Immigrant acculturation and mental health of Portuguese women living in South Africa

• Main Author: Pereira, Jennavive Lagoa
• Other Authors: Kruger, D. J.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Portuguese immigrants; Women; Acculturation; Mental health; Migration; Health psychology; Apartheid; English proficiency; Ecological model; Assimilation; 616.8900820968; Clinical health psychology > South Africa > Case studies; Women > Mental health > South Africa > Case studies; Portuguese > Mental health > South Africa > Case studies; Portuguese > Cultural assimilation > South Africa > Case studies
• Online Access: Pereira, Jennavive Lagoa (2017) Immigrant acculturation and mental health of Portuguese women living in South Africa, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/24144>; http://hdl.handle.net/10500/24144

This study aims to gain an understanding of the mental health and acculturative experiences of Portuguese women who immigrated to South Africa in the 1960s. A qualitative research design was utilised with semi-structured interviews to gain information from four Portuguese female immigrants. Thematic analysis reveals experiences of acculturative stress and a difficult assimilation process. The main difficulties were: poor proficiency in the host country’s local languages; availability of social and organisational support; access to medical services; and access to mental health services. These factors were linked to the occurrence of the mental health problems of: depression, isolation, and being actively discriminated against by the dominant Afrikaner community during the apartheid years. The respondents’ poor proficiency in English and their unwillingness to learn Afrikaans, combined with a fear of stigmatisation hampered their willingness to access psychological and mental health services. The negative factors were mitigated by the protective factors of: the traditional family structure, formal community organisations (societies and clubs), and the church. === Psychology === M.A. (Clinical Psychology)