Migration as an individual resilience strategy : A contextualized understanding of adult resilience dynamics in relation to migration

Migration is one of the most current political issues of our time, and due to the large-scale mobility of people, impacts of migration are of great interest. Suitably the second decade of the twenty-first century has seen an increased stray of literature combining migration and individual resilience in research. However, such research has been one-sided and viewed migration in a negative relation to individual resilience. The purpose of this dissertation is to introduce a positive perspective of migration to individual resilience, by investigating if migration can be considered an individual resilience strategy, meaning a process that contributes to the capacity of an individual to regain or improve one’s well-being when facing a crisis or disturbance, by recognizing how a new setting meets individual goals and aspirations. For that purpose, a qualitative approach conducted through person-centered interviews of six voluntary immigrants in Sweden from non-western countries is conducted. The immigrants in this study are regarded as voluntary migrants, and although being a blurred category, voluntary in this research include moving away from a hostile and dangerous environment by choice. A complementary method used during interviews is a Cantril ladder to perceive a general understanding of how the well-being of the six immigrants changed over the ten years of consideration in this study. The findings suggest that migration can be considered a resilience strategy, not only as a process that protects against harm but one that contributes to goal attainment. The analysis conducted according to the process-oriented resilience framework presented by Liebenberg, Joubert, and Foucalt (2017) suggests that migration enabled a positive interaction of nurturing relationships, education, and a strong ability to act while remaining positive, in a context where one shares values, which resulted in improved or regained well-being. The former mentioned interaction was allowed by the new setting where a safe and secure environment, along with a changed community meaningmaking framework, including a different set of resources and opportunities, enabled goal attainment.