792587
editorial2018
ISP0010.1177/0020764018792587International Journal of Social PsychiatryHalbreich
Editorial
Micro-migration: Global domestic
intergenerational cultural conflict
Uriel Halbreich1,2
Many countries in Europe and North America experience
waves of immigrants and refugees with cultural, religious
and socio-economic backgrounds that are different and
oftentimes clash with traditions and cultures of the host
countries (Amnesty International, 2018; Clifton, 2012;
Newport, 2018). Many developed as well as emerging and
developing economies have been experiencing internal
immigration where there are waves of populations’ shifts
from poor rural areas to the rapidly developing and expand-
ing urban industrial metropolises (McCranalan & Martine,
2014; Tocali, 2012). The magnitude of across- and within-
countries migrations is immense and they cause significant
strains on all communities involved. Newcomers who
were uprooted from their previous milieu are required to
adapt to the new unfamiliar environment while struggling
with financial shortage, lack of basic necessities and often-
times hostility of non-hospitable threatened citizenry.
Migration is currently considered to be a global problem
causing concerns on multiple facets of well-being. Nations,
cities, neighbourhoods and individuals are affected and
remedies to reduce negative impacts should be and are
being taken.
Migration is influenced by globalization and the expo-
nential explosion of technological advances. Triggers for
migration include shaken personal safety, violent conflicts,
natural disasters, poverty, discrimination as well as other
reasons that may cause desperation. In pursuit of happi-
ness and prosperity, people are driven to perceived better
destinations. Dream images are oftentimes formulated by
interpretation of messages in mass media and personal
Internet and phone networks. Legal and illegal national
and global transportation routes facilitate mobility within
and across borders.
Issues of macro populations’ migrations from one geo-
graphic location to another occupy news media, politicians
and social scientists on a daily basis. Social and economic
mobility, fluidity and instability are of a wide interest and
concern.
Micro-migration is “Exodus of ‘modernized’ youth
from the bondage of the oppressing traditional cultural val-
ues of their parents, extended family and society”. It has
been percolating under the surface of social texture of a
number of traditional societies and eventually may be a
force to change them in situ.
E CAMDEN SCHIZOPH
International Journal of
Social Psychiatry
1­–2
© The Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0020764018792587
https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764018792587
journals.sagepub.com/home/isp
A major driver of micro-migration has been the prolif-
eration, intensive and extensive penetration and availabil-
ity of Internet-driven information, ideas and trends.
Laptops and especially smartphones are widely available,
inexpensive and a basic personal necessity in many areas
that are considered, by Western perception, to be ‘remote’
and poor. Attempts by governments or closed communities
to block or limit electronic information have mostly failed.
The power of electronic communications was clearly dem-
onstrated in the protests of the so-called ‘Arab spring’.
Internet is also wisely used by commercial, political and
even underground organizations. E-communications pen-
etrate closed domestic walls and enter ears and minds of
any person who is exposed to them. Western fashions,
trends, ideas and concepts flood the e-information vehicles
and networks. Women and other disadvantaged popula-
tions become more aware of their potential opportunities,
possibilities and rights, and these may be misaligned with
laws implemented in their countries and imposed by their
families.
In traditional societies, there is an intergenerational
gap in the impact and rate of changing attitudes and cul-
tural norms. Importantly, a large number of highly edu-
cated females whose aspirations are at odds with those
of their families’ expectations are struggling for self-
fulfilment and realization of their equal rights and
dreams. They do not necessarily wish to run away and
migrate out of their community and home. They emo-
tionally, culturally and conceptually migrate from their
nest but stay within it.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
1TheState University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, NY, USA
2Section
on Interdisciplinary Collaboration, World Psychiatric
Association (WPA), Geneva, Switzerland
Corresponding author:
Uriel Halbreich, The State University of New York (SUNY), 255
Nottingham Terrace, Buffalo, NY 14216, USA.
Email: uhalbreich@gmail.com
2 International Journal of Social Psychiatry 00(0)

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