Intangible obstacles: Health implications of stigmatization, structural violence, and fear among undocumented immigrants in France

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• 作者：Sté ; phanie Larchanché ; ; ^{slarchan@go.wustl.edu} ; ^{slarchanche@go.wustl.edu}
• 关键词：Undocumented immigrants ; Healthcare access ; France ; Social stigmatization ; Fear ; Subjectivation ; Deservingness ; Health ethics
• 刊名：Social Science and Medicine
• 出版年：2012
• 期刊代码：242_02779536
• 类别：med
• 出版时间：March, 2012
• 卷：74
• 期：6
• 页码：858-863
• 文件大小：166 K

摘要

This study identifies undocumented immigrants鈥?obstacles to realizing their health care rights in France. The ethnographic fieldwork informing this study was carried out in Paris from March 2007 to July 2008. Research findings are based on (1) participant observation carried out in two grassroots health associations catering to undocumented immigrants in Paris (one providing legal and medical aid to undocumented immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, and another focused specifically on assisting undocumented individuals seeking a visa for medical reasons, as well as women victims of domestic violence); (2) a review of legislative debates on the issue of healthcare access for undocumented immigrants in France, and (3) recently published reports on healthcare access for the undocumented in Europe. The paper analyzes how interaction among intangible factors 鈥?namely social stigmatization, precarious living conditions, and the climate of fear and suspicion generated by increasingly restrictive immigration policies 鈥?hinders undocumented immigrants鈥?access to health care rights and, furthermore, minimizes immigrants鈥?sense of entitlement to such rights in this European context. Intangible factors such as fear and suspicion have powerful 鈥渟ubjectivation鈥?effects, which influence how both undocumented immigrants and their interlocutors (i.e., healthcare providers) think about 鈥渄eservingness.鈥?Medical anthropology is in a unique position to demonstrate and theorize these factors and effects, which inform contemporary debates about migration and 鈥渉ealth ethics.鈥?/div>