Ageing in anomie: Later life migration and its implications for anti-anomic social work practice

Introduction

In 2004, Mr and Mrs Kim (name changed) moved to New Zealand to live with their eldest son and his family after 6 years of retirement in Korea. They transferred all their money to their son’s bank account when they came to this country. The money was used by the son for running his small business and buying a bigger house within their grandchildren’s school zone. A few years after their arrival, Mr and Mrs Kim found themselves having to move out to a market-rental unit with no monetary return from their son because the son and his wife were now separated through divorce. They currently live on ‘emergency’ benefits without any support from their children who are scattered across New Zealand and abroad.

Mr Kim is one of many older migrants who have moved to another nation after reaching old age in their country of origin. This group of older migrants consists predominantly of those elders who migrated to join their children already living in the adopted country. While later life migration potentially allows older people to enrich their life experience overseas, it also forces them to face ‘double’ challenges because of both their own ageing and the resettlement processes in the new country. They are likely to be isolated by both language and culture and, as a result, live with limited social resources, including health and social services, during their late adulthood (Thomas, 2003). Furthermore, later life migrants are naturally involved in the transnational family context where family members are separated across two or more countries. This distant family arrangement may contribute to a weakening of obligations and duties towards ageing parents among immigrant families (Lee, 2007).

Migration may cause migrant individuals to be disconnected from their moral roots – their heritage norms and values (Bourhis et al., 1997). Changes in culture, values and norms take place rapidly and so does the confusion of cultural identity among migrants. In these circumstances, anomie, an abnormal social condition where norms are confused, unclear or absent because of the extraordinary pace of social change (Durkheim, 1952), can occur in the migrant population. This phenomenon germinates either when migrant individuals are unsure about the adopted society’s norms or when they deliberately or unconsciously reject such standards (see Messner and Rosenfeld, 2007). Not only can anomie in migration hinder the adaptation and resettlement of migrants (see Chan and Pluss, 2013), but it can also adversely affect their family relationships and social connections.

The population of the world is undergoing a continuous process of migration across national borders (Castles and Miller, 2009). Internationally, social workers are the frontline practitioners who serve migrants, their families and communities (see Dominelli, 2010). They often encounter older migrants who are likely to need a range of social support and services. The question of how to deal with this population’s difficulties requires more radical rethinking about migration in old age in the transnational family context. A good understanding of the issues associated with later life migration allows social work practitioners to engage with their vulnerable clients in a way that is culturally sensitive and responsive in practice.

In this article, I reflect on what has been found from two research projects involving the Korean population in New Zealand. It is not the main purpose of this article, however, to report the methods and findings of those studies in detail. Rather, as an insider researcher, I focus on highlighting the characteristics of later life migration experienced by older Korean people and their families in New Zealand. The discussion of this article includes ageing in anomie, transnational family separation, anomic abuse and neglect, and community support for older migrants. From this reflection, an ‘anti-anomic’ practice approach is suggested to help practitioners develop an appropriate framework when working with migrant populations and their communities.

Research background

The two studies that are the subject of this reflection were conducted in the Korean community in New Zealand. Koreans have become established as one of the largest Asian ethnic groups here, consisting of 30,171 residents in the latest census (Statistics New Zealand, 2014). Almost all Korean migrants have moved to New Zealand since the early 1990s. Older Korean people (aged 65 years and over) account for only 2 percent of the Korean population in New Zealand; however, the number in this age group is increasing as earlier migrant generations reach old age. The majority of Korean older people are later life migrants who retired in their homeland, and then moved to New Zealand to join their family (Park and Kim, 2013).

The first research project was conducted between 2007 and 2010 across New Zealand. This mixed-methods project consisted of three related studies on the issues of filial piety and elder mistreatment. First, a qualitative study involved collecting rich data from unstructured interviews with 20 key informants including community leaders and professionals. The main purpose of the study was to obtain contextual information about older Korean people and their immigration experiences. Second, a face-to-face survey involving 50 older Korean people was conducted to examine the perceptions of the participants in terms of elder care and abuse within their migrant context. Third, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 older people who were, or who had been, mistreated by their own family members. The study aimed at hearing the participants’ voices with a focus on how the abuse and neglect against them occurred during their lives as immigrants.

Building on prior research work, the second project was conducted between 2011 and 2012 in both Auckland and Christchurch, New Zealand. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the roles of ethnic-based groups and organisations in the Korean community. In particular, ethnic-based support for older Korean people was closely investigated in order to understand how those groups and organisations helped older migrants maintain their routines and lifestyles in the new country. A qualitative methodological approach was chosen, using in-depth interviews with 14 key informants. These participants included informal group leaders, mass-media owners, religious leaders and senior members of associations or organisations in the Korean community. The interview questions were focused on the roles of ethnic-based groups and organisations in supporting older migrants in their lives in New Zealand.

