In the last wave of displacement due to natural disasters, depletion of resources and wars, many migrants had to adjust to a new location in a new land, in a new home (see figure 8). The shift of one’s home can have a traumatic effect and can bring up Transgenerational Trauma (TG as a lack of sense of home for many generations (Bogaç, 2009). One’s ancestral decision can mean that a child is born without the support of the community, ancestral culture, religion and people that look like them can lack life satisfaction and well-being. Knowing that place attachment is connected to a sense of wellbeing, it makes sense to assist migrants in achieving a successful emplacement (Scannell & Gifford, 2017). Even though art therapy and art-based research have been around for many years, there has been a natural movement of research towards the inclusion of art and digital storytelling when studying migrants and their descendants as an outlet in expressing one’s culture and lack or sense of belonging (Anguluan-Coger, 2013; Kale, 2019). By using the arts and digital storytelling, researchers from all over the world were able to gather non-verbal information as well as the story that the participant wanted to tell, versus what the researcher wanted to analyze (Lennete et al., 2019; Vacchelli, 2018). In this way, there is an overlap of research and research with a therapeutic side effect.
Goodman and West-Olatunji (2008) demonstrated how TGT complicates trauma treatment in a study with refugees from New Orleans, displaced from their homes following Hurricane Katrina. In a case study of using psychoeducation of TGT to support resilience, the authors wrote about protective factors, including identity, family support, and socioeconomic status. The authors described work with a 41-year-old white male one year after Hurricane Katrina. By remembering the stories from his parents, who survived past floods, the man, who lived alone, was able to remember his resilient ancestral stories. He used the memory of his resilient lineage to come out of isolation and work with other co-workers to rebuild homes. Researchers speculated that TGT assessment and education focusing on ancestral coping skills and community building could help other survivors of collective trauma. This case study seems to illustrate how addressing TGT could facilitate healing trauma and achieving PTG.
When a population is dislocated due to war, or a natural disaster or terrorist attack destroys one’s home, there is a traumatic loss and a need to move to a new home. Bogaç’s (2009) research showed how just time did not seem to affect place attachment and adaptation to a new place, but that hope for the future was an important component in feeling rooted in a new environment. In his study, issues of discrimination and the potential threat of being forced out of residence caused resistance to successful resettlement for the first and second generation of migrants. Bogaç (2009) researched transgenerational place attachment in two generations of inhabitants that were originally from Paphos, Southern Cyprus, relocated to the Northern part of Cyprus. Bogaç (2009) used 60 minutes semi-structured interviews in 2006, questionnaires and drawings of home to compare place attachment of refugees with their children, who were born and grew up in the new community (nrefugees= 40, age range: 49-82; n2G = 20; age range 18 -32). For a month, Bogaç (2009) sought information on how participants felt about living in the residence and neighborhood. Two types of questionnaires were administered in 44 homes, one was an open-ended questionnaire, and the other a Likert scale. Results indicated that expectations of the future and experience of the past shaped the participants’ place attachment to current residency. Longer exposure and a clearer theme thick description might have helped strengthen the credibility of the study. The triangulation between the Likert questionnaire, open question interview, and drawing of an ideal home was a good design and strengthen the validity of the findings (Bogaç, 2009).
Anguluan-Coger’s (2013) art-based research (ABR) dissertation explored her own ancestral Filipino cultural legacy, in search of answers while her American son struggled to adapt to college life. Kapwa is a term that means being weaved together in the Filipino culture was used in order to develop a methodology that involved the arts and healing for research. In this study, Anguluan-Coger (2013) began by instructing her participants on the use of oral tradition and cultural art forms including symbols from their Filipino homeland, and adopted American land. Second, individuals were encouraged to tell their own stories using indigenous art form symbols in order to achieve a sense of Kapwa or togetherness, where one is inseparable from the other in an intuitive collective communion. By studying indigenous Filipino epistemology, Anguluan-Coger (2013) found storytelling as a way of knowledge and empowered cultural identity, unlocking creativity and social well-being. Anguluan-Coger (2013) wrote that her participants’ first group of masks represented the feeling of oppression and the second of liberation and decolonization. The stories were told while sitting on a mat, which was also a symbol from the Filipino culture that represented the weaving of all as one internal collective. This dissertation seemed to border information on the experience of the Filipino migrant experience in the USA as well as a sense of healing through participating in the process of the study. This study offered a clear openness of our own culture, history, and bias to investigate this subject. However, its clarity and detailed description of its intention, process, and meaning-making from its findings were credible and trustworthy.
