Exile as bereavement: socio-psychological manifestations of Chilean exiles in Great Britain.

Political exiles present distinctive socio-psychological problems. The exile crisis is basically a rupture in the individual's cultural past, geographical environment, and attachment to his society and nation, and varies in intensity depending on the individual's past history and the strength of his socio-political commitment. This paper is based on a study of 25 Chilean political refugees of both sexes. The main results is that the psychodynamics of exile is akin to that of bereavement, and must be understood in terms of loss followed by stress caused by adaptation to the new environment.