Perspectives on Working with Immigrants Held in Detention Using Photovoice
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Perspectives on Working with Immigrants Held in Detention Using Photovoice Sarah A. MacLean 1 & Priscilla O. Agyeman 2 & Elizabeth K. Singer 1,3 & Kim A. Baranowski 1 & Craig L. Katz 1,4,5 Accepted: 11 October 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
Those who work with immigrants in detention centers may be at increased risk of secondary trauma. This study used Photovoice to capture reflections on how the lives of volunteers are affected by their work on behalf of immigrant family detainees. Participants were recruited over a two-month period in 2018 from amongst the volunteers of a non-governmental organization that provides legal services to the detainees at one immigration detention center. Participants submitted photos and captions that explored their experiences with their work. Thirteen volunteers consented to participate and submitted 44 photos with captions to the project. Major themes included emotional challenges of the work, frustrations with the U.S. government, comparison of their experiences to those of their clients’, and finding uplifting moments. Our findings regarding the significant emotional challenges of this work are of particular importance given the increasing coverage of immigration detention in the media and the increased interest in volunteer opportunities to support this population. Keywords Immigrant . Volunteer . Photovoice . Mental health
* Sarah A. MacLean [email protected]
1
Department of Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, USA
2
Graduate Program of Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 17 E. 102nd Street, New York, NY, USA
3
Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, USA
4
Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, USA
5
Department of Health System Design & Global Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, USA
Psychiatric Quarterly
Background Across the world, human displacement and migration are at record levels, with 70.8 million people forced to leave their homes due to conflict or persecution in 2018 [1]. In the United States, higher rates of immigration have been driven in large part by increases in the number of individuals and families from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, many of whom are seeking asylum due to human rights violations in their countries of origin [2–4]. Studies consistently demonstrate high rates of emotional distress among these migrants due to a variety of factors, including trauma experienced in their home countries and violence during migration [5, 6]. In particular, those held in immigration detention face high rates of deleterious mental health outcomes [7, 8]. Over the past 5 years, the U.S. has created more detention centers designed to hold women and children and thus has increased its capacity to detain immigrant famil
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