Social Networks of West African Forced Migrants

描述(申请人提供)：本R15建议的目的是(1)将社会网络分析(SNA)引入强迫移民的研究，(2)将强迫移民的网络与文化上可比较的自愿移民的网络进行比较，以及(3)衡量这些网络对生物行为结果的结构性影响(心理困扰和心血管测量)。尽管30年来对强迫移徙人口(难民、寻求庇护者)的研究表明，他们的特点是创伤后应激障碍、抑郁症和与创伤有关的身体疾病的发生率很高，而且这些健康问题与创伤的高暴露3有关，但健康结果的很大差异仍然无法解释。我们认为，这种无法解释的差异很大程度上可以用流离失所期间发生的社会生态破坏来解释。个人社交生态的核心是他们的社交网络。社交网络与土生土长的人口12的多种健康结果有关，对于移民人口寻求帮助尤为重要19-22。我们认为，社会网络在被迫移民期间受到了破坏，这种损害对被迫移民的心理和身体健康产生了可衡量的影响，而不仅仅是受到创伤的影响。为了在有意义的背景下恰当地描述被迫移民的网络，我们必须将他们的网络与同样移民并具有相似社会行为模式的个人网络进行比较。因此，我们建议研究强迫移民的社会网络，将他们与一个西非移民社区--富拉尼人--内的自愿移民网络进行比较。纽约市的富拉尼族社区的特点是有大量被迫移民和自愿移民，他们来自西非各国，该地区最近有广泛的政治冲突和外流历史。我们在纽约与富拉尼和其他西非社区进行的初步研究表明，像许多新移民一样，富拉尼社区中的个人和家庭在寻求帮助时更多地依赖社会网络，而不是官方公共卫生来源，被迫移民依赖的机构数量少于自愿移民，以支持其家庭需求。这里提出的研究是基础性的，因为它的目的是建立一个知识基础，在此基础上可以建立干预研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this R15 proposal is to (1) introduce social network analysis (SNA) into the study of forced migrants, (2) compare forced migrants' networks to culturally comparable voluntary migrants' networks, and (3) measure structural effects of these networks on biobehavioral outcomes (psychological distress and cardiovascular measures). Although 30 years of research on forced migrant populations (refugees, asylum seekers) has established that they are characterized by high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and trauma-related physical ailments and that these health problems are associated with high rates of exposure to trauma3, considerable variance in health outcomes remains unexplained. We propose that much of this unexplained variance is best accounted for by the social ecological damage that occurs during displacement5. Central to individuals' social ecologies are their social networks. Social networks have been linked to multiple health outcomes among native-born populations12, and are particularly important for help seeking among immigrant populations19-22. We propose that social networks are damaged during forced migration and that this damage has measureable effects on forced migrants' mental and physical well-being that goes beyond the effects of exposure to trauma alone. In order to appropriately describe forced migrants' networks within a meaningful context, we must compare their networks to networks of individuals who have also immigrated and have similar patterns of social behavior. We therefore propose to study the social networks of forced migrants by comparing them to networks of voluntary migrants within a single West African immigrant community - the Fulani. The Fulani ethnic community in New York City is characterized by substantial numbers of both forced and voluntary migrants, and hails from countries across West Africa, a region with a recent history of widespread political conflict and outmigration. Our preliminary studies with Fulani and other West African communities in New York has established that, like many new migrants, individuals and families within the Fulani community rely on social networks much more than on official public health sources when seeking help, and that forced migrants rely on a smaller number of institutions than voluntary migrants to support their families' needs. The research proposed here is foundational in that its purpose is to establish a base of knowledge upon which intervention research can be built.