Social Representations of Haitian Immigrants about Labor in Brazil

Representações Sociais de Imigrantes Haitianos sobre o Trabalho no Brasil

Representaciones Sociales de Inmigrantes Haitianos sobre el Trabajo en Brasil

Abstract

The growth in the number of immigrants in Brazil has stimulated reflections on how these people represent and signify aspects of the new context in which they are situated. This study aimed to trace social representations of Haitian immigrants about work in Brazil. Fifteen Haitians from a city in southern Brazil participated in the study. We used a questionnaire and an interview that addressed what they thought of work in Brazil before they migrated, at the time of the interview, and what they imagined for the future. The answers of the questionnaire were submitted to a statistical program and analyzed descriptively. The content of the interviews was treated by the IRaMuTeQ program. The shared thought about work in Brazil changed over time. Before they migrated, they imagined many opportunities and high salaries. In Brazil they faced difficulties with heavy work and low salaries. They hope that the future will be better, with a desired job and the family present. This study generated information that may support public policies that facilitate the adaptation to the Brazilian culture and labor market.

Keywords:
social representation; labour; immigration

Resumo

O aumento de imigrantes no Brasil tem estimulado reflexões sobre como essas pessoas representam e significam aspectos do novo contexto em que estão inseridas. Este estudo objetivou identificar representações sociais de imigrantes haitianos sobre o trabalho no Brasil. Participaram 15 haitianos de uma cidade do Sul do Brasil. Foi utilizado um questionário e uma entrevista que tratou do que pensavam do trabalho no Brasil antes de migrarem, no momento da entrevista e o que eles imaginavam para o futuro. As respostas do questionário foram submetidas a um programa estatístico e analisadas descritivamente. O conteúdo das entrevistas foi tratado pelo programa IRaMuTeQ. O pensamento compartilhado sobre o trabalho no Brasil mudou com o tempo. Antes de migrarem imaginavam muitas oportunidades e altos salários. Já no Brasil enfrentavam dificuldades com o trabalho pesado e baixos salários. Para o futuro nutrem a esperança de que será melhor, com um emprego desejado e a família presente. Esse estudo gerou informações que podem embasar políticas públicas facilitadoras para adaptação à cultura brasileira e ao mercado de trabalho.

Palavras-chave:
representação social; trabalho; imigração

Resumen

El aumento de inmigrantes en Brasil ha estimulado reflexiones sobre cómo esas personas representan y significan aspectos del nuevo contexto en que están insertadas. Este estudio objetivó identificar representaciones sociales de inmigrantes haitianos sobre el trabajo en Brasil. Participaron 15 haitianos de una ciudad del sur de Brasil. Se utilizó un cuestionario y una entrevista que trató de lo que pensaban del trabajo en Brasil antes de migrar, en el momento de la entrevista y lo que imaginaban para el futuro. Las respuestas del cuestionario fueron sometidas a un programa estadístico y analizadas descriptivamente. El contenido de las entrevistas fue tratado por el programa IRaMuTeQ. El pensamiento compartido sobre el trabajo en Brasil cambió con el tiempo. Antes de migrar se imaginaban muchas oportunidades y altos salarios. Ya en Brasil, enfrentaban dificultades con el trabajo pesado y bajos salarios. Para el futuro, nutren la esperanza de que será mejor, con un empleo deseado y la familia presente. Este estudio generó informaciones que pueden basar políticas públicas facilitadoras para adaptación a la cultura brasileña y al mercado de trabajo.

Palabras clave:
representación social; trabajo; inmigración

The reference to the person who is moving around the world is attributed some nomenclatures. Emigration is the movement that occurs when a person leaves their place of birth seeking a different place for residence. By leaving their place of birth this emigrant becomes an immigrant by entering a new territory. The migrant is the one who leaves from one place to another, indicates the movement (Pimentel & Cotinguiba, 2014).

Intense migrations around the world characterized the international context especially after World War II, with transit of people everywhere and in new directions. This movement was intensified for distinct reasons at the end of the twentieth century and in the early decades of the 21st century. In recent years, migrating people carry with them a global identity, resulting from influence of the media, technology, and a consumerist lifestyle resulting from the dynamics of large cities. On the other hand, the continuous movements make people from diverse backgrounds cross paths; these people bring with them characteristics and customs that can contrast with those of the places to which they are headed (Zanforlin, 2012).