Albert-Proos’s (2015) research focused on the experience of immigrant expressive art therapists’ separation from and reconstruction of their sense of home. Albert-Proos wrote about home as a place where no one questioned their right to be there, as well as “a place of belonging that points to your history, your past, an archive of sorts that metaphorically documents a lineage, that marks you as non-alien” (Albert-Proos, 2015, p. 23). Albert-Proos continued her research by investigating the theme of home through shadow-theater, masks, filmmaking, and movement. Her main question was “How do immigrant expressive therapists conceive separation from and reconstruction of home for themselves and for their clients?” (p. 62). Through 10 semi-structured interviews and art she interviewed expressive art therapists that had at least two years of study. She found that through art, an immigrant could begin to integrate both homes and identities, as well as express the experiences of separation and reconstruction. Another of her findings demonstrated how a familiar art form and unfamiliar art form could evoke feelings of either home or estrangement respectively. Feeling at home in the arts can be something very personal as it depends on how at home one feels with different modalities. The concept of home included “physical, emotional, metaphorical states that are all connected” (Albert-Proos, 2015, p.140). This study clarified how migrant therapists working the arts helped them heal their sense of displacement as well as facilitate others to do the same.
A study showing a resilient outcome described Somali Bantu women as a group whose history went back 200 years when they were taken from Tanzania and Mozambique as slaves to Somalia (Coughlan & Hermes, 2016). No longer, slaves, they remained marginalized, without political or education rights. In 1991, when the government was disintegrated, thousands walked to the south towards the Kenyan border, where eventually in refugee camps they continued their marginalized status (1991-2002). As Mozambique and Tanzania did not accept them back, the United States granted them refugee asylum. Coughlan and Hermes (2016) interviewed 22 women now residing in New York State (2003-2005) participating in their community garden through a semi-structured questionnaire about their “attachment to place, meaning-making and emplacement” (p. 146). Coughlan and Hermes (2016) provided photos to elicit a sense of attachment to the three locations they have lived in the last two decades. Meaning-making through “emplacement” was seen through participant’s home decorations, posters of favorite places, and “the walls and ceilings were adorned with textiles or tapestries and the floors were covered with multiple carpets” (p. 146). In terms of place attachment, gardening was reported as a way to connect with memories of their farms in Somalia and the health and mental health benefits they felt from being in a “green place and gardens” (p. 146). The interviews revealed themes of forced displacement and disruption of place attachment and working in the garden as a way to stay connected to Somalia and stimulate memories of Africa, which emphasized: “the importance of placemaking to the successful negotiation of displacement” (p. 150). Because all participants were involved in the community garden project, the authors wondered if this feeling of placemaking through working in the garden might be limited to this group (Coughlan & Hermes, 2016). Nevertheless, the authors disputed the claims that most ethnic displaced people suffer from “nostalgia, disorientation, and alienation,” as this study showed a different outcome (p. 152). In this study, both emplacement and connection to nature through gardening supported resilience and flexibility to adapt. These results are similar to findings of resilience on 2G of Holocaust survivors who grew up in a family that used characteristics of emplacement versus marginalization of own culture (Braga et al., 2012).
In a time of massive exodus and migration, refugees and immigrants represent a critical population that needs further attention. Aimed at understanding their experiences, Goodman et al. (2017) used a phenomenological approach to conduct semi-structured interviews with undocumented immigrant and refugee women (n = 19, Mage = 35.6) who were recruited through social services and a nongovernmental organization. All participants met the federal poverty threshold. Interviews were conducted within the context of prolonged engagement over 6 months in the women’s communities and homes. Four themes emerged, including (a) experiences of trauma (related to socio-political context, trauma during the journey, and post immigration trauma, already in the United States); (b) structural and situational stressors (related to family separation and issues with jobs, money, and stress); (c) psychological symptomatology (including depression, PTSD and suicidology); and (d) process of resistance, resilience and coping skills dealing with internal (uncertainty) and external (environment and community) stressors (Goodman et al., 2017). There was a similarity of stressors for both undocumented immigrants and refugees, even if refugees received eight months of support from the government. Authors recommended that therapists take cultural competency training and incorporate “an understanding of systemic factors, adhering to individual and/or cultural beliefs and values, and addressing common and unique psychological outcomes” (Goodman et al., 2017, p. 319).
