Migration stories. The psychologist’s role in the reception centers for immigrants and refugees

Abstract

This paper describes the psychological significances of some interventions in a reception center for immigrants and refugees. Nowadays, we perceive the immigrant as a “threat”, an imminent precursor of a potential destructive event. The Psychologists too, risk seeing immigrants as an anonymous and dangerous crowd (Dambone, Monteleone, 2019). This process of social representation is strikingly depersonalizing and provokes an unsafe social framework. Therefore, peaceful coexistence and a reassuring experience of common social spaces between different ethnic groups are difficult to pursue, due to a mutual feelings of suspect and prejudice. The report summarizes an in-depth investigation into these contexts when psychological support programs are improved. A useful step to get better awareness of the social processes related to migration, and the emotional and practical problems experienced by migrants and operators.