Abdelwahed Mekki-Berrada

Trauma and extended separation from family among Latin American and African refugees in Montreal.

Abstract Although the vast majority of refugees have suffered trauma and extended separation from their families in exile, little is known about the interactions between these two types of experience. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of data gathered from 113 refugees from Latin America and Africa suggest that the joint occurrence of trauma and separation has a significant impact on emotional distress and confirm that the family plays a key role as an anchor of emotion and identity.

Men’s Extramarital Sex, Marital Relationships and Sexual Risk in Urban Poor Communities in India

The objectives of this paper are to (1) understand the nature of men’s extramarital sexuality in three low income communities in Mumbai, India; (2) explore the associations between marital relationships and extramarital sex; and (3) assess the implications of the research results for intervention. Results are based on survey data collected from 2,408 randomly selected men from the three study communities and a matched subset of 260 randomly selected men and their wives who responded to a female version of the mens survey. These surveys produced a unique data set, which allows sociodemographic, attitudinal and behavioral variables from husband and wife and variables that are the product of husband and wife interaction to be utilized to predict mens extramarital sex through multiple sequential logistic regression analysis. Results indicate that mens extramarital sex is significantly associated with husbands and wifes age, wifes perception of domestic violence, husbands education and place of birth, husbands alcohol use, wifes willingness to engage in marital sex, and types of marital sexual acts. These results confirm the need to move from the individual to the couple as the unit of research and the need for intervention to reduce the risk of HIV/STI transmission within marriage both in India and internationally.

Research on Refugees Means of Transmitting Suffering and Forging Social Bonds

(2001). Research on Refugees. International Journal of Mental Health: Vol. 30, Trauma, Distrust, and Reconnection, pp. 41-57.

Impact of the Charter of Quebec Values on psychological well-being of francophone university students

This paper discusses results from a pilot study conducted in the spring of 2014 among young adults living in Montreal. The main objective of this study was to assess the relation between perception of the Charter of Quebec Values, 1 self-identification, perception of intercommunity relations, perceived discrimination, and psychological well-being in young students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs of a francophone university in Montreal. A total of 441 students (30.5% male, 69.5% female) took part in a web survey designed by the research team. The data analyses and results suggest that the debate around the Charter of Quebec values was associated with a shift from a predominantly positive perception of intercommunity relations to a predominantly negative one, particularly among women, immigrants, and those who self-identified as cultural or religious minorities. In addition, more than 30% of participants reported having experienced some form of ethnic or religious discrimination since the Charter was released (personally or as a witness). This was particularly the case among immigrants, as well as those who self-identified as bicultural or from cultural or religious minority groups. This study’s results thus highlight the exacerbation of intercommunity tensions linked to the public debate around identity and intercommunity relations in Quebec.

Traumatismes et séparations familiales prolongées chez les réfugiés du Congo-Kinshasa établis à Montréal

AbstractThe authors inquire into traumatic experiences of refugies who recently arrived in Montreal from the former Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. They look into both the trauma experienced before as well as after they settled in Montreal. Based on close exmination of some selected cases of men accepted into Canada as political refugees, the conclusion stresses the importance of the family in successfully overcoming the traumatic past.

Suicide as protest against social suffering in the Arab world

Since ancient times there has been a difference between suicide (an act of self-destruction) and self-immolation which, although self-destructive, has a sacrificial connotation. Self-immolation is associated with terrible physical pain (burning alive) and with the idea of courage. In modern times it

‘Ayn mika: Traumatic experience, social invisibility, and emotional distress of sub-Saharan women with precarious status in Morocco:

Morocco has become a permanent transit country for tens of thousands of sub-Saharan migrants heading to Europe. Many of these migrants are women who have a precarious legal status and can no longer reach Europe, whose borders have been considerably securitized since September 11, 2001. They also have no wish to risk their lives again returning south across the Sahara Desert. This paper discusses the results of an exploratory research project conducted in Morocco on the relationships between the sub-Saharan migrant women’s traumatic experiences, social invisibility, and emotional distress in the context of a massive securitization of Euro-Mediterranean borders.