This article sought to analyze the role of primary social groups on the migration decision-making process of on-shore asylum seekers. Previous research on migration decision-making had been dominated by an individual-family-community analysis, and failed to consider the role of other social groups. This article is based on research on the Chinese students living in Australia at the time of the June 4, 1989 event in Beijing. Their experience was used to conceptualize the role of the migrants' primary social groups in migration decisions. The article addressed several themes of group-based migration decision-making and outlined the basic characteristics of the primary social group as a decision-making unit.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndressenC.1993Educational Refugees: Malaysian Students in Australia. Monash Papers on Southeast Asia No. 29. Melbourne: Monash University Press.
2.
AndressenC.KumagaiK.1996Escape from Affluence: Japanese Students in Australia. Brisbane: Center for the Study of Australia-Asia Relations, Griffith University.
3.
BrettellC.HollifieldJ.2000“Introduction.” In Migration Theory: Talking Across Disciplines. Edited by BrettellC. B.HollifieldJ. F., New York: Routledge.
4.
BrownJ.FootR.1994“Introduction: Migration — The Asian Experience.” In Migration: The Asian Experience. Edited by BrownJ.FootR., Oxford: St. Martin's Press.
5.
BrownL.SandersR.1981“Toward a Development Paradigm of Migration, with Particular Reference to Third World Settings.” In Migration Decision Making: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Microlevel Studies in Developed and Developing Countries. Edited by De JongG.GardnerR., New York: Pergamon.
6.
CadwalladerM.1992Migration and Residential Mobility: Macro and Micro Approaches. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.
7.
CastlesS.1986“The Guest-Worker in Western Europe: An Obituary,”International Migration Review, 20(4):761–778.
8.
ClarkM.1969A Short History of Australia. London: William Heinemann.
9.
CroninK.1993“A Culture of Control: An Overview of Immigration Policy-Making.” In The Politics of Australian Immigration. Edited by JuppJ.KabalaM., Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
10.
De JongG.GardnerR.1981“Introduction and Overview.” In Migration Decision Making Multidisciplinary Approaches to Microlevel Studies in Developed and Developing Countries. Edited by De JongG.GardnerR., New York: Pergamon.
11.
Department of Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs, (DILGEA)1991Review '90 Annual Report 1989/90. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
GaoJ.2001“Chinese Students in Australia.” In The Australian People. Edited by JuppJ., Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.
14.
GoldS.1992Refugee Communities: A Comparative Field Study. California: Sage.
15.
GrattanMichelle1993“Immigration and the Australian Labor Party.” In The Politics of Australian Immigration. Edited by JuppJ.KabalaM., Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
16.
HuP.1988“The Tide of Going Abroad,”Guangming Daily, 22 to 28 February.
17.
HugoG.1981“Village-Community Ties, Village Norms, and Ethnic and Social Networks: A Review of Evidence from the Third World.” In Migration Decision Making: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Microlevel Studies in Developed and Developing Countries. Edited by De JongG.GardnerR., New York: Pergamon.
18.
JuppJ.1991Immigration. Sydney: Sydney University Press.
19.
KusagoT.1998“Individual Aspiration or Family Survival: Rural-Urban Female Migration in Malaysia,”Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 7(4):483–523.
20.
LeeS. H.1985Why People Intend to Move: Individual and Community-Level Factors of Out-Migration in the Philippines. Boulder: Westview.
21.
LewisG. J.1982Human Migration: A Geographical Perspective. London: Croom Helm.
22.
MasseyD.1998Worlds in Motion: Understanding International Migration at the End of the Millennium. New York: Clarendon Press.
23.
MoonB.1995“Paradigms in Migration Research: Exploring ‘Moorings’ as a Schema,”Progress in Human Geographer, 19(4):504–525.
24.
ParnwellM.1993Population Movements and the Third World. London: Routledge.
25.
PooleyC.WhyteI.1991“Introduction: Approaches to the Study of Migration and Social Change.” In Migrations, Emigrations and Immigrations: A Social History of Migration. Edited by PooleyC. G.WhyteI. D., London: Routledge.
26.
PopenoeD.1991Sociology. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
27.
PortesA.1997“Immigration Theory for a New Century: Some Problems and Opportunities,”International Migration Review, 31(4):799–825.
28.
RuncimanW. G.1998The Social Animal. London: Harper Collins Publishers.
29.
SchurerK.1991“The Role of the Family in the Process of Migration.” In Migrations, Emigrations and Immigrations: A Social History of Migration. Edited by PooleyC. G.WhyteI. D., London: Routledge.
30.
WangA.1987“The Fever of Going Abroad among the Shanghai Youth,”Xinjiang Youth, No. 10. Urumqi.
31.
WangZ.1987“A Survey about Guangzhou Young People Studying in Australia at Their Own Expense,”The Youth Studies, No. 9. Guangzhou.
32.
ZlotnikH.1995“Migration and the Family: The Female Perspectives,”Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 4(2–3):253–271.