In the movement of people around the world, the preferred countries for immigration are the most developed countries such as the United States, Canada, and France; however, after the terrorist attacks that struck the U.S. in September 2001, the rules for the entry of immigrants in these countries were hardened, thus other countries were considered as an option. In Brazil, immigration had times of peak in the past and was once again seen as an opportunity for new immigrants after 2008. This choice can be considered not only because of the situation of the country of origin, but also due to the context Brazil experienced as a result of the changes in the economy in the first two decades of the 2000s, with positive results in the economic and social areas, and the expectation of major events such as the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 (Cogo, 2014; Fernandes & Ribeiro, 2015; Pimentel & Cotinguiba, 2014).

The context of the immigration of Haitians to Brazil is part of a set of different motivating elements that are associated with the tragic setting of the 2010 earthquake. The earthquake was one of the factors that contributed strongly to the worsening of situations experienced to the extreme that were already part of the social context, such as unemployment, poverty and very difficult political situations (Pimentel & Cotinguiba, 2014).

The migration of Haitians to Brazil had a subtle beginning. Fernandes and Ribeiro (2015) indicate that around 200 Haitians crossed the Brazilian border in Peru in 2010. In 2011, 4,000 Haitians were already in Brazil. This number gradually increased and around 20,000 Haitians entered Brazil in 2013. Data from the Federal police point out that in 2015 there were almost 120,000 foreigners registered in Brazil. In the classification of foreigners, Haitians were in third position with more than 60,000 registered immigrants and according to data from the National Committee for Refugees (CONARE) they are among the five nationalities with more requests of refuge, with 48,371 requests in March 2016 (Ministry of Justice and Public Security, 2018).

The decision of migrating to Brazil may result from factors beyond the state of poverty experienced by the Haitian population and the occurrence of the earthquake. There are other reasons: according to Thomaz (2013), Haitians came attracted by the country’s position as an emerging market, which supported the prospect of employment and also by the projects developed by Brazilians within Haiti. Work also motivated change in reality, migratory movements and also because their first options - North America and Europe - hindered the entry of foreigners. Data surveyed by Cavalcanti, Oliveira and Tonhati (2014) highlight that between 2011 and 2013 the number of immigrants in the formal labor market in Brazil grew by 50.9%, and among the immigrants, Haitians became the largest nationality in the formal market in 2013.

When moving to Brazil, Haitians bring traits of their history and a network of relationships composed of relatives who stayed in Haiti and people who arrived before them in Brazil. With family members, in addition to sentimental ties, they have a commitment to help and send money; while contacts in Brazil are points of support and reference in the new destination. It is perceived how important it is to maintain these existing relationship networks and also to create new networks. The interaction of these networks aims to reinforce the help among themselves and to generate comfort in the destination country (Cogo, 2014). These ties help to curb the feeling of strangeness caused by the cultural, language, and climate differences, among others. Integration can be difficult and take time, as pointed out by Fernandes and Ribeiro (2015), the coexistence and relationships between Haitians can often end up happening only among them.

The factors involved in the adaptation and restart of the life of Haitians arriving in Brazil are countless and priorities cannot be established. Among the various subjects that should be problematized and discussed, the work of these immigrants in Brazil is highly relevant. Understanding how the reality found in Brazil is represented and shared socially by Haitians can be an important tool to trace nodal points of the migratory phenomenon from the point of view of the migrants in relation to the activities they are performing as a means of earning a living. Social psychology is concerned with understanding the migratory process and its impacts on the established social relations, in this case, with special emphasis on the work of migrants.

The Theory of Social Representations (TSR) enables deepening the understanding of the origin of the significations that the social group transmits and that become representations of everyday life. It facilitates approaches to the complexity of the formation of this network of shared definitions that arise spontaneously and by common accord in a specific group (Jodelet, 2001).

