Religiosity and social support networks in the lives of Brazilian women and their families in Japan

Abstract

Brazilian women in Japanface twofold discrimination in the job market: as women and as migrants. In this context, Brazilian women are socially alienated. This study explores the impact and the meaning of religiosity in the lives of these women and their families. The study has an ethnographic approach. The field research included participant observation of a Catholic group's activities and celebrations; interviews with women were also systematically conducted from January to June 2006, and complemented by data collected in the Saitama diocese during June 2008. This diocese is located in the Kanto region and includes the prefectures of Saitama, Gunma, Tochigi and Ibaraki. Around fifty people attended the services, the majority women. Fifteen interviews were conducted with women who frequented the services; their ages varied from twenty five to fifty years old. The situation of social alienation can cause "physical-moral perturbation", which drives the Brazilian women to search for help from religious groups. Through religious activities and practices, the Brazilians establish codes of meaning and the sense of their own identity within Japanese society. The certainty of being able to rely on the network of social support offered by the group provides comfort for these women, who are living in an insecure environment in the host country. In this way, Brazilian women's search for religiosity implies three aspects vital to their lives in Japan: the search for social, material, and emotional support, religious orientation for their children, and the need to affirm their identity.