Influence of Stress of Acculturation on Homosexual Immigrants.
Juan Carlos, Navarro-Barrios*,1, Anselmo, Canabate-Prados*,, Raquel, Morales-Andueza*,, Maria Luisa, Barrigon-Esteve, Manuel, Anguita-Romero*,, 1 Dept. of Psychiatry. University Hospital San Cecilio, Granada, SPAIN
ABSTRACT- A migrant is an individual who changes a place of residence for any purpose or for any period of time. Cultural differences between their original place of residence and the new place may be minimal or extreme, and may include religious, linguistic, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, and social differences. Migrants can be classified according to their reason for migration, the duration of migration or the mobility of migration. The duration of relocation, voluntary nature of migration and socio -demographic features (such as students or diplomats) may be important in understanding the impact of migration on an individual psychological functioning. ACCULTURATION is a cultural change,initiated by two or more cultural systems, whereby an individual selectively adopts cultural values from another culture (which tends to be dominant). In understanding the process of acculturation, various components have to be taken into account. These include identification, and cultural, structural, marital, civic, and receptional (prejudice or not prejudice) behaviour. Objective: To examine the probable factors of stress psycho-social in a small group of homosexual immigrants resident in Granada (South of Spain. 250.000 inhabitants). We interview 8 immigrants (7 males and 1 women), with ages between 18 and 28 years, and with less than 5 years of residence in Spain. We did constructed and standardized interviews (in spanish and in french) to all the partcipants in the group with questions related on the impact of your double condition (immigrant and homosexual) in the set of the spanish society. We asked on the perception of Hostility/Friendship inside the homosexual community of the city and your affectation on the labour or student role and the social relations, in general. Results: We find moderate levels of stress perceived as symptoms of Anxiety in the majority of subjects (Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale). Perception of Social Rejection and Hostility in four (4)subjects: 3 males from Morroco and 1 man of Colombia (depending of culture of origin and for your gay/lesbian condition). Conclusions: The discrimination for the Sexual Orientation can be a factor of additional stress in the immigrant homosexual. We defend the idea of to promete a state of mental and social health for all the persons, independently from your origin or your sexual orientation.
Key words: Homosexuality, Immigration, Sexual Discrimination