Social representations are thoughts in motion. People, by verbally expressing what they think in their social relations, make their ideas travel and be passed on to other people. In this process of expressing and interacting the representations are formed and move. A social occurrence, an important event for a contingent of people, when transmitted to others by the media, are constituted as social representations. These social representations can be theorized. The TSR seeks to explain how this knowledge arises, has continuity or undergoes changes in society (Polli & Camargo, 2015).

The TSR originated with the work of Serge Moscovici on the social representation of psychoanalysis by Parisians, published in 1961 (Moscovici, 2012). Moscovici (1981) emphasized that the representations are disseminated in everyday life through language and overflow thoughts. Social representations transcend behavior because individuals are considered by what they think and the energy spent to understand the world. It is a specific way of acquiring knowledge and expressing what has already been acquired, seeking to create a shared world that makes sense. Social representations originate in the daily exercise of understanding and exposing the reality critically. This exteriorization has the power to lead people to take directions and positions.

The representations are born in a complex context, within social groups that have their own values for the situations experienced. They are formed in the relations of these groups and reappear strongly and significantly as the situation is presented. However, as they are not isolated phenomena, they are influenced by the institutions and the media. They can be understood as a knowledge shared by a social group that has a goal of constructing the social reality shared by this group (Jodelet, 2001).

Work in Brazil for Haitian Immigrants

The TSR approach to the interpretation of the Haitian migrant labor is relevant to understanding the reality built by the social relations and discourses. According to Jodelet (2001), the theory allows to deepen the understanding as to the origin of the significations that the social group transmit and that become representations of everyday life. The TSR facilitates approaches to the complexity of the formation of this network of shared definitions that arise spontaneously and by common accord in a specific group.

According to Polli and Camargo (2016), by creating explanations for the facts of life, people are creating representations. The social representation is the signification that a fact or object receives, it is representation because it is full of meaning and is social because it originates in social relations and is transmitted by a group of people by the conversations they share. To people, relationship bonds are preponderant in decision-making. According to De Sá (2015), these bonds are important in the probability that the Haitians emigrate, because they derive from the networks created during the decision-making process and from the organization of these people in the movement process. In this process, they accumulate resources that are used as reference and that are not available as information, material assistance and social support that flow through bonds with relatives and the community.

Some studies on the migration of Haitians to Brazil indicate that before traveling Haitians gather information about the labor market. Some seek information through their networks of contacts who already live in Brazil. Most have difficulty to get work when they arrive, often due to lack of mastery of the language. Those who enter the labor market do that, in most cases, informally. They occupy positions that require little qualification and offer low remuneration (Fernandes & Castro, 2014; Rawlinson et al., 2014; Santos, 2016; Silva, 2013; Véran, Noal, & Fainstat, 2014; Zeni & Filippim, 2014).

In considering the consequences that migration generates both for the immigrants and for the society that receives them and taking into account the importance that the work assumes in this context, this study sought to trace the thought socially shared among Haitian immigrants about labor in Brazil. The TSR was the methodological theoretical contribution to approach this community. Therefore, we sought to trace what the Haitian migrants think about work in Brazil, what knowledge they bring and what they think about the future. We sought to reconstitute the reality assimilated from the point of view of the immigrants’ everyday life, considering the thought that they built in the process of life in Haiti and in Brazil. Our purpose was to trace what was the thought formed about labor in Brazil and what motivated them to move, understand if what they imagined was realized when searching and finding work and what the immigrants hoped could change in their professional lives for the future. Thus, this study aimed to trace the social representations of Haitian immigrants about labor in Brazil.

Method

Participants

Fifteen Haitians participated in this study, 12 men and three women, aged between 19 and 37 years (M = 28.8; SD= 4.82) who communicated well in Portuguese. Six participants were selected from a list of 150 immigrants registered at a Federal University of southern Brazil. The other nine participants were contacted at the Migrant Assistance Center (CEAMIG) of the research city. All participants were selected by convenience.

The names of the 15 participants were exchanged for the letter “P” followed by number in ascending order. All respondents reside in the metropolitan region or in a capital in southern Brazil. Information about the participants’ profile is shown in Table 1.

