Abstract
Interpretations of studies which show a correlation between migration and mental illness generally focus on sociocultural variables while giving scant attention to determinants of cognitive-personality orientations. This article examines childhood socialization practices as a key variable for comparing points of psychological stress between the traditional rural culture and the post-industrial urban culture. The hypothesis that harsh and restrictive childhood socialization practices foster the development of a cognitivepersonality orientation which increases the likelihood of maladaptive responses to culture change is illustrated by anthropological and psychological data obtained from Sicilians living in Sicily, the U.S.A. and Australia. Suggestions are given for minimizing the mental health risks involved during the critical transition period following migration.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, R. 1975 Leisure: An Inappropriate Concept for Women? Canberra: Australian Department of Tourism and Recration.
Bagley, Christopher 1968 Migration, race and mental health: A review of some recent research. RACE 9(3): 343–356.
Barnouw, Victor 1973 Culture and Personality. Homewood, Ill.: Dorsey Press.
Berry, John W. 1966 Temne and Eskimo perceptual skills. International Journal of Psychology I: 207–229.
Blackburn, R. 1972 Field dependence and personality structure in abnormal offenders. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology II(2): 175–177.
Bottenberg, E. H. 1971 Field Independence, Cattel's Personality Factors and Components of Self-Actualization. Schweizerische Zeitschrift Fur Psychologie unde Ihre Anwendungen 30(4): 312–319.
Bottoms, A. E. 1967 Delinquency amonst immigrants. RACE 8(4): 357–383.
Bowd, Alan 1975 The Relationship between perceptual egocentrism and field dependence in early childhood. Journal of Genetic Psychology 127(1): 63–69.
Breskin, S. and Gorman, B. 1969 On rigidity and field dependence. Perceptual and Motor Skills 29(2): 541–542.
Burrows, Graham 1978 Mental health services for ethnic communities: Alternatives. In Proceedings of the Ethnic Communities and Mental Health Seminar. (Held on June 24, 1977) Pp. 21–24. Melbourne, Australia: Good Neighbour Council in conjunction with the Ecumenical Migration Centre.
Campbell, Susan and Douglas, Virginia 1972 Cognitive styles and responses to the treat of frustration. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science 4(1): 30–42.
Cegalis, John and Young, Robert 1974 Effect of inversion induced conflict on field dependence. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 83(4): 373–379.
Chiu, Lian-Hwang 1972 Manifest anxiety in children with analytic and non-analytic cognitive style. Perceptual and Motor Skills 35(2): 406.
Covi, Lino 1975 Mental Disorders in Italian-Americans. Paper presented at Eighth Annual American-Italian Historical Association Conference, New York City, Queen College.
Cox, David 1976 Causes of Psychiatric Illness in Greek Immigrant Women in Australia. Melbourne, Australia: Ecumenical Migration Centre.
Cronin, Constance 1970 The Sting of Change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Danna, Josephine Jo 1974 An Anthropological Exploration of the Influence of a Sicilian Peasant Culture on Cognition. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms, No. A613267.
Danna, Josephine Jo 1979 Anthropology: Focus on Ethnic Studies. In Italian-American Ethnic Studies Curriculum. Albany, N.Y.: New York State Education Department.
Danziger, Kurt 1974 The acculturation of Italian immigrant girls in Canada. International Journal of Psychology 9(2): 129–137.
Dawson, John 1967 Cultural and physiological influences upon spatial perceptual processes in West Africa. International Journal of Psychology 2(2): 115–128.
Dershowitz, Zachary 1971 Jewish subcultural patterns and psychological differentiation. International Journal of Psychology 6(3): 223–231.
Doyle, James 1974 A study of the relationship between mental health, field dependence and attitudes toward the female's role. In Dissertation Abstracts International 35(I-B): 479.
Doyle, James 1976 Field dependent introverts, extraverts, and psychological health. Perceptual and Motor Skills 42(1): 196.
Dunkas, N. and Nikelly, G. 1972 The Persephone Syndrome: A study of conflict in the adaptive process of Greek female immigrants in the U.S.A. Social Psychiatry 7: 211–216.
Eisenstadt, S. and Ben-David, J. 1956 Intergenerational conflict in Israel. International Social Science Bulletin 8(1): 54–75.
Eisner, Donald 1972 Developmental relationships between field independence and fixity-mobility. Perceptual and Motor Skills 34(3): 767–770.
