A Critical Investigation of Well-Being on Migrant Populations: A Composited Approach

With the rise of international migration worldwide, there has been an increased focus within immigration literature on well-being of immigrant populations. Due to the nebulous operationalization of the concept of well-being, the composited categorization of multi-ethnic/cultural subject samples, as well as the lack of sociohistorical consideration within the literature, there have been mixed findings in regards to the overall well-being of immigrant populations as well as the resiliency factors associated with well-being. There has been much debate in regards to classical assimilation theories and their application to the shifting immigration trends within host countries today. Much of the literature does not take newly resettled populations’ pre-migration and specific cultural population factors, as well as post migration environments into consideration when analyzing these relationships. Many times immigrants from diverse backgrounds and push factors (e.g., refugees, immigrants) tend to be composited into one subject sample. A case study, examining the resiliency factors associated with recently resettled Bhutanese/Nepali refugee youth’s (N=119) residing in the US, will be utilized to help explain the need for more compartmentalized studies examining specific migrant populations’ resiliency factors, as well as the need for the development of more targeted support interventions for specific populations.