Date of Award

1-1-2004

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

School

School of Psychology

Faculty

Faculty of Community Services, Education and Social Sciences

First Supervisor

Dr Lynne Cohen

Second Supervisor

Dr Neil Drew

Third Supervisor

Dr Moira O'Connor

Abstract

The experience of migration and adaptation of ethnically mixed migrants; like the Anglo-Burmese migrants, has received little attention. This group began migrating to Australia, in particular Western Australia, in the 1960s due to changing socio-political circumstances in Burma. The examination of cultural issues in psychological research has operated in a number of different perspectives including cross-cultural psychology, cultural psychology and more recently, community psychology in Australia. The development of community psychology in Australia has led to the development of a community research approach by Bishop, Sonn, Drew and Contos (2002). This approach requires the exploration of the substantive domain using the iterative~ reflective- generative process. This leads to the development of tacit knowledge which is reflected upon and influenced by the conceptual domain. Over subsequent iterations, the conceptual domain develops, resulting in a substantive theory. Three substantive questions were addressed in this series of studies:(l) What, if any, have been the experiences of cultural and social marginalisation of Anglo-Burmese migrants over time? (2) What relationship exists between acculturation outcomes, psychological well-being and psychological sense of community for the Anglo-Burmese migrants? (3) How have the Anglo-Burrnese migrants interpreted their own experience of acculturation within their own unique set of contextual circumstances?

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