British immigrants and Australia : a psycho-social inquiry

Abstract

Since World War II many thousands of Britons have emigrated to Australia, most of them to settle permanently but some to return home or move on elsewhere. Why they decided to emigrate and what changes in beliefs, attitudes and behaviour occurred after their arrival in Australia are the subject of this book. Basing his work largely on an extensive survey among assisted passage British migrants before they left Britain and after intervals of two and seven years in Australia, Dr Richardson examines the various stages through which immigrants pass in the process of settling down in their new country and he discusses the intriguing questions of why some British immigrants change to the point where they consider themselves more Australian than British while others remain inalienably British. This is an important work for theorists of immigrant behaviour - drawing as it does on the findings of other researchers in the field - and for administrators responsible for the welfare of British immigrants in Australia. The immigrants themselves will find it helpful to discover that they are not alone in their problems and perplexities.