Social Representations

Social representations are the set of systems, values and practices used to establish a social order and to make communication possible (^{Moscovici, 1979}); in this sense, they enable the understanding of a shared social reality. Social representations can be seen as particular modalities of knowledge, of common sense, which are acquired and modified through the social interaction of individuals; the main functions of social representations are the understanding of reality in a clear and different way from other phenomena, the guiding of actions among individuals, and of their communication in relation to the social fact represented (^{Araya, 2002}; ^{Martínez, 2002}; ^{Wagner et al., 2011}).

The construction of social representations takes place through two processes: 1) “objectification,” when abstract concepts are transformed into concrete experiences through the processes of selective construction of elements, such as the figurative schema (which captures the essence of the phenomenon) and the naturalization of the concept in everyday images, so that what was initially abstracted becomes concrete; and 2) “the anchoring process,” which allows the integration of different elements into pre-existing frames of reference (^{Jodelet, 1984}).

There are different approaches to the study of social representations. For the practical purposes of this paper, we will start from the processual approach (^{Moscovici, 1979}), which analyzes social representations within psychic dynamics-the product of individual cognitive processes-and social dynamics-formed by social interaction and contextual processes-. This is based on a hermeneutic approach to social representations focused on the discourses of individuals and groups where information is analyzed in different ways (^{Banchs, 2000}).

The areas of study of social representations can be divided into:

Information, which implies the organization of knowledge possessed by a group with respect to a social object. In this sense, emphasis is placed on the quantity and quality of information possessed by the given group, as well as on the prejudices and stereotypes that may appear in such knowledge. It is worth mentioning that group memberships and social locations mediate the available information.

Field of representation, which expresses the organization and structure-the ordering and hierarchization-of the content of the representation in a systematized manner. This field is organized according to the figurative schema constructed in the process of objectification.

Attitude, which reflects the orientation of people’s behavior: positive, negative, or neutral, comprising affective, cognitive, and behavioral parts (^{Banchs, 1986}; ^{Martínez, 2002}; ^{Moscovici, 1979}; ^{Perera Pérez, 2003}).

Migration as a Psychosocial Phenomenon

Migration is a process in which one or more individuals move from one political-administrative delimitation to another, for a long or definitive period of time, this resulting in changes at the social, political, economic, and cultural levels, both in the country of origin and in that of destination (^{Reyes, 2015}). Migration studies have two approaches: 1) they can have a microanalytical scope, such as case studies;¹ and 2) macrotheoretical analysis, which delves into the general, historical and structural aspects of migration (^{Herrera, 2006}).

In relation to the migratory process, ^{Tizón (1993}) points out four moments to it: preparation, the migratory act, settlement (the period from the arrival of the migrant to the receiving country until he/she manages to satisfy his/her basic needs), and integration (which is understood as the incorporation of new cultural patterns in exchange for the loss of some of his/her own customs). On the other hand, ^{Maldonado Valera et al. (2018}) point out the following vulnerability factors of migrants: the stage they are at in their life cycle, their socioeconomic condition, their familial structure, and their ethnic and migratory conditions.

As for the reasons for migration, ^{García (2004}) proposes: inevitable migration due to lack, caused by the low purchasing power of the person in his or her country of origin, few job opportunities, and lack of security; inevitable migration due to dissatisfaction resulting from economic, social, legal, or environmental uncertainty, in which the person prefers to migrate in order to obtain higher income, professional recognition, or an independent life; and optional migration, in which case the person does not feel external pressure to migrate, rather doing so out of a desire to travel, learn, or specialize professionally, and does not idealize the receiving country or criticize his or her own country too heavily.

According to ^{León (2005}), the main reasons for migration are economic and political issues, as well as labor expectations and salary advantages in the receiving country (^{Pedone, 2002}). Likewise, according to various research, the main reasons for Venezuelans to migrate were the search for new opportunities, the economic situation and personal, legal, and political insecurity in their country (^{Cabrerizo & Villacieros, 2020}; ^{Castillo & Reguant, 2017}; ^{García Arias & Restrepo Pineda, 2019}; ^{Koechlin et al., 2018}); while the reasons for choosing the destination country were language and cultural closeness, having family previously living there, and the possibility of obtaining employment (Castillo & Reguant, 2017).

