Conference:
ECER 2009
Format:
Paper
Session Information
14 SES 08, Conditions and Processes of Learning in Different Family Contexts
Paper Session
Time:
2009-09-30
08:30-10:00
Room:
JUR, HS 10
Chair:
Janne Pietarinen
Contribution
Expatriate Family Resources – Relations Within and Outside of Expatriate Families
The number of internationally mobile business people has increased worldwide due to globalization. In this presentation context, an expatriate family is defined as a family with children, which has moved abroad because of a parent’s global work assignment. This paper aims to answer to the question, what kinds of resources expatriate families have in expatriation and repatriation.
McCubbin, Thompson & McCubbin (2001) define resiliency as the positive behavioral patterns and functional competence individuals and the family unit demonstrate under stressful or adverse circumstances, such as expatriation and repatriation. According to them, a resiliency resource is a characteristic, trait, or competency of the individual, family, or community that facilitates adaptation. The Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation is the main resiliency framework of this study. According to this model, there are three potential sources of resources: personal resources, family system resources, and social support. To be exact, family resources are explicated in this study as individual family members’ personal resources, family external and internal resources, and social support. In this paper, attention is focused on family internal resources – especially social support within the family - and social support offered by communities.
Method
This paper draws on preliminary empirical findings on expatriate family resources. The data about these resources was gathered in 2008 by an online questionnaire completed by parents (N=212), who had returned to a large city in Finland. Parents’ contact information was received through 399 school units in eight cities. The major occupational group of these expatriates was business expatriates. Half of the families had lived in a European country, 23 % in North America, and 19 % in Asia.
Expected Outcomes
The main finding was that social support within the family itself is the most substantial resource for expatriate families in expatriation but also in repatriation. In regard to family internal resources, mother and child having time together was the most common time-related issue abroad. Work, school, and being on holidays were the following time-related issues. After repatriation the most common issues were work, school, hobbies, and housework. Parents regarded a stable couple relationship as the most important issue succeeding in expatriation and repatriation.
Outside the family, friends were the most important source of social support. Relatives were regarded as an important source of social support, but only in repatriation. However, grandmother’s place was the base for 65 % of the families while living abroad. The child’s school was regarded as the fourth most important supportive community both in expatriation and repatriation.
References
McCubbin, H.I., Thompson, A.I. & McCubbin, M.A. 2001. Family Measures: Stress, Coping and Resiliency. Inventories for Research and Practice. Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu, Hawaii.
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