Elliott, R. 1961 Interrelationships among measures of field dependence, ability and personality traits. Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology 63: 27–36.
el Sendiony, M. F. 1975 The status of Egyptian women and psychoneurotic symptoms. International Mental Health Research Newsletter 17(3)
Fagan, Thomas and Schulman, Allen 1974 The effects of conceptual training on reversal shift performance of young children. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 4(1): 39–41.
Fried, Marc 1968 Effects of social change on mental health. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 34: 3–28.
Gaertner, Miriam 1955 A Comparison of Refugee and Non-Refugee Immigrants to New York City. In Flight and Resettlement. H. B. Murphy, ed. Pp. 99–112. Paris: UNESCO.
Galbally, Frank 1978 Migrant Services and Programs. Canberra: Australia Government Publishing Service.
Garai, Joseph and Scheinfeld, Amron 1968 Sex differences in mental and behavioral traits. Genetic Psychology Monographs 77: 169–299.
Goldstein, Kurt and Scheerer, Martin 1941 Abstract and Concrete Behaviour: An Experimental Study with Special Tests. Psychological Monographs 53(2).
Gorman, Bernard 1972 A multivariate study of the relationship of cognitive control and cognitive style principles to reported daily mood experiences. In Dissertation Abstracts International 32(7-B): 4211.
Harper, Jan and Lagmore, Rosemary 1976 The Social Context of Depression in Italian Migrant Housewives. Melbourne, Australia: Italian Assistance Association.
Hess, R. and Shipman, V. 1965 Early experiences and the socialization of cognitive modes in children. Child Development 36(4): 869–886.
Imam, Afzal 1975 Sex differences in field dependence. Pakistan Journal of Psychology 8(3–4): 69–78.
Joshi, Ram 1974 Field dependence, anxiety and personality. Perceptual and Motor Skills 38(3, pt. 2): 1328.
Juhasz, P. 1975 Social factors increasing pathogenic illness in a closed geographic community: A Village in Hungary. Annales Medico-Psychologiques 2(1): 117–123.
Kessell, Abraham 1978 The role of ethnic communities in prevention and treatment of mental illness. In Proceedings of Ethnic Communities and Mental Health Seminar (Held on June 24, 1977) Pp. 25–29. Melbourne, Australia: Good Neighbour Council of Victoria in conjunction with the Ecumenical Migration Centre.
Ko, Yung-Ho 1975 Student mental health in two differently industrialized cities. Acta Psychologica Taiwanica 17: 25–38.
Kovacs, M. L. and Cropley, A. J. 1975 Immigrants and Society: Alienation and Assimilation. Sydney: McGraw Hill.
Krupinsky, J., Schaechter, F. and Cade, J. 1965 Factors influencing the incidence of mental disorders among migrants. Medical Journal of Australia II(7): 265–277.
Lester, David 1976 The relationship between some dimensions of personality. Psychology 13(1): 58–60.
Levenson, Marvin 1974 Cognitive correlates of suicidal risk. In Psychological Assessment of Suicidal Risk. C. Neuringer, ed. Springfield, Ill.: Chas. C. Thomas.
Levenson, Marvin and Neuringer, C. 1974 Suicide and field dependence. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 5(2): 181–186.
LeVine, Robert; Klein, Nancy and Owen, Constance 1967 Father-child relationships and changing lifestyles in Ibadan, Nigeria. In The City in Modern Africa. Horace Miner, ed. New York: Frederick Praeger.
Loo, Robert and Cauthen, Nelson 1976 Anxiety and perceptual articulation. Perceptual and Motor Skills 43(2): 403–408.
Loo, Robert 1976 Field dependence and the Eysenck Personality Inventory. Perceptual and Motor Skills 43(2): 614.
Lynn, David 1969 Curvilinear relation between cognitive functioning and distance of child from parent of the same sex. Psychological Review 76(2): 236–240.
Masi, Fidelia 1975 The Italian-American Woman: Implications for Mental Health. Paper presented at the Eighth Annual American-Italian Historical Association conference, Pp. 153–158. New York, Queens College.
Mead, Margaret 1970 Culture and Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap. New York: Natural History Press.
Mebane, Donata and Johnson, Dale 1970 A Comparison of the performance of Mexican boys and girls on Witkin's cognitive tasks. Revista Interamericana de Psicologia 4(3–4): 227–239.
