Refugees, asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants and the experience of parenthood: a synthesis of the qualitative literature

Objective To synthesize the recent qualitative literature and identify the integrative themes describing the parenthood experiences of refugees, asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants. Methods We searched seven online databases for the period January 2006 to February 2017. We included English and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Globalization and health Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 75 - 17
Main Authors: Merry, Lisa, Pelaez, Sandra, Edwards, Nancy C.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London BioMed Central 19.09.2017
BioMed Central Ltd
Springer Nature B.V
BMC
Subjects:
Asylum-seekers
Children & youth
Clinical trials
Correlation analysis
Culture
Development Economics
Epidemiology
Families & family life
Family
Global governance and health
Health Services Research
Humans
Illegal immigrants
Immigration
International organizations
Keywords
Language
Longitudinal studies
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Migrants
Migration
Noncitizens
Norms
Parenthood
Parenting
Parenting - psychology
Parents
Parents & parenting
Political asylum
Public Health
Qualitative research
Quality of Life Research
Refugees
Resilience
Review
Social aspects
Social Policy
Studies
Transients and Migrants
Transnationalism
Trends
Undocumented
United States
Sub-Saharan Africa
Latin America
Parenting
Asylum-seekers
Parenthood
Migration
Parents
Transnationalism
Fathers
Refugees
Mothers
Undocumented
ISSN:1744-8603, 1744-8603
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Summary:Objective To synthesize the recent qualitative literature and identify the integrative themes describing the parenthood experiences of refugees, asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants. Methods We searched seven online databases for the period January 2006 to February 2017. We included English and French published peer-reviewed articles and graduate-level dissertations, which qualitatively examined the parenthood experiences of refugees, asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants. We summarized study characteristics and performed a thematic analysis across the studies. Results One hundred thirty eight studies met inclusion criteria. All but three were conducted in high-income countries, mainly in the US. Migrants studied were mostly undocumented from Latin America and refugees from Sub-Saharan Africa. Almost all studies (93%) included mothers; about half (47%) included fathers; very few (5%) included extended family members. We identified three integrative themes: 1) experiencing hardship and/or loss in the context of precarious migration and past traumas; 2) building resilience and strength by bridging language, norms and expectations; and 3) living transnationally: obligations, challenges and resources. Each theme contributed to shaping the parenthood experience; the transnationalism theme intersected with the themes on hardship and loss and resilience and strength. Conclusion More research is needed with fathers, extended family members, asylum-seekers and in the LMIC context. A transnational lens needs to be applied to programs, policies and future research for refugee, asylum-seeker and undocumented migrant parents. Addressing transnational concerns (family separation and reunification), acknowledging transnational resources, fostering a transnational family identity and conducting transnational and longitudinal studies are potentially pivotal approaches for this sub-population of parents.
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ISSN:1744-8603
1744-8603
DOI:10.1186/s12992-017-0299-4