Examining life in detention: A process of survey translation and adaptation through an ecological and collaborative approach

This paper illustrates the process we engaged in to translate and adapt a survey to examine life in a migration-related detention center in Italy from the perspective of migrants detained. The process consisted of: the forward translation of the original measure performed by four independent translators; a blind backward translation to identify misinterpretations or incorrect cross-cultural and contextual adaptations; a synthesis of all translations to obtain a semifinal version; the creation of an Expert Committee composed of scholars, practitioners, and migrants with experience of detention to assess equivalence and content validity; and, finally, pretesting with a group of 15 detainees. Through this multi-step process we obtained a measure capable of grasping the context-specific meanings, needs and experiences that characterize migrants' life in detention. The challenges and benefits of a collaborative and ecological approach to measurement translation and adaption are discussed in the final section.