Abstract

Drawing its roots in the literature on the alienated migrant, which at the end of the nineteenth century introduced the medical notion of "aliénés voyageurs", the scientific debate in social psychology during the years of the Italian economic "boom" helped to construct the representation of the southern migrant as potential deviant and subject to psychological troubles. In several instance researchers on this subject reiterated stereotypes that they mean to oppose. Eventually, the cycle of social struggle at the end of the decade changed the terms of the debate.