The Trouble of Stigma in the Age of Datafication: Screening for Mental Health Issues in a Refugee Camp in Jordan

ABSTRACT

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a refugee camp in Jordan, this article investigates how datafication through digital screening technologies helps shape mental health issues in the face of widespread uneasiness about the subject, especially among the intended beneficiaries. We argue that the refugees and their health care providers face a dilemma: on the one hand, the desire to make mental health issues visible and clinically actionable through datafication and, on the other hand, the wish to keep mental health issues out of public view to avoid potential stigma.

KEYWORDS:

• Data
• datafication
• Jordan
• mental health
• refugees
• stigma

Acknowledgments

This study was conducted in collaboration with Jordan Health Aid Society - International (JHASi - an NGO registered in Bangladesh). We would like to warmly thank Dr. Yaroup Al-Ajlouni president of JHASi, Mr. Mo’nes Qudah, and all the JHASi staff for this project. Also, we would like to thank Mrs. Lisbeth Breinholt for her invaluable support. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge the great contributions of Mr. Jari Kickbusch. Importantly, we would like to thank the Syrian refugees in Zaatari participating in the study for their contributions and for letting us take up so much of their time. For very helpful comments on earlier versions of this article, we are grateful to Dr. James Staples, Dr. Rebecca Marsland, Dr. Victoria Team, and three anonymous Medical Anthropology reviewers. Finally, note that the field work (and the project at large) was conducted in accordance with The Danish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (Ministry of Higher Education 2014) and the JHASi (NGO) code of Ethics. It was approved by relevant institutional bodies at the IT-University of Copenhagen and JHASi.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In comparison, one can expect a referral rate using the SRQ-20 of about 10% in a non-refugee population.

2. This substantial dropout rate was originally part of what prompted our interest in the theme of stigma concerning the mental health care service. Also, it is arguably part of what makes the theme relevant to providers of such services in humanitarian settings.

3. In contrast to the group sessions, the individual counseling sessions were much less public.

4. Importantly, it is not our intention with this article to discourage mental health interventions in refugee crisis. On the contrary, rather, we hope that this article, and its arguments, may sensitize anthropologists and mental health practitioners alike to the potential dilemmas inherent to mental health services for the benefit of the intended recipients. Historically, humanitarian assistance in refugee camps have often overlooked and not prioritized the need to incorporate mental health care in early response efforts. This needs to be addressed in a concerned and careful manner, given the socially sensitive nature of mental health issues.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation [grant no. NNF21SH0069701] and in this regard we would like to sincerely acknowledge the important contribution and support of Mr. Anders Bager and Professor Flemming Konradsen.

Notes on contributors

Lars Rune Christensen

Lars Rune Christensen is Associate Professor at the Department of Business IT, Technologies in Practice research group, REFLACT research group, IT-University of Copenhagen. His current research, carried out in Jordan and Togo, focuses on the intersections between humanitarian intervention and digital technologies within healthcare spheres. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7204-465X

Hasib Ahsan

Hasib Ahsan is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Business IT, Technologies in Practice, ISDI research group, IT-University of Copenhagen. His current research is carried out in Bangladesh, Jordan and Cambodia, mainly on ICT for Development (ICT4D), with a focus on climate change and ICT, digital health, and ICT in humanitarian crisis in the Global South. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7812-2652