Currently
in China many individuals migrate from rural areas to urban centers
in order to work and cover their financial needs, which
has been characterized as ‘the most magnificent population
reshuffling in modern history’ (Gong, Hu, Xiao, Zhao, Zhao, Zhong,
2013, 1). This rural migration is
coordinated by a set of legislations, which influence all
aspects of the lives (work,
housing, social interactions) of the
migrants in a large extend. In essence,
‘the urban- rural dual system refers to an institutional obstacle
to the equal development between urban and rural areas’ (Jiang, Li,
2018, 4). The legislation that governs
their lives has an impact on practical aspects, but also, in the
psychological well being of the migrants. Rural migrants of China are
facing heightened stress and mental health risks because of
their overall living conditions in the cities, the
working conditions, and the social condiotions they are facing.
Migrants
leave their home towns and their families and come to work in the
cities. Due to financial reasons and lack
of work- breaks, they are not able to visit often- thus they miss
their family members. This is a source of
stress that is linked to migration in general- individuals worry and
experience anxiety about their loved ones. This
factor can also make them experience feelings of sadness, prolonged
sorrow, depression,
and overall worst mental health. Migrants
also lack the support provided through the family, and the emotional
warmth of it (Crisp, 2010). Having
individuals to rely on for psychological support can function as a
mental health ‘shield’, fact which migrant lack (Chen, Hall,
Latkin, Wu, Zhou, 2014). In
fact it has been found that the mental health status of internal
migrants in China is
generally worse than that of local residents, even
if they live in the same city (Fang, Fu,
Guan, Guo, He, Liu, Wang, 2017).
Still,
these individuals
go through the process of migration in order to be able to provide to
themselves and to their
families more effectively.
Despite this effort, rural migrants experience great levels of
uncertainty for
their future and the future of their children. The
current legislation arranging
the lives of migrants provides certain
benefits to them,
but denies them of others. Specifically, individuals may work, but
they do not necessarily have insurance, and there is no standard
means or time of payment (Fan, Wang, 2012).
Those practical factors can cause high
levels of stress, and can cause individuals to feel anxious about
their present and their future. Moreover, the children of these
migrants do not have the same legal rights in the cities as do the
children of the local, urban citizens: they are educated in certain
schools only,
where children of every migrant (rural or other) go, and it has been
argued that these schools lack educational
quality. It is also worth mentioning that
children of internal migrants, which
were numbered ‘277.89 million in 2010’
have been found to have
lower mental health status compared to children of local citizens.
These children cannot make friends easily and tend to feel socially
excluded both in the school settings and in
social interactions (Jiang, Li, 2018, 4).
Therefore rural migrants experience
uncertainty for their offsprings which is another great source of
anxiety for them. Uncertainty about the
future can give rise to thoughts and feelings of helplessness,
frustration, hopelessness (Crisp, 2010).
Furthermore,
rural migrants may be allowed to come work in the cities, but they
are maintain their properties in their hometowns. This is due to the
legislation of Hukou, according to which migrants are not allowed to
own or rent a property with equal rights as the urban citizens, so
most migrants have their homes and families at their hometown, and
move alone to urban centers (Huang, Tao, 2015). Upon moving into the
cities they experience poor living conditions: they live in small
dormitories, that often share some rooms (such as kitchen or
bathroom), often rented by their employers, in order for that to be
an inexpensive way of living. The environment therefore has been
described as highly regulated, overcrowded, and with poor fascilities
that do not cover the needs of the residents. Poor living conditions
can give rise to a set of negative thoughts and emotions (stress,
anxiety, sadness, psychological pressure) and worsen the mental
health of the migrants. Living conditions will also influence the
day-to-day mood of individuals. These conditions highly influence
particularly the Chinese population since home, family, and a sense
of belonging are important to the Chinese culture (Crisp, 2010).
