Perceptions of Russian-Speaking Immigrants: A Case Study in Australia
Perceptions of Russian-Speaking Immigrants
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.76.8377Keywords:
Australia, immigration policies, integration, public administration, Russian-speaking diasporaAbstract
This research was conducted in response to one of the most pressing and challenging questions on the agenda of many government offices around the world - “What can be done to better integrate and assimilate immigrants into host communities?” The qualitative study employed ethnographic methods of gathering data, where 170 Russian-speaking immigrants were observed by the insider in their natural settings, for eight months, and at different locations in Brisbane region of Australia; informal, unstructured interviews were conducted with 27 individuals. During observations, it was noticed that many immigrants had experienced one or another sort of difficulties that prevent them from smooth integration into the host society. The further analysis of data derived from immigrants narratives revealed emerging themes, which allowed identifying five factors that, perceived by immigrants as obstacles to integration: (1) employment, (2) education, (3) healthcare, (4) government assistance, and (5) discrimination. Following the logic of inductive reasoning and assumptions of grounded theory, that is seen as a research method in which the theory is developed from the data, the researcher uses research findings to build behavioral Model of Assimilation/ Integration of immigrants. Developed model not only accurately explains why immigrants resist integration but also offers the pathway to further quantification for the measurement of assimilation.
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[2]. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Estimated resident population, country of birth, age and sex - as at 30 June 1996 to 2019 Profile, 2019.. ABS. Retrived from http://stat.data.abs.gov.au/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ERP_COB.
[3]. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Household income and wealth, Australia, 2017-18, 2019. ABS. Retrived from https://www.abs.gov.au/household-income(2019, July 12).
[4]. Babbie, E. R., The practise of social research. 11th edition ed2007. Thomson Wadsworth: CA, USA.
[5]. Babraj, A., Experience with and perceptions of immigrants in Italy, 2019. Proceedings, 2019 (2) Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.5642/urceu.201901.02.
[6]. Bardakci, S. Ibrahim Sirkeci interview: “Bu göçün artıları olabilir [This migration may have its pluses]” 2015 Al Jazeera Turkish. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com.tr/haber/bu-gocun-artilari-olabilir.
[7]. Barker, C., Barriers to employment and overcoming economic integration challenges for foreign-born workers in Maine, 2018. Honors thesis, The University of Maine: Maine, Germany. Retrived from https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/315
[8]. Blinder, S. and A. M. Jeannet, The ‘illegal’ and the skilled: effects of media portrayals on perceptions of immigrants in Britain. Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies, 2018. 44(9): 1444-1462.
[9]. Brown, S. K. and F. D. Bean, Assimilation models, old and new: Explaining a long-term process, 2006. MPI. Retrived from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/assimilation-models-old-and-new-explaining-long-term-process.
[10]. Chan, H. C., and S. Siddique, Singapore’s multiculturalism: Evolving diversity, 2019. Routledge: UK.
[11]. Charis, E. K., et al., Punishing immigrants: Policy, politics, and injustice, 2012. New York University Press.
[12]. Coppari, P. R., Five key barriers for migrants in Ireland, 2016. European Commission. Retrived from https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/blog/5-key-barriers-migrants-ireland.
[13]. Constant, A. F., et al., Attitudes towards immigrants, other integration barriers, and their veracity, 2008. Deutsches Institut (DIW): Berlin, Germany.
[14]. Crawley, H., et al., Victims and villains: Migrant voices in the british media, 2016. Statewatch. Retrived from http://statewatch.org/news/2016/feb/uk-victims-villains-migrant-voices-british-media-2-16.pdf.
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[17]. Crossman, A., What is ethnography? 2019. ThoughtCo. Retrived from https://www.thoughtco.com/ethnography-definition-3026313.
[18]. Denzin, N. K., Interpretive ethnography: Ethnographic practices for the 21st century, 1996. SAGE Publications: NY, USA.
[19]. DeSimone, R. L., and J. M. Werner, Human resource development, 2012., Cengage Learning: CA, USA.
[20]. Diehl, C., and E. Liebau, Perceptions of discrimination: What do they measure and why do they matter? 2017. Deutsches Institut (DIW): Berlin, Germany.
[21]. Eiser, J. R., Attribution theory and the health belief model, 1983. Blackwell: NJ, USA.
[22]. Fassinger, R. E., Paradigms, praxis, problems, and promise: Grounded theory in counseling psychology research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2005. 2(2): 156–166.
[23]. Fishbein, M., and I. Ajzen, Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: an introduction to theory and research, 1975. Addison-Wesley Publishing: Boston, USA.
[24]. Franko, K., and M. Bosworth, The borders of punishment: Migration, citizenship and social exclusion, 2013. University Press: Cambridge, UK.
[25]. Giordano, J., et al., Confidentiality and autonomy: the challenge(s) of offering research participants a choice of disclosing their identity. Qualitative Health Research, 2007. 17(2): 264-275.
[26]. Goodson, L., and M. Vassar, An overview of ethnography in healthcare and medical education research. Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions, 2011. 8(4), 4.
[27]. Gorgun, B. A., Through the Syrian refuge in Turkey towards the creations of the war migration theory, 2019. IGI Global.
