Psychodynamic Perspectives on Asylum Seekers and the Asylum-Seeking Process

Psychodynamic Perspectives on Asylum Seekers and the Asylum-Seeking Process looks at the psychosocial assessment of asylum seekers from three perspectives: forensic, psychodynamic, and political and then attempts to better understand, from a psychodynamic perspective, differences in the historical/motivational routes of asylum seekers themselves. Barbara Eisold begins in Chapter One by exploring the unique evaluation relationship of psychosocial assessment and the striking will to survive of the asylum seekers that it puts into focus, using a psychodynamic lens. The forensic value of psychosocial assessment and its potential as both a political and a therapeutic tool are then described. Chapter Two describes individuals, who, by background and personal characteristics, shared a profound desire to protest, gravely compromising their survival at home and forcing them to seek asylum elsewhere. Chapter Three discusses women who have suffered female genital mutilation and includes a discussion of the development of strong personal agency in one case. Chapter Four describes abused women from Central America forced to flee from femicide. The evolution of femicide is explored, including the development of honor-bound machismo and the wide-spread disregard of law. The hold men have on women is then examined from a psychodynamic perspective. Psychodynamic Perspectives on Asylum Seekers and the Asylum-Seeking Process will be of great interest to psychoanalysts, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, and all mental health professionals working with asylum seekers.

Barbara Eisold has worked as an evaluator of asylum seekers in collaboration with a number of organizations, including Health Rights International, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and The Cardozo School of Law, where she is an associate faculty member. She is also a faculty member of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and maintains a private psychotherapy practice in New York City.

Introduction Chapter One: The nature of psychosocial asylum evaluations: Implications for client and clinician Chapter Two: Heroic Asylum seekers from around the world Chapter Three: Female Genital Mutilation and the wish for "life": Cultural considerations in the development of personal agency Chapter Four: Central American Women on the Run: Feminicide and its history; Afterword; Appendix I: Asylum Law in Brief Appendix II: Imprisoning Asylum Seekers Appendix III: Outline: Prospective Affidavit of A Mental Health Professional in Support of An Asylum Seeker Appendix IV: Female Genital Mutilation: Facts and Figures Appendix V: Background information: My Clients/ Other Women with FGM