Nigerian people represent a significant immigrant group in the United States. However, limited research exists to investigate what psychosocial factors they experience, and the given paper is going to comment on them. On the one hand, these immigrants tend to face both positive and negative psychological factors. Ekwemator and Ezeobele (2020) admit that Nigerians are excited when they come to the US and see its infrastructural and socio-economic development level. However, this fact also leads to an adverse consequence because the immigrants feel loneliness in the United States (Ekwemator & Ezeobele, 2020). Consequently, immigration subjects Nigerians to stress that negatively affects their psychological well-being.
On the other hand, social factors typically relate to harmful consequences for the immigrants. Firstly, Ekwemator and Ezeobele (2020) stipulate that many Nigerians face discrimination when they try to find a job or return to school. It is so because American society is not free from racial prejudice. Secondly, it is a typical case for Nigerian immigrants that they cannot get accustomed to American social norms and values. For example, some men oppose the notion of equality between husbands and wives, which negatively affects their relationships (Ekwemator & Ezeobele, 2020). This information demonstrates that social factors provide Nigerian immigrants with adverse experiences.
Thus, it is reasonable to identify specific interventions that can affect the psychosocial factors above. One can suggest that structured counseling is an effective way to address the fact that Nigerian men tend to oppose American social values. This type of intervention implies that the social worker and the client join their efforts to define guidelines to solve the problem. Suggesting, negotiating, recommending, and others are practical activities of structured counseling. When Social workers should draw sufficient attention to discuss the clients’ feelings and emotions when it comes to this intervention. It is so because this approach helps clients experience emotional relief that makes them more engaged in the intervention (Turner, 2017). This strategy can result in the fact that a client is less subject to the given social factor.
When it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed intervention, it is reasonable to focus on the relationship between Nigerian husbands and wives. The treatment approach can be considered positive if the clients understand that their wives have equal rights to them. Ekwemator and Ezeobele (2020) admit that numerous Nigerian women are excited because American women and children are empowered in the same way as men are. Consequently, it is rational to measure whether clients understand that their wives should be given equal rights and opportunities to ensure that women are not discriminated against in their families.
It is worth mentioning that using a psychosocial framework with the Nigerian immigrant group implies an essential advantage. Turner (2017) calls it the centrality of person-in-situation, and this concept denotes that environment significantly affects a person’s development. That is why social workers should do their best to become fully aware of the clients’ situations and how they influence them. This fact can be considered an essential advantage for the group under investigation because they have changed their place of residence. It means that these individuals are in a new environment that provides them with new challenges and opportunities. Consequently, it is reasonable to draw sufficient attention to identify how the external situation impacts people. In summary, the paper has demonstrated that a psychosocial framework is an effective strategy to understand how the context affects the Nigerian immigrant group.
References
Ekwemator, C. C., & Ezeobele, I. E. (2020). Psychosocial impacts of immigration on Nigerian immigrants in the United States: A phenomenological study. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 31(3), 276-283. Web.
Turner, F. J. (Ed.). (2017). Social work treatment: Interlocking theoretical approaches (6th ed.). Oxford University Press.