Table 1
Characterization of participants

P	Sex	Age	Sends money	Profession Haiti	Educational level	Profession Brazil
P1	F	25	Yes	Student	Technician	Saleswoman
P2	M	23	Yes	Computer Technician	Attending higher education in Brazil	Kitchen assistant
P3	M	30	Yes	Assistant photographer	Attending higher education in Brazil	Griddle operator
P4	M	27	Yes	Driver	Complete secondary education	Kitchen assistant
P5	M	26	Yes	Mathematics teacher	Complete higher education - Mathematics	Restaurant kitchen
P6	M	28	Yes	Agricultural technician	Complete secondary education	Unemployed
P7	F	19	Yes	Tagged clothes	Complete secondary education	Unemployed
P8	M	27	Yes	Administration technician	Incomplete higher education	Unemployed
P9	M	36	Yes	Electrician	Incomplete higher education	Unemployed
P10	M	30	No	Computer technician	Complete higher education - Psychology	Unemployed
P11	M	37	Yes	Plumber/Electrician	Incomplete higher education	Cleaning assistant
P12	M	35	Yes	French mathematics teacher	Complete higher education - Theology	Father
P13	M	31	No	Customs	Incomplete higher education	Unemployed
P14	M	28	Yes	Baggage carrier	Incomplete higher education	Unemployed
P15	F	30	No	Student	Incomplete higher education	Cooker

• Note. P = participant.

Instruments

To conduct this study, we used a questionnaire to characterize the participants and an in-depth interview that included three inductive questions. The questionnaire contained questions on the participants’ profiles and also questions about school education, family information, and work in Brazil and Haiti. The in-depth interview had the following inductive questions: (1) When you lived in Haiti what did you think about work in Brazil?; (2) What do you think about it now (about work in Brazil)?; (3) What do you expect as to work and opportunities for the future?

Procedure

Data collection. To access the participants, emails were sent to 150 Haitian immigrants registered at a Federal University in southern Brazil. Of these, six Haitians agreed to participate in the research. The interview was conducted in a room of a Federal university between April and August 2016, according to the availability of the respondents. The other participants were selected at the Migrant Assistance Center (CEAMIG) of the research city, in the same period. Those who agreed to participate were directed to a reserved room.

In the first contact the participants received information about the purpose and procedures of the research, they were informed that they could at any time interrupt their participation without any consequence. Permission to record the interview was requested. The time with the participants included signing of the free and informed consent form (ICF), completing the questionnaire and conducting the interview. The entire procedure had an average duration of 1 hour. The interviews were conducted individually.

Data analysis. The data obtained using the questionnaire were statistically treated with the aid of the statistical program SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 16.0. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed in terms of absolute frequency, mean, and standard deviation.

The data collected through interviews were transcribed and subsequently submitted to the IRaMuTeQ (Interface de R pour lês Analyses Multidimensionnel - les de Textes et de Questionnaires) program, which was developed by Pierre Ratinaud (2009). IRaMuTeQ makes it possible to analyze the verbalized material that was transformed into text, treating textual data by descending hierarchical classification (DHC), in which text segments (TS) are organized according to their specific vocabulary and, thus, associated to each class (Camargo & Justo, 2013). The program works with Texts that are structured according to the type of research performed. The Texts, in this case, are the participants’ answers to each of the three questions that were defined by the researcher. After transcription of the interviews, the answers were organized into three files and originated three analysis corpora.

The program then classified these segments according to the similarity of their contents. Segments that address the same subjects are grouped into a same class that can be an indication of a social representation or of its elements in relation to the object of study in question (Camargo & Justo, 2013).

Ethical Considerations

The steps of the research execution involved the submission of the research project to the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Hospital Instituto Paranaense de Otorrinolaringologia (IPO). The research project was approved by opinion no. 1295972, of October 26, 2015.

Results

Although we analyzed three research corpora, resulting from the three inductive questions, we chose to present only the description of the results of the second question: What do you think now about work in Brazil? The results of the analysis of the other two corpora will be presented in a synthetic way to enable understanding the evolution of the social representations of labor in Brazil for Haitians. Considering the temporal sequence, the results will be presented in the order of presentation of the questions.