Although migrants tend to overvalue the positive characteristics of the destination country, these are subsequently contrasted with the subject's own experiences when facing socio-labor and adaptation difficulties in their new context, given that some migrants face intense culture shock and loneliness in the receiving country based on the resources they possess (^{Montero Izquierdo, 2006}). In addition, the cultural representation of the immigrant as someone who successfully returns to their native country exerts considerable social pressure on them (Montero Izquierdo, 2006; ^{Castillo & Reguant, 2017}).

Migrants experience different psychosocial processes as they seek to adapt to their new life in the receiving country, such as migratory mourning, migratory resilience, and the acculturation process (^{Berry, 1997}; ^{Alvarado, 2008}; ^{Ungar, 2013}). According to ^{Achotegui (1999}), migratory mourning is the feeling of losing valuable emotional ties that have influenced the construction of the migrant’s personality (family, friends, social position, etc.), which must be then re-established in the host country. Seven migratory duels can be differentiated: 1) for family and friends, 2) for language, 3) for culture, 4) for land, 5) for status, 6) for contact with the own ethnic group, and

due to physical risks (^{Loizate, 2017}). In this regard, the symptom cluster of extreme grief due to chronic stress caused by loneliness, the failure of the migration project, and the struggle for survival is known as the Ulysses syndrome (^{Achotegui, 2008}).

Migrant resilience is influenced by social networks, kinship groups, community and original cultural resources (^{Ungar, 2013}), as well as by the sense of identity towards the migrants’ original roots, collectivism, spirituality, and life satisfaction (^{Sajquim & Lusk, 2018}). On the other hand, migrant entrepreneurship and support networks are important as a form of personal enrichment due to the interaction of migrants with other cultural patterns (^{Saccani, 2013}; ^{Koechlin et al., 2018}; ^{Martínez & Martínez García, 2018}). Other stress coping strategies include individual mobility, distraction, recategorization, and advantageous social comparisons (^{Urzúa et al., 2017}). In this sense, the preference for strategies that demonstrate the individual’s agency is related to the internal conflict that reduces the likelihood that migrants seek help from public entities in the receiving country, when faced with challenging situations in their acculturation process (^{Rihm Bianchi & Sharim Kovalskys, 2017}).

The acculturation process-which consists of the adoption of elements of the receiving culture, generating changes in the behaviors and attitudes towards, and cognitions, the culture of origin (^{OIM, 2006})-is influenced by factors such as racial similarities, religion, the human and social capital of the parents, the matching level of the expectations and the reality of the country, and generation and context of acceptance towards the migrant (^{Checa & Monserrat, 2015}). In this regard, ^{Berry (1997}) suggests that the migrant can express four types of attitudes towards this phenomenon:

According to the study by ^{Zlobina et al. (2008}) conducted in Spain with immigrants from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Morocco, Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Russia), and sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal and Cameroon), separation and integration were the strategies most commonly deployed. The findings of this study were confirmed by ^{Lara (2017}).

The effects of the migration process in the receiving country may or may not be favorable. Some examples in the economic sphere are the increase in labor competition and poverty rate, loss of jobs, decrease in wages, increase in cases of discrimination at the psychosocial level, and racism or xenophobia-due to migrants being perceived as a danger to those living in the host country, even affecting the mental health of migrants-(^{Mesa, 2006}; ^{Aruj, 2008}; ^{Mera et al., 2017}). The perception of the migrant as an “alien other” is reinforced by the actions or omissions of the State in the receiving culture (^{González & Tavernelli, 2018}); digital media also influence this diffusion by stereotyping and generating prejudices about migrants (^{Ramírez Lasso, 2018}). Thus, the main objective of this research is to learn about the social representations held by Venezuelan immigrants residing in Metropolitan Lima during 2018.

“Why are you here?”: Reasons to Migrate and its Consequences on Migrants

As for the reasons to migrate, the participants pointed out economic necessity in the first place, characterized by facts such as hyperinflation, long lines to obtain food supplies, limitations in the purchase of clothing, impossibility of acquiring medicines, and problems in the supply of basic services. In this regard, it should be noted that such reasons are highly represented in the analysis of their representations.

