Mental health of migrants' : actors, practices, networks (1950-1980, France, Switzerland, Germany) – MigraPsy

Psychiatry in the second half of the 20th century is marked by many changes: introduction of neuroleptics, deinstitutionalisation, opening up to populations that were not yet taken care of, diversification of the staff working in institutions... At the same time, Western Europe is definitively transforming from emigration to immigration societies, even if the migratory balance only becomes positive for Europe in the early 1960s. In an area comprising the 15 members of the European Union - i.e. before the integration of the Eastern European countries - the number of foreigners increased fivefold between 1950 and 1994.
This research project intends to explore the field at the intersection of the migration phenomenon and psychiatric practices and theories, on a national and transnational perspective.
This almost uncharted territory, rich in sources, is stimulating and promising not only in terms of historical questioning, but also in terms of contemporary debates and current issues. If increasing globalisation accelerates the flow of people, and wars displace men, women and children without leaving them any choice, the associated psychological risks remain present, and make it urgent to reflect, as never before, on the resources, tools and spaces that psychiatry and social, health and mental health authorities can allocate to these subjects.
Using hitherto unexploited archives and variations in the scales of analysis, the project aims to shed light on the issue of migrant mental health, considering the decades between the end of WW2 and the Eighties. The considered case studies will be France, Germany and Switzerland. The research program will also analyse the transnational framework of immigration policies regulation (namely health and labour) and the circulation of psychiatric knowledge and practices concerning migrants' mental health treatment.