[28]. Gray, D. E., Doing research in the real world. 3rd edition ed2011. Sage Publications: NY, USA.
[29]. Hammersley, A., and P. Atkinson, Ethnography. Principles in practice. 3rd edition ed2007. Routledge: London, UK.
[30]. Hayes, N., Principles of social psychology, 1993. Erlbaum: NJ, USA.
[31]. Hendriks, M., and M. J. Burger, Unsuccessful subjective well-being assimilation among immigrants: The role of raltering rerceptions of the rost rociety. Journal of Happiness Studies, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00164-0
[32]. Holliday, A., Doing and writing qualitative research. 3rd edition ed2016. Sage Publications: NY, USA.
[33]. Huby, G., et al., Contributions of ethnography to the study of public services management. Public Management Review, 2011. 13: 209-225.
[34]. Ionescu, I. and L. Luchian, Economic implications of the new migration wave in Europe. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 2016. 25(1): 36-45.
[35]. Kapoor, D., et al.,Indian diaspora philanthropy. In: P.Geithner, P.Johnson & L. Chen (eds) Diaspora philanthropy and equitable development in China and India, 2004. University Press: Cambridge, USA.
[36]. Lamanna, F., et al., Immigrant community integration in world cities. PLoS ONE, 2018. 13(3): e0191612.
[37]. Lu,.Y., et al., Skilled migration, expectation and reality, 2015. Routledge: London, UK.
[38]. Martijn, A. C., et al., Negativity and positivity effects in person perception and inference: Ability versus morality. European Journal of Social Psychology, 1992. 22: 453-463.
[39]. Massey, D. S., A missing element in migration theories. Migration Letters, 2015. 12(3): 279-299.
[40]. Mauch, J. E. and N. Park, Guide to the successful thesis and dissertation: A handbook for students and faculty. 5th edition ed2003. CRC Press: Ohio, USA.
[41]. Mol, H., Identity and the sacred: A sketch for a new social-scientific theory of religion, 1976. Blackwell: Oxford, UK.
[42]. Morawska, E., Multicultural modes of immigrants’ integration into the host society: exploring the proposition. Sociology and Anthropology, 2018. 6(10): 764-774.
[43]. Pope, C. and N. Mays, Qualitative research: Reaching the parts other methods cannot reach: an introduction to qualitative methods in health and health services research. BMJ, 1995. 311(6996): 42-45.
[44]. Pelto, P. J., Applied ethnography: Guidelines for field research, 2016. Routledge: London, UK.
[45]. Porumbescu, A., Defining the new economics of labor migration theory boundaries: a sociological-level analysis of international migration. Revista de Stiinte Politice [Journal of Political Science], 2015. 45: 55-64.
[46]. Raposo I.G., Immigration: The doors of perception. Bruegel, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.bruegel.org/ 2018/12/immigration-the-doors-of-perception.
[47]. Scanlon Foundation Research Institute Australian population trends. Scanloninstitute, 2019. Retrieved from https://scanloninstitute.org.au/migrationdashboard
[48]. Schacter, D. L., et al., Psychology. 2nd edition ed2011. Worth Publishers: NY, USA.
[49]. Shovkovyy, O., Adoption of e-Government services in Ukraine. Thai Journal of Public Administration, 2015. 13(2): 206-219.
[50]. Shovkovyy, O., Bogged down in the past. People: International Journal of Social Sciences, 2018. 4(3): 1927-1938.
[51]. Sieber, J. E., Planning ethically responsible research: a guide for students and internal review boards, 1992. Sage Publications: NY, USA.
[52]. Spradley, J. P. V., Participant observation. 6th edition ed2016. Sage Publications:NY, USA.
[53]. Teddlie, C. and A. Tashakkori, Foundations of mixed methods research: integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences, 2009. Sage Publications:NY, USA.
[54]. Tolich, M., Internal confidentiality: When confidentiality assurances fail relational informants. Qualitative Sociology, 2004. 27(1): 101-106.
[55]. UNHCR, Facilitators and barriers refugee integration in Austria. Refugee Integration Agency, 2013. Retrieved from https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/5278dc644.pdf
[56]. Van Dijk, T. A., Structures and strategies of discourse and prejudice. In: Van Oudenhoven, J. P. and T. M. Willemsen (eds.) Ethnic minoroties, 1989. Swets and Zeitlinger Leiden:Netherlands.
[57]. Walsh, I., et al., What grounded theory is …A critically reflective conversation among scholars. Organizational Research Methods, 2015. 18(4): 581-599.
[58]. Wiles, R., et al., The management of confidentiality and anonymity in social research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 2008. 11(5): 417-428.
[59]. Zander, V., Identity and marginality among new Australians: Religion and ethnicity in Victoria’s slavic baptist community, 2004. De Gruyter: Belin, Germany.
[60]. Zibenberg, A., The characteristics of effective leadership: Perceptions among immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Israel. Organization Management Journal, 2018. 15(2): 45-57.
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2020-06-22
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Cohan Shovkovyy, O. (2020). Perceptions of Russian-Speaking Immigrants: A Case Study in Australia: Perceptions of Russian-Speaking Immigrants. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 7(6), 148–164. https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.76.8377
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