The book presents a study of - legal illegal and incarcerated - African immigrants in
Germany. Participants responded to a selection of scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) the Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ) by Schwartz and a
measure of acculturative stress. Acculturative stress and German racism emerged as strong
predictors of poor mental health with problems becoming worse over the years of stay in
Germany. Particularly among 'economic refugees' a precarious job situation and family
fragmentation added grossly to acculturative stress. As John W. Berry the nestor of
acculturation research puts it in his epilogue: What can only help is an increase in basic
hospitality: Making African immigrants welcome in their new home is needed not a bulwark
Europe.
