The fear of immigrants.

Abstract

The presence and growing visibility of racial minority immigrants in the United States and across the globe has triggered a sense of collective anxiety, where dissociative defenses maintain emotional distance and identification with groups perceived to be threatening. Fringe movements and mainstream political parties have framed immigrants and refugees as the major cause of unemployment, crime, and a threat to their cultural and social fabric. Recent policies in the United States, such as those resulting in heightened policing of Black and Brown people and deportation of undocumented immigrants and separation of children from parents, have made explicit the connection between racism and xenophobia. These macrolevel policies and the broader xenophobic and racist sociopolitical climate in which they are implemented have important implications for intrapsychic life and interpersonal relationships. This paper explores psychoanalytic perspectives on the roots of xenophobia, racialized defenses, and their implications for the experiences of racial minority immigrants in the United States. The paper further addresses how the fear of immigrants reflects anxiety in multiple dimensions, involving not only fears of the receiving context or the host country, but also the xenophobia that immigrants carry with them from their countries of origin. The implications of xenophobia and racism are explored in the context of the therapeutic relationship, where the client and the therapist engage in difficult and emotionally charged ways with respect to the current sociopolitical climate. Clinical examples are provided to illustrate transference and countertransference dynamics, and related dilemmas centered on xenophobia and racism that arise in psychoanalytic psychotherapy.

Sense of belonging, international migrants’ spending, and implications for their subjective well‐being

“…With the rising levels of anti‐immigration rhetoric in the public and the media and recent gains by anti‐immigration political parties in many countries, international migrants’ SWB has become a matter of more intensive and urgent concern (Ford‐Paz et al., 2020; Thomas, 2020; Tummala‐Narra, 2020). Our studies demonstrate that coping with psychological threats such as a lack of a sense of belonging in the host country makes international migrants spend money suboptimally: more on material purchases but less on experiential and prosocial purchases.…”

“…Sense of belonging reflects a feeling of acceptance and inclusion by a certain group (Macmillan & Chavis, 1986). Conversely, the lack of a sense of belonging reflects international migrants’ feelings that they are socially excluded in receiving countries (Bursztyn et al., 2020; Ford‐Paz et al., 2020; Thomas, 2020; Tummala‐Narra, 2020). This undermines their need for relatedness; that is, their feelings of connecting securely to the host country.…”

Psychoanalytic theory in psychotherapy.

“…Several scholars have described the ways in which racial and ethnic stereotypes and images are internalized and contribute to images of self and other, encompassing affective experiences of goodness and badness, competence and incompetence, superiority and inferiority, and hypersexualization and desexualization (Eng & Han, 2000;Gherovici & Christian, 2019;Holmes, 2016;Tummala-Narra, 2016). Broader societal dynamics and conflicts related to race can be enacted in the therapeutic relationship as the therapist and the client interact with each other in ways that reflect their unconscious thoughts, feelings, and experiences related to stereotyping, racism, privilege, and marginalization (Fors, 2018;Holmes, 2016;Tummala-Narra, 2020;Yi, 2014).…”

“…The negotiation of sociocultural identity is further complicated by experiences of trauma and marginalization both within and outside of one's family and community (Tummala-Narra, 2016;Yi, 2014). More recently, the impacts of political climate and ongoing harassment of and violence against racial minorities on sense of self, relationships, and psychological well-being, and on interactions between the client and therapist, have also been explored (Powell, 2018;Tummala-Narra, 2020;Vaughans & Harris, 2016).…”

Perception of hate speech by the public and experts: Insights into predictors of perceived hate speech toward migrants

“…Despite extensive social and psychological research into hate, prejudice, and stereotypes, we still know little about the underlying psycho-social processes that may contribute to hateful and offensive behavior. 1,2 The psychological research studies focus primarily on cyberbullying and victimization [3][4][5][6] , the psychological and motivational profile of the hate speech producers/emitters 7,8 and the role of hate speech in politics, political radicalism, and extremism. 9,10 Very little is known about the perception (i.e., how the comment is evaluated by the person) information important for studies focusing on (still not very effective, see e.g.…”