Moving Families: Expatriation, Stress and Coping

by Mary Haour-Knipe

Overview

This study is a detailed exploration of how families cope both individually and as structures with the stresses of moving to a new culture. Through rich interviews conducted over a period of two years, Mary Haour-Knipe shows the processes of change and adjustment at work. As the world of work becomes increasingly a global one, employees of governments, companies and non-commercial organisations increasingly find themselves obliged to live abroad for years at a time, uprooting their families from jobs, schools and support networks in the process. The author's findings will be of interest to students of wider issues of migration and to those who study the family under pressure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781135359812
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	01/04/2002
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	335 KB

About the Author

Mary Haour-Knipe

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. Who are they, and why do they move? 3. What is stressful about moving abroad? 4. Strains on families 5. Coping 6. Giving and receiving social support 7. Social support from within the family 8. Effects on children 9. The effect of the move: Two case studies 10. Families two years later 11. Summary and conclusions

Editorial Reviews

Refugees and exiles are not the concern here of Haour-Knipe, who works for the UN Programme on HIV/AIDS within the migration health service in Geneva. Rather she examines the experience of employees of governments, companies, and non-commercial organizations who are increasingly finding themselves sent to live abroad for years at a time, uprooting their families from jobs, schools, and support networks. Based on interviews conducted over two years, she explores how families cope individually and as structures, how children cope with the changes, how accompanying partners deal with the loss of status from leaving professional lives behind, and how the strains of running a household in an unfamiliar culture add to the isolation of losing day-to-day contact with established friends and family. Distributed by Taylor & Francis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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