Looking into the validity of place attachment in relation to well-being, Scannell and Gifford’s (2017) study focused on the experiences of place attachment in relation to psychological gains by asking community members to describe places to which they felt attached. Using Mechanical Turk (MTurk) website hosted by Amazon .com, 97 Canadian residents with ages ranging from 18 to 53 years old (nmales =43, nfemales = 49, nunspecified = 5) filled up an online questionnaire. By using an inductive approach, 13 codes were named: “memories, belonging, relaxation, positive emotions, activity support, comfort-security, personal growth, freedom, entertainment, connection to nature, practical benefits, privacy, and aesthetics” (Scannell and Gifford, 2017, p. 256). The highest percent of responses involved memories (69%), belonging (54%), and relaxation (49%). Through memories, participants reported being able to connect with one’s past, ancestry and family history. The sense of belonging was reported through family roots and a sense of origin. Relaxation was reported through a place of stress relief. Other themes, such as positive emotions (38%), were reported less prevalent. The overall interrater agreement was 92.9%, with a kappa reliability of .090 (Scannell & Gifford, 2017). Knowing that place attachment shows benefits such as creating memories of belonging and relaxation, it is crucial to help migrants and refugees develop place attachment as a path to feel environmental support and therefore create resilience to their experience for their offspring. Researching successful resettlement could be a path to avoiding rootlessness in TGT, and therefore understanding place attachment as an important element for resilience in vulnerable populations.
` Another study with migrants in London used digital storytelling (DST) as a methodology to understand the experience of their journey. Vacchelli (2018) and co-researcher Magali Peyrefitte co- participated with six migrant women that were working as volunteers, two academic researchers, and one facilitator of DST. Each participant was asked to bring an object that represented their migration to the United Kingdom. Participants also brought 15 to 30 photographs about their personal and work lives in relationship to their experience of migration. The workshop took two days: the first day was spent developing and co-creating the story and the second was spent practicing and creating the DST through iMovie. Co-participating and co-creating in the process was an important element of creating trust, by sharing one’s own stories and creating one’s own DST. Vacchelli (2018) described the different DST and how each story was different from one another, bringing up the importance of hearing each experience and need that came from different socio-economical-political situations. Nevertheless, the themes of home and belonging were the most pertinent across all stories. Another important finding of this study was the importance of the participant’s voice. Vacchelli explained that stories are co-created and intersubjective. ABR was a useful methodology to explore one’s identity through embodied and artistic inquiry in relationship to one’s environmental and historical contexts, but it also was subjected to change through the co-creating process. Therefore, the primary communication through DST was explained within the context of co-creation and not taken as pure truths. This created some limitations; however, because the researcher was open about her process and influence on the research, there was transparency that gave the study adequate credibility.
In another DST study from a larger longitudinal one, researchers facilitated DST with women at risk from a refugee camp in Brisbane, Australia, which was created for women without a male in their family for protection and were under threat to their gender. None of the participants were fluent in English and had a translator that would interpret the voice for the DST. In order to not direct the result through interviews or using standardized questionnaires, Lenette et al. (2019) wanted to allow the participant to choose the story that they wanted to tell and share. Using digital storytelling as a methodology for “collaborative research,” the researchers hoped to understand the participant's experience without imposing their own values and culture (p.67). Lenette et al. (2019), used DST, as a visual ethnographic approach, and methodology as a tool to understand the nuances of marginalized populations and vulnerable groups in mental health research. According to Lenette, “Digital storytelling refers to ‘a creative arts process that is used to capture personal stories, using images and sound in a three to five-minute digital clip” (p. 69). The DST project had four phases. First, participants had two in-depth interviews in their homes, where ideas for the story creation were discussed, and trust was established. “Crucial to this process was that the women were not ‘prescribed’ a particular storyline or theme to follow as a starting point” (p. 68). Second, a workshop on digital storytelling was offered, but only two participants and one interpreter were able to attend. The third phase included selecting images and taking photos as material for the film. The fourth phase was viewing the final project and then interviewing the participants. A small group of four women was facilitated by an experienced storyteller who used a semi-structured approach and worked with them for six months (Lenette et al., 2019). A total of three stories were created (as one story was a mother and daughter duet). A thick narrative was documented of each story in this article while keeping “the narrative arc of each story” (p. 71). The authors described each story’s opening, the central theme, introduction and reason for an interpreter (also from a refugee background) and ending images (Lenette et al., 2019). Stories included the transgenerational legacy of artistic and cultural identity. No further information was given and therefore created limited results.