Social Representations about Labor in Brazil before Immigrating

To analyze the answers to the question about what they thought about work in Brazil when they still resided in Haiti, a DHC was performed with 15 Texts that originated from the transcription of the participants’ answers to this question. The corpus was analyzed with the aid of the IRaMuTeQ program and originated 230 text segments (TSs), of which 75% were considered, which contained 1,188 different words. For the analysis, we considered the words with a frequency equal to or higher than four and chi-square with statistical significance (χ² ≥ 3.84, gl = 1). The DHC resulted in five classes composed of text segments that were different among themselves.

These five classes, which deal with the social representations that the respondents formed about work in Brazil before landing, have points based on the context of the representations. The country’s openness, with the granting of humanitarian visa, considered as an opportunity for employment and study, the encouragement of people who were already here and reported that they had jobs, the reality of destruction and crisis in Haiti, boosted decision making. Thus, it can be said that the social representations formed by the participants were that Brazil emerged as a new opportunity, a country with many jobs and with structure to provide better living and education conditions. The country was seen as a space where it would be possible to study and work with a high salary.

Social Representations about Labor in Brazil at the Time of the Interview

The corpus originated from the answers to the second question: What do you think now about work in Brazil? It consisted of 15 Texts, which resulted in 327 text segments (TSs) that contained 1,593 different words. For the analysis, we considered the words with a frequency equal to or higher than four and chi-square with statistical significance (χ² ≥ 3.84, gl = 1). The rate of TSs retained for analysis was 88%. The DHC resulted in seven classes composed of text segments that were different among themselves. In each of the classes the class title was displayed; the words that compose the TSs with the corresponding frequencies and the chi-square value.

Figure 1 shows that the first partition of the corpus opposes class one, which deals with studying and learning, to the other classes. The second partition shows the opposition of classes six, alone in Brazil and five that has the title difficulties/bills in relation to the other classes. In the third partition it is noted that classes six and five oppose each other. The third partition also opposes classes four and three, respectively called change in expectation and Brazil better country, to classes seven and two, titled respectively work in Brazil and difficulties faced, between themselves. In a fourth partition, classes four and three oppose each other, which also occurs with classes seven and two.

Figure 1
Dendrogram of the descending hierarchical classification on the social representations of Labor in Brazil for Haitian immigrants.

Next, each of the classes will be presented with excerpts from the interviews that illustrate them. At the end of each transcription, the participant number, date of arrival in Brazil, sex, and age are indicated.

Class 4 - Change of Expectation

Class four consisted of 35 TSs, equivalent to 12% of the corpus. No associated variable. The class consists of text segments that contain words such as: arrive, person, want, change, dream, among others. This class reflects the change in expectation, when what was found when arriving in Brazil is not equal to what was imagined:

Something you are expecting, the way you are expecting, does not happen, not only that, I won’t say that I had a lot of satisfaction, sincerely I won’t say that, my expectations were higher than what I managed to achieve, I expected to change my lifestyle and the way I lived, now I am dissatisfied because I could not fulfill my dream. (P10, April 2014, M, 30).

Class 3 - Brazil better Country

Class three consisted of 33 TSs, equivalent to 11% of the corpus. It has Haitians with higher education as associated variable. The class consists of text segments that contain words such as: arrive, different, Brazil, good, among others. There is an indication that Brazil is a better country than Haiti. The answer of one of the participants enables understanding what they feel:

In fact, today, I’m happy, in a year and a half that I’m here, we saved money, it’s not much, but today the situation is bad for everyone, for the Brazilian people it is also bad, even when I arrived here I thought: any work I can get I will do. (P4, April 2014, M, 27).

Class 7 - Work in Brazil

Class seven consisted of 40 TSs, equivalent to 14% of the corpus. It is associated with participants who have no higher education and who have been in Brazil for up to two years. The class is composed of TSs that contains words such as : work, get, job, and others. This class refers to aspects that reflect the work in Brazil, the difficulties as to getting work, the current situation of the country, the relationship with Brazilians. As can be observed in the report of P14:

I’ve lived in Brazil for two years, I’ve only worked a year and a month in a restaurant, I’ve been unemployed for six months, I’m looking for work and when I go looking for a job they tell me that there are no jobs for foreigners. (P14, Nov. 2014, M, 28).

