American Journal of Community Psychology
Volume 62, Issue 1-2, 2018, Pages 23-40

Shared communities: A multinational qualitative study of immigrant and receiving community members (Article)

Buckingham S.L.* , Brodsky A.E. , Rochira A. , Fedi A. , Mannarini T. , Emery L. , Godsay S. , Miglietta A. , Gattino S.
  • a Department of Psychology, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK, United States
  • b Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, United States
  • c Department of History, Society and Human Studies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
  • d Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
  • e Department of History, Society and Human Studies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy
  • f Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, United States
  • g Department of Psychology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, United States
  • h Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
  • i Department of Psychology, University of Torino, Torino, Italy

Abstract

Community psychology is central to understanding how immigrants and more established residents of their new settings join together to develop a shared sense of community and membership. In our present study, we explored how newer (i.e., first- and second-generation immigrants) and more established community members form multiple positive psychological sense of community (PSOC) with one another. We conducted a multinational, qualitative study of PSOC through interviews with 201 first- and second-generation immigrants and third generation or more “receiving community members” in three contexts (Baltimore- Washington corridor of the U.S.; Torino, Italy; Lecce, Italy). Results indicated numerous similarities among the ways in which participants constructed PSOC in shared and nonshared communities, regardless of immigration/ citizenship status, length of community residence, city, country, age, or gender. Small, proximal, and salient communities were often particularly important to building positive PSOC, which was formed around diverse membership boundaries. As intersectional beings, members converged and diverged on many characteristics, providing multiple opportunities for members to bring diversity to their communities while sharing other characteristics deemed essential to membership. Nonetheless, findings point to significant, structural challenges rooted in power and privilege that must be confronted to bridge the community-diversity dialectic and build strong, shared sense of community. © Society for Community Research and Action 2018.

Author Keywords

Immigration Psychological sense of community intergroup relationships Receiving community

Index Keywords

Psychology, Social immigrant social psychology multicenter study demography Social Identification human immigration middle aged Washington qualitative research Residence Characteristics interview United States Young Adult Humans migrant psychology male Emigrants and Immigrants female Article adult gender migration Emigration and Immigration Italy Maryland citizenship social behavior
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85059828654&doi=10.1002%2fajcp.12255&partnerID=40&md5=0d5161f608faaf96dbdfd9cb8e9e6dbf
DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12255
ISSN: 00910562
Original Language: English