By

Andrea Castillo, The Oregonian

The Oregonian

on November 07, 2012 at 6:00 AM, updated November 07, 2012 at 6:37 AM

Brought to you by

Robin Shallcross, an associate psychology professor at Pacific University in Forest Grove, talks with a community member being affected by transnational migration in LaNoria, Mexico.
Courtesy of Otto Schell

While people in the United States work to meet the needs of the flowing migrant population, those left behind remain neglected, said Robin Shallcross, an associate psychology professor at Pacific University in Forest Grove.

Shallcross recently returned from a three-week trip to Morelia, Mexico, where she taught an intensive course on the psychological effects of transnational migration. Her trip was the result of a Fulbright Specialist Award in association with the Center for International Exchange of Scholars.

Morelia is in the state of Michoacán, where many Washington County Latino immigrants are from. While there, Shallcross instructed 15 students in Spanish at Universidad Latina de América. Most were undergraduate psychology majors, but two nutrition students, a lawyer and two practicing psychologists also took part.

"Yes, the migrant families are grateful that they have remittance money coming in," she said. "They are glad they have wooden houses instead of shacks, and electricity."

But the emotional cost is great, she said, especially for family members of illegal migrants. Usually the husband leaves, forcing the wife to stay, raise the children and pray for the best, she said.

"The young kids often look at their mothers and say 'I don't have a father,'" she said. "Women are the ones who suffer the most."

Even worse is when a husband leaves, then starts a new family in the United States, Shallcross said. Often the man will stop sending money and fall out of contact. And when young children don't have their dads around, they are at risk of gang or drug activity, she said.

Shallcross informed the students of the issues and possible treatments for those left behind. The capstone project was to create a proposal for Mexican psychologists to assist that population.

One involved 12 therapy sessions, during which participants would define their emotions, learn relaxation exercises and take part in community support groups.

Shallcross said migrants and their families could primarily be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder or addiction to drugs or alcohol. The psychological effects of transnational migration are almost a mirror image between those who leave and those who stay, she said.

For migrants in the United States, treatment for depression caused by loneliness can be as simple as building a connection with community resources, like a church support group for single mothers or a Spanish Alcoholics Anonymous. Treatments could be the same for the family left behind, Shallcross said, if the resources existed.

"This is like virgin territory for Mexican psychologists," she said.

The class interviewed several people in LaNoria and Tejaro, two small communities outside Morelia where more than half of the population has gone to the United States. During the interviews, students asked how migration has affected them emotionally and what services would help.

Shallcross said at first, most didn't really understand what psychologists do, but there was an overarching need for people to acknowledge the existence of emotional suffering.

"Ultimately, it was a way to open the door for them to agree to do individual or family therapy," she said, "after they have some sense of how it operates."

In Mexican culture, many people think that seeing a therapist means they are crazy, Shallcross said. She and her team in Morelia began to "romper el silencio," or "break the silence."

"They were so glad that finally someone was listening to them," she said. "They have been trying to shoulder this pain because they didn't want to appear ungrateful."

Shallcross said the trip was groundbreaking not only for migrant families but also for everyone in the United States.

"We need the labor and services that the migrants provide because, whether we acknowledge it or not, they are a huge integral part of our economy," she said. "By extension, if their family members that they left behind are feeling better, then the working population here would be in a position to work better."

Shallcross' trip initiated a collaboration between Pacific University and Universidad Latina de América to possibly develop faculty and student exchange trips, said Alfonso Lopez-Vasquez, Pacific University's assistant to the provost for diversity. However, any such trips would have to wait until the U.S. government lifts a travel warning on the region, he said.

"If and when things stabilize, Morelia could be a hub where we could send students," he said. "There is a direct benefit to the community here in Washington County. We see the connection with that part of Mexico as essential because (there are) common cultural dimensions."

--Andrea Castillo
Follow @andreamcastillo

Related Stories

Updated: Cornelius residents vote to keep gas tax