Ambiguous Loss Experienced by Transnational Mexican Immigrant Families

• Author: Jaime Ballard,Catherine Solheim,Samantha Zaid
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12130
• Published date: 01 June 2016
• Date: 01 June 2016

Ambiguous Loss Experienced by Transnational

Mexican Immigrant Families

CATHERINE SOLHEIM*

SAMANTHA ZAID

†

JAIME BALLARD*

In this study, an ambiguous loss framework as described by Boss (1999, Ambiguous loss:

Learning to live with unresolved grief, First Harvard University Press, Cambridge , MA)

was used to examine and understand the family experiences of Mexican immigrant agricul-

tural workers in Minnesota. Transcripts from interviews with 17 workers in Minnesota

and 17 family members in Mexico were analyzed using qualitative methodology to identify

experiences of ambiguous loss in the participants’ narratives. Key dimensions of ambigu-

ous loss identified in the transcripts include: psychological family, feelings of chroni c/

recurring loss, finding support, and meaning making. In the category of psychological fam -

ily, participants in both Mexico and the United States mourned the physical absence of

their family members and experienced ambiguity regarding family responsibilities, but

worked to maintain their psychological roles within the family. In the category of chronic/

recurring loss, participants in both countries experienced chronic worry from not knowing

if family members were safe, ambiguity regarding when the immigrant would return, and

chronic stressors that compounded these feelings of loss. Participants in both countries

coped with both real and ambiguous losses by accessing family support and by using

ambiguous communication to minimize worry. Participants in Mexico also accessed work

and community-based support. Participants in both countries made meaning of the ambig-

uous loss by identifying ways their lives were improved and goals were met as a result of

the immigration for agricultural work in Minnesota.

Keywords: Ambiguous Loss; Immigrants; Mexican Immigrant Families; Qualitative

Methodology; Stress and Coping; Transnational Families; Migrant Work/ers; Loss

Fam Proc 55:338–353, 2016

When one family member travels internationally for work, all family members face

uncertainty as roles and relationships shift. Geographic distance within familie s is

associated with less frequent contact and close support, and family members can feel

ambivalence, loss, and pain regarding their shifted relationships (Sands & Roer-Strier,

2004; Senyurekli & Detzner, 2008). Even as the family receives monetary gains from

*Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.

†

Marriage and Family Graduate Program, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Catherine Solheim, Department of

Family Social Science, University of Minnesota, 290 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108.

E-mail: csolheim@umn.edu.

This research was supported by the International Science Education Competitive Grants Program of the

United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.

The authors also acknowledge the important contributions to this project from Gonzalo Saravi, faculty at

CIESAS; G. Ali Hurtado, A. Villarreal, E. Packingham, H. Kim, and L. Davis, graduate assistants, and A.

Alba Meraz and G. Burke, University of Minnesota Extension educators.

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Family Process, Vol. 55, No. 2, 2016 ©2015 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12130

migration, they may view these benefits within the context of loss (Rose & Hiller, 2007).

In addition, transnational families may experience ambiguity about family members’

safety, their role in the event of an emergency and in day-to-day living, and the possibility

or date of reunification. Transnational families are not a new phenomenon; however,

shifts in the global economy and in available technologies have allowed new family config-

urations and roles across borders (e.g., women caregivers migrating for work, children

migrating for education, transnational engagement in parenting; Trask, 2013). There has

been a call for additional research on the relationships within transnational families

(Trask, 2013). The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of ambiguity within

the transnational families of immigrant agricultural workers in Minnesota and their fami-

lies in Mexico.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Migration and Uncertainty

The immigration experience involves some level of loss for immigrants due to the depar-

ture from one’s home country, its language and customs, and friends and family. Immi-

grants arrive in a country with unfamiliar customs and few close relationships. Family

members who stay in the home country experience the loss of the immigrant family mem-

ber in whatever roles s/he has fulfilled. For example, wives who stay at home often must

take on new responsibilities, including money management, and often must find a way to

divide these opportunities with their in-laws (Rodriguez, 2010 as cited in Martone, Mu ~

noz,

Lahey, Yoder, & Gurewitz, 2011). Children describe separation from a parent as painful,

and they may later become attached to new caregivers and struggle to transition after a

parent returns (Cohen, 2010).

In spite of their separation, families strive to preserve the family unit. Migrant families

from Mexico feel a strong commitment to supporting their relatives, and report that the

family continues to play a central role in all life decisions (Parra-Cardona, Bulock, Imig,

Villarruel, & Gold, 2006). Advances in technology have opened new ways of maintaining

contact and fulfilling role responsibilities across borders (Wilding, 2006).

Migration from Mexico to the United States

Mexico is the leading country of origin for U.S. immigrants, and Mexicans represent

about 32% of all foreign-born residents living in the United States (Passel & Cohn, 2009).

Financial contributions, commonly known as remittances, to Mexico from family members

living in the United States are an important source of income for families in Mexico. In

2006, remittance value equaled 2.8% of Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product, exceeding reve-

nue from both tourism and agricultural exports (Inter-American Development Bank,

2007).

Ambiguous Loss Framework

The ambiguous loss framework describes a unique type of loss in family relationships

(Boss, 1999), which may be appropriate for transnational families. Ambiguous loss is dif-

ferentiated from ordinary loss. In normative life events such as death, the loss is clear.

People agree that it has occurred and often participate in rituals to mark the loss. In

ambiguous loss situations, the loss is less clear and creates confusion. A family member

may be physically absent but psychologically present (for example, when a family member

is deployed), or may be physically present but psychologically absent (for example, when a

family member has severe depression; Boss, 2006). Uncertainty about whether the person

Fam. Proc., Vol. 55, June, 2016

SOLHEIM, ZAID, & BALLARD

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