In a more recent wave of migrants to New Zealand, Kale (2019) researched refugee well-being and explained that:
Place-attached persons, compared to non-attached ones, demonstrated a higher sense of coherence, were more satisfied with their life overall, had a stronger bonding social capital and neighborhood ties, were more interested in their family roots, trusted people more, and were generally less egocentric… increased belonging, self-esteem, and meaning. (Kale, 2019, p. 1)
Kale (2019) wanted to familiarize female refugees from Myanmar with their new environment in order to build a multi-sensory experience to increase place-attachment, reducing “stress and anxiety and enhancing feelings of safety, autonomy, and belonging” (p. 2). Eleven hours of semi-structured interviews were conducted in the Nelson Community with the “multisensory mapping project in January and February 2019” (p. 2). Kale (2019) coded themes that included places of need, places of pleasure, and places of everyday life, the challenges connecting to the land, and putting down roots. Both Bogaç (2009) and Kale’s (2019) use of drawings in order to reveal place attachment by noticing what the participants drew clarified the experiences of refugees and revealed important differences in the ways to connect to different places and communities.
By holding on to family identity through religion and cultural identity, one might be creating another path towards a sense of belonging. A study with immigrants in Canada looked into the relationship of religion with identity and a sense of belonging (Berry & Hou, 2019). Participants were selected only if they had a religious affiliation (N = 8,269); 58% were over 12 years old when they arrived in Canada, 20% were under 12, and 22% were born in Canada but had immigrant parents. Berry and Hou (2019) aimed to examine if there was a correlation between belonging to multiple groups and life satisfaction and mental health. There was a question if grouping made a difference and if religion played a role in these patterns. In the authors’ words: “is there a way of living interculturally that is associated with better outcomes?” (p. 159). Through different measurement tools, authors correlated measurement of cultural identity, religious identity, and well-being in self-reported questionnaires (Berry & Hou, 2019).
Those who adopt the integration strategy (i.e., who have double cultural engagement) have better outcomes than those who adopt assimilation or separation (i.e., one cultural belonging) or marginalization (no cultural belonging). We found that in general, more identities are associated with better well-being outcomes. (Berry & Hou, 2019, p. 165)
Berry and Hou (2019) warned that although these results point to an important finding, the results were moderate, not exceeding R2= 0.25. Therefore, further studies might be necessary to confirm these results. By making a difference of separation, assimilation, or marginalization from integration, the authors proposed an important shift of perspective when it comes to the well-being of immigrants and the life satisfaction “of immigrants to Canada and their descendants” (p. 168). Lastly, the authors specified that results for life satisfaction were not as significant in Islam, and since the research used religion as the only examined identity, it would be helpful to have further studies that include other identities and elements of emplacement.
Place attachment can be an important factor affecting vulnerable populations that are descendants of displacement. In order to create resilience, integration, and successful resettlement, refugees and migrants might be better off being encouraged to create multiple identities, multiple spaces of place attachment, and relationship to the land and nature, as well as the possibility for a future without the threat of being asked to leave (Bogaç, 2009; Coughlan & Hermes, 2016). Research showed that distrust and ambivalence of a place can create psychological homelessness and a sense of rootlessness in the next generation (Bogaç, 2009).The use of digital storytelling can be an important ABR methodology for identity integration when working with refugees (Vacchelli, 2018). Furthermore, storytelling can help create a coherent story of one’s ancestral legacy, which has been demonstrated as an important element in transforming trauma into resilience (Richardson, 2015). By having a digital storytelling product, one might also find a tool for the transformation of the community and collective trauma by creating a different story that can point toward healing (Lenette et al., 2019; Willox et al., 2013). This lack of community was reported in different TGT research and needs further research (Bezo & Maggi, 2015; Bogac, 2009). Storytelling might be an effective way to begin to open communication and build a community about the issues inherited from one’s ancestral legacy. Lastly, keeping one’s ancestral religion might facilitate integrating a migrant into belonging in multiple groups, including the new place of residence and its culture. Therefore, facilitating place attachment through an artistic experiential activity could create conditions for a resilient outcome for vulnerable populations with an ancestral legacy of displacement and without a sense of home belonging, and identity.