianapolis.
Olupona, Jacob K. 2007 Communities of Believers: Exploring African Immigrant Religion in the United States. In African Immigrant Religions in America, edited by Jacob K. Olupona and Regina Gemignani, 27–46. New York University Press, New York.
Pew Research Center 2012 The Global Religious Landscape: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World’s Major Religious Groups as of 2010. Pew Research Center.https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf
Pietromonaco, Paula R., and Lisa Feldman Barrett 2000 The Internal Working Models Concept: What Do We Really Know about the Self in Relation to Others? Review of General Psychology 4(2): 155–75. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.4.2.155
Rizzuto, Ana-Maria 1979 The Birth of the Living God. Chicago University Press, Chicago.
Roland, Alan 1988 In Search of Self in India and Japan: Toward a Cross-cultural Psychology. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Rotimi, Charles N., Fasil Tekola-Ayele, Jennifer L. Baker and Daniel Shriner 2016 The African Diaspora: History, Adaptation and Health. Current Opinion in Genetics & Development 41: 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gde.2016.08.005
Sangalang, Cindy C., David Becerra, Felicia M. Mitchell, Stephanie Lechuga-Peña, Kristina Lopez and Isok Kim 2019 Trauma, Post-migration Stress, and Mental Health: A Comparative Analysis of Refugees and Immigrants in the United States. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 21(5): 909–919. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0826-2
Son, Angella 2015 Making a Great Man, Moses: Sustenance and Augmentation of the Self through God as Selfobject. Pastoral Psychology 64(5): 751–68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-015-0666-0
Smith, Candis Watts 2014 Black Mosaic: The Politics of Black Pan-ethnic Diversity. New York Press, New York.
Streeck-Fischer, Annette 2015 Identity Formation Difficulties in Immigrant Adolescents: Three Cases from Germany. American Journal of Psychoanalysis 75(4): 438–53. https://doi.org/10.1057/ajp.2015.43
Wilson, Laurie 2015 Thoughts on ‘Cultural Experience and its Location’. In Playing and Reality Revisited: A New Look at Winnicott’s Classic Work, edited by Gennaro Saragnano and Christian Seulin, 145–56. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon; New York.
Winnicott, Donald W. 1953 Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomenon: A Study of the First Not-me Possession. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 34: 89–97.
A Clinical Study of the Effect of a Failure of the Average Expectable Environment on a Child’s Mental Functioning. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 46: 81–87.
Playing and Reality. Burns & Oates, London.
Wright, Bradley R. E., Dina Giovanelli, Emily G. Dolan and Mark E. Edwards 2011 Explaining Deconversion from Christianity: A Study of Online Narratives. Journal of Religion and Society 13: 1–17.
Yap, Wei-Jie, Bobby Cheon, Ying-yi Hong and George I. Christopoulos 2019 Cultural Attachment: From Behaviour to Computational Neuroscience. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 13: 209.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Equinox Publishing Ltd.
