Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:43:27.570Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Perceptions and Consequences of Social Change Among Elderly Japanese-American Workers in a Hawaii Plantation Community: A Case Example of Industrial Withdrawal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

Velma A. Kameoka  and
Anthony J. Marsella
Velma A. Kameoka
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii
Anthony J. Marsella
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions and consequences associated with the closing of a sugar plantation company for a group of Japanese American plantation workers who were born and raised on the plantation. These workers were the children of Japanese immigrants who had come to Hawaii at the turn of century to plant and harvest sugar. The participants were thirty nisei (second generation) Japanese-American male residents of a rural plantation community in Hawaii. Using the techniques of participant observation, interviewing, and record research, the study explored the worker's (1) perceptions of change, (2) evaluations of perceived change, (3) stresses resulting from change, (4) coping strategies, and (5) future expectations. These subjective dimensions of change were examined across eight major areas of community life (i.e., employment, housing, community relations, community services, family life, education, physical environment, and crime). The data were analyzed to determine perceptions, evaluations, and stresses resulting from community change and to identify strategies used to cope with community change. The impact of change on resident attitudes and lifestyle patterns are discussed and summarized under three major themes: (1) communal versus individualistic lifestyles, (2) association versus dissociation of employment and the community, and (3) continuity versus discontinuity of life in the plantation.

Personal comments of workers are presented to demonstrate the utility and significance of the present research approach in assessing individual experiences in response to social changes. An understanding of the impact of change on resident attitudes, beliefs, and lifestyle patterns provides the basis for devising change programs that are sensitive to the social and psychological needs of individuals affected by the changes.

Type
Qualitative Research
Information
South Pacific Journal of Psychology , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , 1998 , pp. 26 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © University of Papua New Guinea and the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Territory University, Australia 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Desjarlais, R., Eisenburg, L., Kleinman, A., & Good, B. (1995). World mental health. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Diener, E., & Diener, M. (1995). Cross-cultural correlates of life satisfaction and self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 653–663.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hostede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Inkeles, A., & Smith, D. (1974). Becoming modern. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ishikawa, S. (1996, 09 28). City cancels Ewa evictions. The Honolulu Advertiser, p. A1.Google Scholar
Johnson, F., Marsella, A. J., & Johnson, C. (1974). Social and psychological aspects of verbal behavior in Japanese-Americans. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 580–583.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kameoka, V. (1975). Kehe Town: A study of the psycho-social implications of change in a plantation community in Hawaii. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.Google Scholar
Luke, T. (1991). The discourse of development: A genealogy of developing nations and the discipline of modernity. Current Perspectives and Social Theory, 11, 271–293.Google Scholar
Marsella, A. J. (1978). The modernization of traditional cultures: Consequences for the individual. In Renwick, G., Hoopes, D., & Pedersen, P. (Eds.), Intercultural education, training, and research: The state of the art (pp. 108–147). Washington, DC: Department of State and SIETAR.Google Scholar
Marsella, A. (1993). Counseling and therapy with Japanese-Americans. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 63, 200–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsella, A. J., & Choi, S. (1993). Psychosocial aspects of modernization and economic development in East-Asian nations. Psychologia, 36, 201–213.Google Scholar
Marsella, A. J., Levi, L., & Ekblad, S. (1997). The importance of including quality of life indices in international social and economic development activities. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 6, 55–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClelland, D. (1961). The achieving society. Princeton, NJ: van Nostrand Company.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mead, M. (1955). Cultural patterns and technical change. New York: Mentor Books.Google Scholar
Orley, J., & Kuyken, W. (Eds.). (1994). Quality of life: International perspectives. Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Parkes, C. M. (1971). Psychosocial transitions: A field for study. Social Science and Medicine, 5, 101–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perucci, C., Perucci, R., Targ, D., & Targ, H. (1988). Plant closings: International context and social costs. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Rogers, E. (1969). Modernization and peasants. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.Google Scholar
Toffler, E. (1977). Future shock. New York: Bantam Books.Google Scholar
Toffler, E. (1980). The third wave. New York: Bantam Books.Google Scholar