Mental Health Care for Migrants in Italy: Ethnographic Studies on Encounter with "Others"

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K23133
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0104:Geography, cultural anthropology, folklore, and related fields
• Research Institution: Osaka University (2020-2021); Osaka City University (2019)
• Principal Investigator: Yayoshi Keiko 大阪大学, グローバルイニシアティブ機構, 招へい研究員 (30846027)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-08-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 他者性 / 移民 / 移住・移動 / 包摂 / イタリアの精神保健

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study inquired into how clinicians encounter migrants as "others" through fieldwork and literature review, by focusing on the clinicians intending to provide adequate mental health services to migrants in Italy. Three migrants' otherness, namely something latent, something difficult to interpret and something ambivalent for migrants are supposed to be paid particular attention in diagnosis and treatment, therefore reflections of the clinicians on how to take into consideration these migrants' otherness are examined. The findings showed that, to interpret properly and conserve the migrants' otherness, clinicians in Italy introduce a third person such as cultural mediator into the consulting room and try to make use of multiple theories including healing systems of migrant's homeland in a complementary manner.

Free Research Field

文化人類学、イタリア地域研究

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

移民の他者性に配慮したサービス提供が試みられる精神保健は、多様性を推進する社会の縮図へと転じている。イタリアの治療者たちが、移民の他者性の的確な解釈を試みながら、どのようにしてその維持も図ろうとしているのかを明らかにした本研究は、移民の同化なき包摂のひとつのあり方を提示するものである。また本研究は、他者理解をめぐる人類学的な議論にたいする治療者らの省察に着目し、実践家による人類学的知見の応用可能性を検討したことで、人類学的知見の深化に資するものともなっている。