Resilience of African migrants: An integrative review

Health Care Women Int. 2016 Sep;37(9):946-963. doi: 10.1080/07399332.2016.1158263. Epub 2016 Mar 1.

Abstract

African migrant women represent a rapidly growing cohort of new arrivals in many countries. Many of these women demonstrate strength and resilience throughout the stressful migration process. In this integrative review, we explore the literature on African migrants' resilience using an ecological framework. Nine peer-reviewed journal articles and six grey literature documents were reviewed. Key internal and external factors in achieving resilience were identified, discussed, and diagrammatically represented using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Framework under micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-levels. Our findings show that the capacity for resilience demonstrated during migration could have implications for policy and practice.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Acculturation
  • Adaptation, Psychological*
  • Black People / ethnology
  • Black People / psychology*
  • Ecosystem
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Resilience, Psychological*
  • Self Concept
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Stress, Psychological* / psychology
  • Transients and Migrants / psychology*