Ambiguous Loss and Embodied Grief Related to Mexican Migrant Disappearances

In the context of research on the “thickening” of borders, Specters of Belonging raises the related question: How does transnational citizenship thicken across the political life cycle of Mexican migrants? In addressing this question, this book resembles what any good migration corrido (ballad) does—narrate the thickening of transnational citizenship from beginning, middle, to end. Specifically, Specters of Belonging traces Mexican migrant transnationalism across the migrant political life cycle, beginning with the “political baptism” (i.e., naturalization in the United States) and ending with repatriation to México after death. In doing so, the book illustrates how Mexican migrants enunciate, enact, and embody transnational citizenship in constant dialectical contestation with the state and institutions of citizenship on both sides of the U.S.-México border. Drawing on political ethnographies of citizenship classrooms, the first chapter examines how Mexican migrants enunciate transnational citizenship as they navigate the naturalization process in the United States and grapple with the contradictions of U.S. citizenship and its script of singular political loyalty. The middle chapter deploys transnational ethnography to analyze how Mexican migrants enact transnational citizenship within the clientelistic orbit of the Mexican state, focusing on a group of returned migrant politicians and transnational activists. Last, the final chapter turns to how Mexican migrants embody transnational citizenship by tracing the cross-border practice of repatriating the bodies of deceased Mexican migrants from the United States to their communities of origin in rural México.

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Ambiguous loss in the current migration crisis: A medico-legal, psychological, and psychiatric perspective

Forensic Science International: Mind and Law ◽

10.1016/j.fsiml.2021.100064 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 100064

Author(s):

Debora Mazzarelli ◽

Barbara Bertoglio ◽

Maria Boscacci ◽

Giulia Caccia ◽

Clara Ruffetta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ambiguous Loss ◽

Migration Crisis

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Narrating ambiguous loss: Deficiencies in narrative processing and negative appraisal of consequences

Journal of Clinical Psychology ◽

10.1002/jclp.23146 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Manxia Huang ◽

Tilmann Habermas

Keyword(s):

Ambiguous Loss ◽

Narrative Processing ◽

Negative Appraisal

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Traumatized Syrian Refugees with Ambiguous Loss: Predictors of Mental Distress

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18083865 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (8) ◽

pp. 3865

Author(s):

Anna Renner ◽

David Jäckle ◽

Michaela Nagl ◽

Anna Plexnies ◽

Susanne Röhr ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Traumatic Stress ◽

Ambiguous Loss ◽

Treatment Seeking ◽

Syrian Refugees ◽

Post Traumatic Stress ◽

Prolonged Grief ◽

Boundary Ambiguity ◽

Stress Symptoms ◽

Post Traumatic

Refugees from war zones often have missing significant others. A loss without confirmation is described as an ambiguous loss. This physical absence with simultaneous mental persistence can be accompanied by economic, social or legal problems, boundary ambiguity (i.e., uncertainty about who belongs to the family system), and can have a negative impact on mental health. The aim of this study was to identify sociodemographic and loss-related predictors for prolonged grief, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and somatization in treatment-seeking Syrian refugees with post-traumatic stress symptoms in Germany experiencing ambiguous loss. For the present study, data were based on the treatment-seeking baseline sample of the “Sanadak” randomized-controlled trial, analyzing a subsample of 47 Syrian refugees with post-traumatic stress symptoms in Germany experiencing ambiguous loss. Sociodemographic and loss-related questions were applied, along with standardized instruments for symptoms of prolonged grief (ICG), anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9), PTSD (PDS-5) and somatization (PHQ-15). Linear regression models were used to predict mental health outcomes. Having lost a close family member and higher boundary ambiguity showed a statistically significant association with higher severity in prolonged grief. The overall model for somatization reached statistical significance, while no predictor independently did. Boundary ambiguity showed a statistically significant positive association with depression, while the overall model showed no statistically significant associations. Boundary ambiguity and missing family members seemed to be important predictors for prolonged grief. These findings support the importance of reunification programs and suggest an inclusion of the topic into psychosocial support structures, e.g., including psychoeducational elements on boundary ambiguity in support groups for traumatized individuals and families experiencing ambiguous loss. Further research is needed for a more detailed understanding of the impact of ambiguous loss on refugee populations.

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