title: Ambiguous Loss Experienced by Transnational Mexican Immigrant Families.
abstract: In this study, an ambiguous loss framework as described by Boss (1999, Ambiguous loss: Learning to live with unresolved grief, First Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA) was used to examine and understand the family experiences of Mexican immigrant agricultural workers in Minnesota. Transcripts from interviews with 17 workers in Minnesota and 17 family members in Mexico were analyzed using qualitative methodology to identify experiences of ambiguous loss in the participants' narratives. Key dimensions of ambiguous loss identified in the transcripts include: psychological family, feelings of chronic/recurring loss, finding support, and meaning making. In the category of psychological family, participants in both Mexico and the United States mourned the physical absence of their family members and experienced ambiguity regarding family responsibilities, but worked to maintain their psychological roles within the family. In the category of chronic/recurring loss, participants in both countries experienced chronic worry from not knowing if family members were safe, ambiguity regarding when the immigrant would return, and chronic stressors that compounded these feelings of loss. Participants in both countries coped with both real and ambiguous losses by accessing family support and by using ambiguous communication to minimize worry. Participants in Mexico also accessed work and community-based support. Participants in both countries made meaning of the ambiguous loss by identifying ways their lives were improved and goals were met as a result of the immigration for agricultural work in Minnesota.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8957-2288
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Solheim
authors.affiliation: Marriage and Family Graduate Program, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zaid
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ballard
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D000067565:Farmers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology*; D008800:Mexico / Q000208:ethnology; D008910:Minnesota; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Ambiguous Loss; Immigrants; Loss; Mexican Immigrant Families; Migrant Work/ers; Qualitative Methodology; Stress and Coping; Transnational Families; estrés y capacidad de afrontarlo; familias de mexicanos inmigrantes; familias transnacionales; metodología cualitativa; pérdida ambigua; trabajadores emigrantes; 压力和应对措施; 墨西哥移民家庭; 定性方法; 模糊损失; 移徙工人; 跨国家庭