Doctoral Dissertation Research: Negotiating migration adversity and well-being

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

As migrants navigate public places, medical systems, and resettlement efforts in new cities, they often encounter discrimination, inadequate resources, and a lack of institutional services, which have been well-documented to have a syndemic effect with other underlying health issues. This doctoral dissertation research project examines how experiences of adversity relate to resilience and well-being in urban environments, and what resources are leveraged in responding to adversity. In addition to providing funding for the training of a graduate student in anthropology and biocultural data collection and analysis, this project measures the role that resilience and sentiments of belonging play in influencing experiences of adversity in multicultural and urban environments. The project enhances public understanding of science and the scientific method by engaging its research communities in the scientific research process and broadly disseminating its findings beyond academic venues. It also broadens the participation of underrepresented groups in science. Using multidisciplinary methods, this project investigates resilience and well-being by examining the behavioral context of migrant decision-making, focusing specifically on how issues related to health, livelihood, and time management are prioritized. This project asks two main questions: 1) how do migrants make sense of and negotiate experiences of adversity? and 2) how do spaces of community both succeed and fail to manage the effects of adversity? Methods include participant observation, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and mapping workshops to explore the relationship between resilience and adversity. Data will be coded around themes of belonging, histories of migration, experiences of city-life, migration trade-offs, ideas of community, and notions of well-being. By scientifically investigating how migrants negotiate adversity and resilience in their daily lives, this project will contribute to research on community, resilience, and well-being in urban areas. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.