Decisions about migration, the emotional consequences of migration, and the ability to adapt after resettlement are all likely to vary according to features such as the person’s age, their position in the family, and their employment skills. Older people have often been especially reluctant to move and the most distressed afterwards. Younger relatives of elderly people forced to leave Strathnaver during the Highland clearances or Imber when it was requisitioned for military training have recalled how they were “heart broken”, failed to settle in strange surroundings, and sometimes died soon after the evacuation.
Children, on the other hand, have tended to adapt well. They may have less of a sense of attachment to the original home, and may be excited by the prospect of entering new places and making new friends.
The perspective of women migrants has been examined in detail by Audrey McCollum, who talked to women who made a permanent move within the United States of America in the 1980s. Among the themes explored by McCollum were:
· The woman’s participation in the decision to move, in cases where they moved with a long term partner. Many women felt they had taken a full part in the decision, but some resented the fact that they had little choice. A few deliberately kept out of the decision making process, leaving the responsibility to their partner.
· Emotional effects of moving. In the new environment women were likely to experience a loss of their sense of identity, depression, and feelings of worthlessness. They were often able to compensate and feel more empowered by taking on a nurturant role within the family, supporting other family members through the migration process.
· Creating a new home. Women tended to engage in “rituals of possession”, for example cleaning the kitchen or finding out how things worked. They would seek opportunities for self expression through choice of furniture and re-decorating. Some of them were keen to re-create the past, introducing elements characteristic of their previous home, perhaps choosing a particular type of flowers.
· Making friends. In general women were more inclined than men to seek close friends after moving, but often they encountered difficulties in doing this. Two thirds of the women in McCollum’s sample felt they had not been actively welcomed into the new community, and there was a general sense that it was hard or not appropriate for a newcomer to take the initiative in social situations.
· Effects on the marriage. Married women often reported problems in their relationship with their husband after the move. Sometimes they resented having had to move, or they envied their husband if he appeared to have settled easily into a new job. The move may have increased their dependence on their husband in ways that were unwelcome. In other cases, however, women described positive changes in their marriage. McCollum argues this was more likely to happen if women were able to recognise and assert their own needs, if their partner responded in a sympathetic manner, and if women began to develop fulfilling interests in the new environment that renewed their self confidence.
Audrey T McCollum, The Trauma of Moving: Psychological Issues for Women, Sage 1990.
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