Transnational Families and Social Technologies: Reassessing Immigration Psychology

Abstract

Social technologies—mobile phones, the wide availability of international phone calls, and the mainstreaming of Internet connectivity and social media—are becoming a cornerstone of the immigrant family experience. Information communication technologies (ICTs) are supporting the transformation of family networks into transnational ones, with potentially significant consequences in the psychology of immigration and family mental health. Social technologies may be influencing and mainstreaming the transnational experiences while families are finding resilient ways to confront the difficulties posed by immigration. Computer-mediated communications among transnational families are a source of compelling opportunities and a challenge for clinicians to adopt an ecosystemic perspective and address these new circumstances.

Keywords:

• Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
• Immigrant Families
• Transnationalism
• Social Psychology