Mr. Marco Sassoon is a scholar whose work integrates psychology, medical anthropology, and critical global mental health, with a strong focus on the psychosocial consequences of contemporary migration regimes. His academic and professional trajectory is characterized by an interdisciplinary approach that bridges clinical insight with ethnographic depth, enabling nuanced analyses of how structural forces shape mental health experiences. His research centers on the impacts of restrictive migration governance on individuals, families, and communities in contexts of departure, with particular attention to forced return, prolonged uncertainty, and social marginalization. Through immersive fieldwork and close collaboration with local civil-society organizations, his work foregrounds lived experiences, illness narratives, and community-based resilience strategies, while critically examining how mental health knowledge and care practices are produced and negotiated in plural medical landscapes. In parallel with his research activity, he contributes to socially engaged therapeutic practices and activist-oriented health services inspired by critical and decolonial perspectives. His scholarly output includes peer-reviewed publications in internationally recognized journals and a forthcoming book addressing psychotherapy as a vehicle for social change, reflecting his commitment to linking theory, practice, and social transformation. He has developed collaborative networks with academic institutions and grassroots organizations, promoting ethical, reciprocal, and locally grounded research partnerships. Overall, his contributions address significant gaps in understanding the mental health dimensions of migration control policies, highlighting the embodiment of structural inequalities and offering innovative perspectives that advance debates in medical anthropology, migration studies, and global mental health, while supporting community empowerment and engaged research practices.
Profile: Orcid
Featured Publication
Sassoon, M. (2025). Death before dishonor: Dealing with psychosocial distress in the aftermath of forced-return migration in Dakar. Medical Anthropology.