Class 2 - Difficulties faced

Class two consisted of 46 TSs, equivalent to 16% of the corpus. It is associated with Haitian women. The class consists of text segments that contain words such as: talk, work, hard, reside, among others. The report of the problems experienced is concerning. As demonstrated by the excerpt that illustrates the content of the class:

Now I’m just working, I don’t like it much because there are few Brazilians who like foreigners there where I work in the restaurant, I always do everything, I do the cleaning, cook, prepare the pasta, and the Brazilians who work there work less, I work more, I don’t say anything, I’m quiet, because I’m there to work so I’m quiet. (P.15, jan 2014, F, 30).

Class 6 - Alone in Brazil

Class six consisted of 33 TSs, equivalent to 11% of the corpus. No associated variable. The class consists of text segments with words such as: stay, family, worse, children, among others. The class deals with the need and desire to have loved ones close by, and also the desire to help the relatives who stayed in Haiti. As in the report of P9:

Now I’m not well because I’m not working, I have children to support, they are in Haiti, but they will come here because they requested visas for them and for my wife, I’ve been away for a long time, if it weren’t for the crisis... They intend to come here in December and I’m sad for not seeing them, I have a son and a daughter aged three and six years. (P9, April 2014, M, 36).

Class 5 - Difficulties and Monthly Bills

Class five consisted of 51 TSs, equivalent to 18% of the corpus. The class is associated with respondents who have no higher education. It consists of text segments containing words such as: pay, money, rent , buy, among others. The reports converge to low salary, dissatisfaction with the life without quality and without prospects, the difficulty in paying the bills of the month. An excerpt illustrates the characteristics of the class:

I think now my life is no better than it was before in Haiti, I left all my stuff, I left my motorcycle, home, to come here, but here I didn’t buy anything. Since I got here two years ago, I didn’t buy anything. I just saved some money, I expected another situation, better salary, better job, when I was in Haiti I didn’t pay rent, only energy and water bills. I lived with my parents. (P6, April 2014, M, 28).

Class 1 - Study and Learn

Class one consisted of 52 TSs, equivalent to 18% of the corpus. It is associated with male Haitians who are attending higher education. It is illustrated by text segments with the words : learn, start, study, program, enter, University, among others. This class is about studying and new interests. As can be observed in the report of P3:

A refugee and foreigner especially who enters a country, any country, has to learn the language or they will not be able to talk to anyone... The only thing I wanted was to get into college, because it’s my dream to study, I like to study a lot and I started to learn the language and after a month I managed to talk to a teacher and I asked you know how I do to get into the Federal university? (P3, Jan 2014, M, 30).

Work in Brazil

When analyzing the answers to the question about work in Brazil, it can be observed that the social representations of work have changed. At the time of the interview, it can be perceived that the social representations of work were no longer the same as they had before arriving in Brazil. At the time of arrival there was hope and belief in opportunities, because their acquaintances shared messages of confidence with the prospect of several available jobs, and when settling in Brazil they were gradually adapted to its reality.

Social Representations about the Future

To analyze the answers to the question about what they expected about work and opportunities for the future, a DHC was performed with the aid of the IRaMuTeQ program. The corpus for analysis consisted of 15 Texts that correspond to the answers of the 15 participants to this question. The corpus originated 200 TSs that contained 1,098 different words. For the analysis, we considered the words with a frequency equal to or higher than four and chi-square with statistical significance (χ² ≥ 3.84, gl = 1). The rate of text segments selected for analysis was 67%. The DHC resulted in four classes composed of text segments that were different among themselves.

When analyzing the answers to this question it was found that the social representations about work are not evident as something projected for the future, because the future seems nebulous to them. The participants do not speak of plans, but of intentions. They want to stay in Brazil, because when comparing with Haiti they think that Brazil is still better. They show a desire to bring their relatives. They want to divide their time between work and study, aiming at a future with better choices.

