Self-cartography within migrants and refugees: a tool for resilience?

Abstract

Purpose Meta-analyses indicate that migrants and refugees develop more mental health problems than the general population as a result of their exposure to armed conflict, violence and torture together with their experiences prior to, during and after resettlement. The purpose of this paper is to experience a tool that allows analysing how migrants and refugees represent the world and how they self-represent in the world. Design/methodology/approach The aim is to design a projective tool called “Self Cartography” to facilitate the production of migration stories, based on narratives. Findings The self-cartography tool revealed the psychological suffering generated by the brutality and violence of exile. The narratives about the pre-migratory phase appear to be more complex and more painful than the migratory and post-migratory phases. Research limitations/implications The preliminary interviews in the exploratory phase have raised certain methodological biases, such as the size of the map, which is currently in A2 format. It was described by some participants as being too large and a source of anxiety. Practical implications The purpose of this work is to conceptualise a standardised projective tool that can be used by researchers and professionals responsible for making therapeutic assessments and supporting individuals in migration situations. Social implications This tool aims to facilitate better social integration for migrants and refugees. Originality/value The self-cartography tool opens up the boundaries of narrativity in a geo-temporal space shared with the clinician. Using the world as a means to self-narrate can be thought of as an attempt to rewrite the collective and individual traumatic histories of our humanity.