Under-age Migrants in Temporary Absence of Supportive Adults

Abstract

This article begins by setting a frame for understanding the violent effect that the temporary absence of adult support in a host country can have on young a person’s mental health. This is based on the author’s understanding of the Moroccan social background. In the body of the article it includes a complex discussion based on suggesting that the following components are required: 1) Families need to acquire tools to exercise their economic, social and cultural rights and to finally ensure their inclusion in the community, 2) A new form of fatherhood that goes beyond the traditional boundaries between maternal - paternal competences and skills, 3) Children’s needs and rights 4) What happens in disadvantaged families. This discussion suggests that these four basic pillars are necessary to ensure support for migrant minors both for their initial trauma and for their forced exile trauma. Finally I am initially proposing a re-conceptualisation of human beings and their difficulties so that their social, historical and economic context are taken into account, and our therapeutic interventions are rebuilt by reconciling various theories to make them more effective.