Image and culture in the care of unaccompanied minor refugees

Aims: Through the implementation of photographic mediation, we aim to show the advantages of the use of a mediation-based group system in a migratory context. The focus is on the expression of affects within a group and the articulation between the subject and the group in the setting of this particular type of treatment. Method: The Photolangage ® group presented here is part of a system of care and psychological support targeting unaccompanied minors. The participants were five teenagers aged 15 to 17 years from sub-Saharan Africa and Bangladesh. For the analysis we used a clinical approach liable to promote links, representations and symbolization processes in a group situation. Results: The clinical elements observed show us how the cultural objects represented in and by the photographs and the use of the mother tongue by participants played the role of a mediation object, opening up a potential space enabling transformation and change. The cultural object is here a vehicle for affects and representations not yet accessible to the subjects. Discussion: Current migratory movements have very complex consequences, individual, collective socio-political and psychological. Unaccompanied minors and their care force us to review our care provision in a transcultural dimension and modify our ways of thinking and practising in clinical setting. The effects of colonialism on the psyche of migrants are still alive and can structure their subjective and collective identity, enabling a better understanding of their shared representations. Conclusion: The issues of migration in a context of social and collective violence need to be considered in relation to the complexity of the different psychic spaces mobilised. These issues are explored, brought into play, reappraised and sometimes invalidated in a transcultural context. The introduction of images as a form of mediation in the group favours the articulation of psychics spaces, and promotes the processes of bonding and representation of affects.