These
conditions have an
impact in the
social sphere of the migrants as well. They experience practical
social exclusion, since they do not have the same social rights as
urban citizens. This means that the migrants have a social ‘world’
of their own,. The two groups tend to not interact very much since
they have different spaces of leisure time: usually
they spend time in different places- different restaurants, different
shops, etc (Li,
Rose, 2017). Interestingly,
it has been found that interaction between migrants and local
citizens can have a negative effect in the mental health of the
migrants, since the social exlusion they experience and
the difference in the social status is made
apparent. On the other hand, migrants do
not interact a lot with other rural migrants, thus do not develop
strong ingroup relations (Crisp, 2010). On
top, migrants due to their working schedule have little leisure time
to rest, relax and bond with others. In
fact it has been found that the majority of migrant do not ‘trust’
their communities, and perceive them negatively (Chen, Hall, Latkin,
Wu, Zhou, 2014). All these factors combined
lead migrants to
not having solid
social networks in the cities to which they can rely for
psychological support, not experiencing
a sense of belonging, and not feel socially
accepted or adapted. This is an intense source of psychological
trouble, since it both causes issues in the everyday lives of
individuals and does not provide means to cope with them effectively
(Fan, Wang, 2012, Crisp, 2010).
These
conditions impact the way migrants are approached by local urban
citizens as well, who approach migrants as
socially different from them. Migrants are
treated through stereotyped views and experience stigmatization. This
is apparent in the social interactions among the two groups. Stigma
can lead to a sense of non- belonging, which can have an impact on
their mental health. Experiencing stigma
can lead to not having a solid social identity, feeling as an
‘outsider’, having lower self- esteem, feeling depressed, and
many more (Crisp, 2010).
All
these combined lead migrants to experience identity issues: they no
longer belong to the rural population, neither they belong to the
urban one. They may be parts of a family, but live their everyday
lives alone. They work hard but do not have appropriate rewards.
These individuals are migrants in their own country, experiencing
every difficulty of migration, despite being so close to their actual
homes (Fan, Wang, 2012, Crisp, 2010).
Overall,
migrants leave their families and homes, and come to work long hours
with little rest, live in small crowded dormitories, and experience
stigma every day. At the same time they lack psychological support,
and worry about their future and that of
their loved ones. All these factors can
make migrants experience higher levels of
stress in their everyday lives, worst
mental health, and be at risk for manifesting mental disorders and
dysfunctionalities. It has been found that
internal migrants have higher levels of depression, alcohol
use, experience
traumatic events intensly, and are at risk
of manifesting self- harming behaviours, which can result in
‘disabilities or even dealth’ (Chen,
Hall, Latkin, Wu, Zhou, 2014, Gong, Hu,
Xiao, Zhao, Zhao, Zhong, 2013, 1-2).
Efforts
should be made to address the issue of internal migration in China
and improve the life quality of rural migrants. Mental health
professionals should research and deal clinically with existing
migrants, in an effort to improve their mental health status, social
scientists should create campaigns to minimize stigma from local
urban citizens, and policy makers should
aim at altering the aspect of legislation that are harmful to the
everyday lives and mental health of individuals (for example Hukou).
References
Chen,
W., Hall, B, J., Latkin, C., Wu, Y., Zhou, F., (2014). Prevalence of
potentially traumatic events, depression, alcohol use, and social
network supports among Chinese migrants: An epidemiological study in
Guangzhou, China, European Journal o Psychotraumatology, 5 (1)
Crisp,
R., J., (2010). The Psychology of Social and Cultural Diversity,
UK, Wiley- Blackwell Publications
Fan,
C., C., Wang, W., W., (2012). Migrant workers’ integration in urban
China: Experiences in employment, social adaptation and self-
identity, Eurasian Geography and Economics, 731- 749
Fang,
L., Fu, M., Guan, L., Guo, J., He, H., Liu, C., Wang, X., (2017).
Depression among Chinese older adults: A perspective from Hukou and
health inequities, Journal of Affective Disorders, 223,
115-120
Gong,
W., Hu, R., Xiao, Y., Yu, M., Zhao, M., Zhao, N., Zhong, J (2013).
Factors associated with severe deliberate self- harm among Chinese
internal migrants, Plos One, 8 (11), 1-5
Huang,
Y., Tao, R., (2015). Housing migrants in Chinese cities: Current
status and policy design, Environment and Planning Government and
Policy, 32, 1-22
Jiang,
S., Li, C., (2018). Social exclusion, sense of school belonging and
mental health of migrant children in China: A structural equation
modeling analysis, Children and Youth Services Review, 1-31
Li,
J., Rose, N., (2017). Urban social exclusion and mental health of
China’s rural- urban migrants- A review and call for research,
Health & Place, 48, 20-30
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