Social Representations of Labor in Brazil at three Times

There is a line of thinking that defines the first time, questions that were fundamental in decision-making arise. There was a shared and reinforced thought, together with other people, that Brazil was a country of work opportunities, and this thought was decisive at the time of migrating. In conjunction with the hope of employment, reported by relatives and acquaintances who lived in Brazil. They wanted to study, complete their education at the university or start a new program. They intended to achieve a salary with which they could pay the monthly bills and send money to relatives.

The people who encouraged them to migrate reinforced a thought already formed about work before migrating, which included the ease of getting jobs and the extensive offer of jobs. There was the influence of an excitement derived from the informal communication networks (word of mouth) and the media, through the path of influences that were essential in the representative construction (Jodelet, 2001).

The respondents had optimistic representations of the work and life they would have in Brazil. The vision of a country of opportunity and a promising future. Possibly the economic and political situation of Brazil changed much from 2014 to 2017, the prospects were good, the opportunities existed, but gradually succumbed to a profound recession, with income losses and unemployment. The memory of a period from 2011 to 2013 referred to those times of prosperity where the crisis was considered only in the predictions.

In the social representations of work narrated at the time of the interview, it was possible to observe the formation of four pillars that reflected what they thought about their lives. The expressions that supported the first pillar, Hope, are the desire to study and learn. The accounts show the change in thought, accepting life as it presents itself, which characterizes the second pillar: Acceptance. Settled in Brazil, expectations change, it is when they realize that nothing was as they imagined. The representations were transformed: now they share the difficulties they found and the acceptance of what they cannot change.

In the third pillar: Work, the participants reported that the main reason for their immigration was the search for work. They reported the arrival in the city and the search for job, some participants say there were many jobs available. However, the predominant SR is that the work is far from ideal. With many demands and little financial return. There is a change in the social representations here; now they are loaded with disappointment and apprehension. The fourth pillar: Everyday life, refers to housing, with whom they share the housing and how they pay the bills, and how this reality is worsened with the absence of the family. The participants already had some acquaintances in Brazil who helped them upon arrival, almost everyone had the help of this same person to get the first job. The low salary is mentioned and the difficulty in paying the bills as well. The participants report that the situation was not as expected. They also talk about how the country’s economic situation impacted their situations.

It can be observed that the social representations of work in Brazil that the participants had before arriving changed when they were already living here. The expectations were positive previously, as they had heard the optimistic account of their acquaintances. After a while their view changed, because they reported that the available jobs demanded little qualification, mostly unskilled work, with low salaries, making it impossible to pay the monthly bills and send money to relatives.

As for the future, expectations or hopes are fixed in three positions. Staying in Brazil in any way and bringing the relatives; wanting to study and pursuit a better life, combining work and study; and that Brazil is better than Haiti. It is observed that when dealing with the subject future, the participants have plans to achieve a better job and want to study.

Based on analysis of the answers to the three questions, we may find changes in the social representations about work in Brazil that they had before migrating and after facing the situation and everyday practices. The passage of time was decisive in the change in the social representations of work. In the first period, which includes the moving and the arrival in Brazil, the representations were built with expectations, there was a mental construction of the situation resulting from reported and shared facts that formed an optimistic view. The thought of an ideal country, full of good jobs and opportunities. In the second period, already in Brazil, the inevitable observation of reality occurred, the work was arduous, demanded more physical vigor than intellectual knowledge and salaries were low. When referring to the future, words of despondency arise, but there is also hope that the future may change rapidly. The existence of social representations about work in the future cannot be addressed, since they are not developed. What exists is the hope of a future with better living conditions, with jobs where they can use the training they already have or intend to obtain, study and work, and that the country can recover and provide more opportunities.

Discussion

Labor seems to have been the main factor that encouraged the participants of this research to migrate to Brazil, which appeared as a country of opportunity. De Sá (2015) also found that, before migrating to Brazil, the Haitians investigated issues that were important to them at that time: employability, security (political and economic) and the possibility of living in Brazil legally. Fernandes and Castro (2014) and Silva (2013) could observe that labor motivated the coming to Brazil, followed by the pursuit of better living conditions.