You also don’t make enough to eat, the minimum wage is not enough for you to eat, let’s not talk about other things, but not even enough to eat, with a minimum wage you will buy a kilo of chicken and that's it, in a month (María B., personal communication, June 14, 2018).

Another reason to migrate was the political situation. The interviewees expressed their discomfort with the government, stating that it has been proven unable to deal with the economic, health and social crisis. “But one has to do these things because of this government that is killing people with hunger and everything, insecurity and all that. This is the government's fault, it is not our fault” (Asarí, personal communication, October 5, 2018).

The consequences of Venezuelan migration are evident at three levels: familial, personal and psychosocial. The consequences at the familial level involve the separation of families, and with it a sense of rupture and division, as well as of economic responsibility, which becomes a reason to assume their current position. This element was mainly pointed out by adult participants, who refer that migrants

Are risk-taking, daring people, because, hey, not everyone risks leaving their family, I at least left my children, I left my mom, I left my dad, I left everything, I left all my things there, I mean, it is not easy to emigrate (Asarí, personal communication, November 12, 2018).

Linked to this, they also pointed out that they have to pay for the expenses of their relatives in Venezuela by working in Peru, so they have to support themselves with the least possible and send the rest in remittances to their relatives. “We live in a way that we can subsist and support ourselves and our families in Venezuela. Many of us (...) will tell you the same, that we are here to work so we can help our families” (Flamber, personal communication, October 12, 2018). This factor is highly relevant for women who migrated with the purpose of sending money to their families in Venezuela.

On a personal level, the most important consequences include the change in lifestyle, which entails taking low-paying informal jobs or being subcontracted, which in turn leads to abstaining from their previous comforts, finding themselves in a country with a different culture and customs. In terms of this, it is worth mentioning that it was mostly young people who related this aspect. “Venezuelans who are professionals, who had years of experiences and had to come here to sell soda or sell [pastries], and they came from a totally different lifestyle. On top of that, it is a different culture” (Flamber, personal communication, October 12, 2018). Thus, the participants see themselves as coming from a more open culture, receptive to migrants, with other ways of getting along in the labor, affective and amicable spheres. At the same time, they relate the stereotypes or prejudices held about Venezuelan identity.

On the other hand, while they experience their change in lifestyle (especially in the workplace) as a critical situation, they perceive that such a situation is normalized in Peru.

There are coworkers who say: ‘No. They are slaves here’, [but] they are not slaves, it’s their culture. Here in Peru you work hard, here in Peru they are educated like that it’s like they

say: ‘here in Peru we do work’, they work hard (Douglas, personal communication, November 19, 2018).

At the psychosocial level, two consequences were identified: first, the stigmatization of Venezuelans, which implies the generalization of a stereotype that represents them as criminals. “Stigmatizing all [the] people who come here just because some are criminals is like saying that all Venezuelans are criminals, and that is a lie” (Wilmer, personal communication, May 15, 2018). This stereotype is associated with the second consequence, the rejection of Venezuelans by the Lima population, reflected in insults, offenses and mistreatment at work, in the street and other spaces.

“There are people [who say things] like ‘go to your country, you Venezuelan thief,’ ‘what are you doing here in Peru?’” (María R., personal communication, August 15, 2018). Both stigma and rejection were reported more frequently by women, due to vulnerability they experience (sexual harassment, human trafficking, pay differentials, precarious working conditions, and so on).

The Decision-Making Process

The decision to migrate involves the assessment of various factors; on the one hand, the migration process, which includes both the decision to migrate process and the migration journey. The decision to migrate refers to the factors that were taken into account to select Peru as a destination, influenced by the economic stability of the country, the recommendations and experiences of friends or relatives, the lack or presence of restrictions for entry at the border, as well as having the money pay for the trip; based on the above, migrants could choose a country as transitional (as Peru was for several participants) or as a final destination. This aspect was more representative among adults.