Morris, Louis and Shapiro, Arthur 1974 MMPI Scores for field dependent and field independent psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 42(3): 364–369.
Murphy, H. B. 1965 Migration and the major mental disorders. In Mobility and Mental Health. M. Kantor, ed. Pp. 5–29. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas.
Nedd, Albert and Gruenfeld, L. W. 1976 Field dependence-independence and social traditionalism: A comparison of ethnic subcultures of Trinidad. International Journal of Psychology II(1): 23–41.
Ohnmacht, Fred 1966 Effect of field independence and dogmatism on reversal and non-reversal shifts in concept formation. Perceptual and Motor Skills 22(2): 491–497.
O'Leary, M., Donovan, D. and Kasner, K. 1975 Shifts in perceptual differentiation and defense mechanisms in alcoholics. Journal of Clinical Psychology 31(3): 565–567.
Piaget, Jean 1962 Will and action. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic 26(3).
Ramirez, Mauel and Price-Williams, Douglas 1974 Cognitive styles in children: Two Mexican communities. Revista Interamericana de Psicologia 8(1–2): 93–101.
Ramirez, Mauel and Price-Williams, Douglas 1974 Cognitive styles of children of three ethnic groups in the United States. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 5(2): 212–219.
Rossi, Romolo 1971 Psychogenic aspects in the psychology of immigration. Archivo di Psicologia, Neurologia e Psichiatria 32(1–2): 103–115.
Sanua, V. 1970 Immigration, migration and mental illness: A review of the literature with special emphasis on schizophrenia. In Behaviour in New Environments: Adaptation of Migrant Populations. E. B. Brody, ed. Pp. 291–352. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Schaechter, Frieda 1962 A study of psychosis in female immigrants. Medical Journal of Australia September 22: 458–461.
Sherman, R. and Smith, F. 1967 Sex differences in cue-dependency as a function of socialized environment. Perceptual and Motor Skills 24(2): 599–602.
Shoham, Shlomo 1962 The application of the culture conflict hypothesis to the criminality of immigrants in Israel. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Political Science 53(2): 207–214.
Smith, T. V. 1971 Acculturation and field dependence among the Xhosa. Journal of Behavioural Science I(3): 121–123.
Spindler, George and Spindler, Louise 1957 American Indian personality types and their sociocultural roots. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 311.
Spindler, George and Spindler, Louise 1971 Dreamers Without Power: The Menomini Indians. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Stansell, V., Beutler, L., Neville, C. and Johnson, D. 1975 MMPI correlates of extreme field independence and field dependence in a psychiatric population. Perceptual and Motor Skills 40(2): 539–544.
Streuning, E., Rabkin, J. and Peck, H. 1970 Migration and ethnic membership in relation to social problems. In Behaviour in New Environments: Adaptation of Migrant Populations. E. B. Brody, ed. pp. 217–247. Beverley Hills: Sage.
Taylor, Janet 1978 Migrant children: Psychological effects of migration. In Proceedings of the Ethnic Communities and Mental Health Seminar (Held on June 24, 1977) pp. 9–15. Melbourne, Australia: Good Neighbour House in conjunction with the Ecumenical Migration Centre.
Vigeland, Kari 1973 Cognitive style among rural Norwegian children. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 14(4): 305–309.
Wardell, Douglas and Royce, J. R. 1975 Relationships between cognitive and temperament traits and the concept of style. Journal of Multivariate Experimental Personality and Clinical Psychology I(4): 244–266.
Witkin, Herman 1967 Cognitive style approach to cross-cultural research. International Journal of Psychology 2(4): 233–250.
Witkin, Herman et. al. 1974 Social conformity and psychological differentiation. International Journal of Psychology 9(l): 11–29.
Witkin, Herman et. al. 1977 Field dependent and field independent cognitive styles and their educational implications. Review of Educational Research 47(l): 1–64.
Wittkower, E. and Dubrevil, G. 1973 Psychocultural stress in relation to mental illness. Social science and Medicine 7(9): 691–704.
Wood, A. L. 1947 Minority group, criminality and cultural integration. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 37(6): 498–510.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Danna, J.J. Migration and mental illness: What role do traditional childhood socialization practices play?. Cult Med Psych 4, 25–42 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00051942
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00051942