Expectations were not fulfilled when they arrived in Brazil, since the situation found was inconsistent with the hopes that they had of a fulfilling life. De Sá (2015), similarly, found that after arriving in Brazil the expectations were frustrated, as the Haitians realized that the salary was not as they had imagined, they felt disappointed by the difficulties faced and the poor prospect of professional and economic ascension. Similarly, Fernandes and Castro (2014) found that the immigrants were unhappy with the salaries and the situation of work, they wanted more opportunities to study. They said they needed more information before migrating. Silva (2013) found that many of them would like to continue their education, complain about the offer of employment only in the area of services and speak of disappointment with the jobs and salaries that are usually minimum wage.

Even so, the Haitians show hope when assessing the current life situation and intend to remain in Brazil, fighting for a better situation. According to them, although they have not found in Brazil what they expected, life in Haiti is even more difficult.

By analyzing the studies of De Sá (2015), Fernandes and Castro (2014), and Silva (2013), some common points can be observed. It was found that the information and references of Brazil that they had before immigrating were based on the relationships they maintained with close people, on the news, on conversations with people who were already in Brazil and on the openness of the country through the humanitarian visa for Haitian immigrants. The main reason that led them to migrate was work.

Expectations were very different from reality. It is concluded that the information they had was inconsistent with the actual situation and they found that they did not have specific information about the type of work available and the salary range. They were dissatisfied in general, they thought the cost of living high, salaries low, growth opportunities scarce and hindering social ascension. In common they also had the desire to study, to seek new opportunities through the path of education.

This study enabled us to know the social representations of labor that Haitian immigrants had before coming to Brazil, those they now had after arriving, and their expectations for the future. This set of information proves highly relevant to understand the dynamics involved in this migratory movement. Factors that boost migration, observation of the Brazilian reality, and expectations for a desired future. These are thoughts shared by Haitians living in a capital in southern Brazil. Perhaps they are social representations of a whole community that left their country of origin to pursuit opportunities they did not find in Brazil. It shows the need to analyze the policies for assistance to migrants, including those from other countries, that arrive in Brazil with many hopes and almost no knowledge of the reality they will find here.

This study shows the need to disseminate more information for those who intend to live in Brazil and for those who chose it as their second country, so they can have access to continuing their education, since many of them show this interest, in pursuit of a better future. Is it also important to analyze Haiti: what situations make life in Brazil - even with unemployment, lack of opportunities and lack of access - still better than life in Haiti? By tracing how the thoughts are shared by this group of people, their social representations, we can know a little more of their histories, their battles, their frustrations and their hopes. Brazilian society cannot disregard this context of the entry of immigrants; it needs to be discussed, problematized and addressed.

This study investigated the social representations of only 15 Haitian immigrants living in southern Brazil. Some important information was collected, but it is important to know better the reality that immigrants from different origins have found when they arrived in Brazil. Generating information that can support public policies that enable a less impactful adaptation to the Brazilian culture and to the labor market. Further studies are needed on immigrants arriving in Brazil, about their habits, expectations and social representations.

The consideration that this reality exists and cannot be ignored suggests some challenges, for example, in the reception of migrants arriving in Brazil. The challenge is seeking to meet the immediate needs and prevent excesses: it is a fact that these people who bring their own history and culture will undergo a process of adaptation and changes will occur over time. These changes may be seen as positive, such as cultural expansion and enrichment; or as negative, such as reinforcement and worsening of prejudices. Programs aiming at integrating this population group into society should be developed.

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• 1
  Article derived from the master’s thesis of the first author under the supervision of the second, defended in 2017, in the Graduate Program in Psychology at the Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná.
• 2
  Nara Angela dos Anjos is a Master in Psychology from Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná, Curitiba-PR, Brazil.
• 3
  Gislei Mocelin Polli is a Professor of the Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná, Curitiba-PR, Brazil.
• 4
  Authors’ Contribution: All authors made substantial contributions to the conception and design of this study, to data analysis and interpretation, and to the manuscript revision and approval of the final version. All the authors assume public responsibility for content of the manuscript.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  14 Oct 2019
• Date of issue
  2019

History

• Received
  27 July 2017
• Reviewed
  25 Apr 2018
• Accepted
  18 May 2018