People mainly “were quite well-off” [had money] and went as far as Chile, Argentina and Panama, those countries were the most... we can say preferred, most sought after destinations; but time passed and it was much cheaper to get to Peru than to get to Chile for example, or to Argentina which is even farther away (María B., personal communication, June 14, 2018).

The migration journey describes the means of transportation used by Venezuelan migrants to reach Peru, and their difficulties, such as physical and mental fatigue, food shortages, etc. This factor was most frequently reported by young people. The route chosen was mainly by bus, due to the impossibility of affording other means. “There are people who come by road, the bus makes the trip a little more pleasant. But imagine those who come as backpackers, sometimes they arrive here without shoes after 15 days of walking” (Flamber, personal communication, October 12, 2018). In this regard, it is worth noting that this journey was more frequently related by men, which is attributed to the fact that men were more descriptive and explicit about their experience of moving to Peru; conversely, women focused more on the social and emotional reasons and consequences of migration.

The second category, called “limitations to emigrate from Venezuela,” highlights the difficulty to pay for their trip, the robberies carried out by their compatriots or the Venezuelan national guard at the border, and the difficulty in obtaining a passport (due to how long the process takes and its high cost). It should be noted that this factor is more prominent among adults in general, and men.

There are many people in Venezuela who do not have a passport, because of the situation they deny it or hide it from you, saying that it is not ready yet, that there are no materials. Now it costs good money, it costs a lot [...] and it takes you up to a year to get it, so that is also unfortunate (Alex, personal communication, October 9, 2018).

Empathetic Attitude

The attitudes related to migration collected in the interviews are divided into three categories. First, “concern for their compatriots who stayed in Venezuela,” which refers to the sadness, disappointment, and helplessness felt by the participants in view of the situation their country is going through, forcing them to emigrate to work abroad. According to the analysis carried out, it was found that this category is more highly represented among adults and women; it is estimated that the difference arises due to the management of the micropolitics of care in the home, and the traditional cultural roles of family care associated with women.

I feel sad because there were many people who, who had (...) Who were already professionals and were used to another lifestyle and then had to start from scratch, to sell whatever on the street, I imagine that they feel bad. (...) I imagine that they feel bad, with so many things achieved, obtained, and then just like that a government comes and tears your life apart (Daniela, personal communication, October 28, 2018).

Second, the category of “help among Venezuelans” frames the actions they carry out through affective, motivational, and cognitive mechanisms to support their compatriots. In this regard, migrants share their experiences about their stay and the procedures to be followed in the host country, both in the labor and legal areas, as well as emotionally. This factor was mainly reported by young people.

Of course, we advise them, we tell them, “Well, you have to do this to get your papers. Go and look for a job. Well, if you can’t get a job, well, go sell some pastries then.” So we motivate them, just as we arrived and went out to find people to guide us. We see Venezuelans arriving, and we guide them as well. There are some who despair because they can't get a job, or we see them crying on the street corners. Well, I went through that, I had that experience. [We tell them] “Be brave, go ahead,” that there are options, to sell pastries, let’s go sell some bombas, let’s look for a way to make a living (Yosilani, personal communication, September 27, 2018).

Finally, as part of an empathetic attitude towards future migrants, through the code “suggestions to improve the situation of Venezuelan migration,” various proposals and initiatives were put forward that the participants consider can help to ameliorate the problems faced by Venezuelan migrants in Peru. These strategies (aimed at both future migrants and the host country) include implementing criminal background checks at the border and speeding up legal residency procedures, campaigns and informative talks in the media urging Peruvians to avoid stereotyping Venezuelans, and finally, inviting both their compatriots and those planning to migrate to embrace Peru with its particular history, problems, customs and culture. This category was mainly reported by adults. “Well look, I consider as such that Peru should deploy information campaigns or talks aimed at Peruvians for them to get to know Venezuelans. And that they understand that this crisis is not only happening to Venezuela” (Flamber, personal communication, October 12, 2018).

It is worth mentioning that the three categories mentioned above, included within the empathetic attitude, also show the positive consequences of the migration experience. Thus, the conditions under which the migratory act unfolds lead to concern, help and suggestions for their fellow countrymen.