Emotional connectedness to home for Ghanaian students in the UK

Abstract

Ghanaian migrants represent one of the largest Black African groups in the UK. While viewed positively in terms of economic and educational success, migration has impacts on emotional attachments. The aim of this study was therefore to explore narrative expressions of belonging and emotional connectedness for Ghanaian university students in the UK. Nine Ghanaian students took part in one of two focus group interviews. A narrative analysis revealed stories of separation, emotional belonging, meaningful connectedness and disconnections. Connections were made to the homeland through Ghanaian food, clothing, language, religion and communication with significant persons. Stories of disconnection were related to isolation and a sense of not belonging. Recommendations are made for therapist training, culturally sensitive university environments and further research.

Keywords:

• attachment
• counselling in higher education
• migration
• cross-cultural issues
• narrative research

Notes on contributors

Florence Doku, MA, is a nurse and a graduate of the MA Psychotherapy and Counselling at the University of Leeds. She practises in the UK as a counsellor/psychotherapist with refugees and asylum seekers, and with young people who have mental health issues.

Bonnie Meekums, PhD, is symposium co-editor for the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, and lectures in counselling and psychotherapy for the University of Leeds. She is interested in narrative and arts-based research (see issue 39(5) of this journal) and increasingly her research focuses on issues related to marginalised and vulnerable populations.

Notes

1. Wayeyie is a Twi word, which is a major Ghanaian language.

2. The term abuaua is used to refer to family lineage, either matrilineal or patrilineal. Abusua refers to a whole clan.

3. Autoethnography is a form of research in which the subject is also the researcher. The focus is on personal experience relating to a topic of potential interest to others, but often unexplored in more traditional research methods. The goals are therefore emancipatory, in the sense that the marginalised voice becomes heard, often through a process of engagement with creative methods including poetry and image-making. The product is intentionally engaging not merely on an intellectual level; the researcher hopes to move the research audience, emotionally and also potentially towards social action.

4. There are more than 100 ethnic groups in Ghana and some of the major ethnic groups include Fante, Ashanti, Ga and Ewe.