The fieldwork was conducted with extreme caution in order to protect the participants’ privacy and ‘face’ (honour) within the ‘small’ community in ‘small town’ New Zealand. The participants were recruited mainly through snowballing sampling techniques in which they were identified by their friends or acquaintances through informal networks, such as senior clubs, small gatherings and ethnic-based churches in the Korean community. For the survey, a vignette approach was used to help participants express reliable responses to the sensitive questions about elder abuse in a non-threatening way (Van der Pas et al., 2005). In the study of abused older people, multi-stepped unstructured interviews were conducted with each interviewee, in order to ensure that the participants felt more comfortable in talking about their own experiences, than being interviewed only once by someone whom they had never met (Sheppard, 2004). All the studies were approved by the appropriate ethics bodies.

Issues associated with later life migration

In the Korean population in New Zealand, there are two different groups of older migrants (older people of ethnic minority groups): first, older people who had moved during their old age as family-joining migrants and second, older people who moved at younger ages and who have grown old in the host society. The first group of older people represents later life migrants who separated themselves from their family and life-long networks in their country of origin and moved to the adopted nation. In the findings from both studies, ‘anomie’ emerged as a meta-theme that encapsulated what people actually talked about regarding later life migration in their own words. Issues associated with this later life migration, therefore, include ageing in anomie, transnational family arrangements, anomic abuse and neglect, and community support for older migrants. All these issues are interconnected and interdependent, and contribute to how Korean elders experience their later life migration to New Zealand.

Implications for social work education and practice

In the current globalised context, later life migration is a significant social issue which is particularly pertinent to social work practice. Working with older migrants requires a good understanding of the nature of later life migration and its impact on transnational family relationships. The combination of later life migration and transnational family separation is often related to anomie, where the rapid change in social and cultural values adversely affects the bonds among migrant individuals, their families and communities in the wider society (see Forssell and Torres, 2012). Older migrants may be particularly vulnerable to the problems of normlessness, not only because of their own anomic situation, but also due to the consequences of norms and standards breakdown that their children and other family members experience in the adopted nation. Preventing and tackling anomie among later life migrants and their families is a priority in social work practice with this population (in this article, I refer to such endeavours as ‘anti-anomic practice’).

Anti-anomic practice is concerned with enhancing social norms and bonds, particularly among migrant individuals, families, groups and communities. An aspect of this practice is to ensure that migrant populations maintain strong social values and networks through integrating their own values and social norms into those of the adopted society. Deterring anomie is related to promoting the participation and inclusion of migrants who are likely to be isolated and even marginalised in society (see Möller, 2008). Anti-anomic practice is an ‘action’ approach to empowering migrant clients to build their own social capital or networks within their unique context. Its focus is on overcoming the effects of anomie through fostering migrants’ collective connections based on an inclusive social structure; this potentially leads to feelings of belonging and attachment to their own community and then to the wider society (see Durkheim, 1952; Vuille et al., 2012). This norms-based framework of anti-anomic practice would help social workers broaden their understanding of the issues associated with this phenomenon among older migrants and their families and develop appropriate skills and strategies for preventing, and intervening in, the associated problems.

Older migrants may not be able to cope easily with the challenges related to the breakdown in ‘normal functioning’, including elder abuse and neglect, because of their ‘abnormal’ migrant situation and transnational family contexts. Social workers can help those migrants by providing information and education about later life migration and its impact on family relationships. This educational intervention should include promoting awareness of anomic elder abuse and other types of family violence within their transnational family settings (see Thomas, 2003). At the community level, anti-anomic practice involves helping migrant populations themselves build strong communities, including through ethnic-based churches, self-support groups and social media (see Lee and Yoon, 2011). For this to function effectively, community members need to share core values and norms (Etzioni, 1996). Such core social norms and values can be developed and maintained through actively enhancing social connectedness and bonds among migrant community members. This community development approach also requires implementation of the principles of human rights and social justice basic to social work practice (Ife, 2010).

Conclusion

Migration across cultures and languages may create a situation where individual migrants experience an absence of their own particular social norms or values in the adopted society. Later life migration is a complex phenomenon that causes a range of changes in cultural norms, transnational family arrangements and social associations. From the studies with older Korean people in New Zealand, anomie has emerged as an important issue that can affect older migrants’ lives at individual, family, community and societal levels. Issues associated with later life migration are often related to ageing in a foreign place where older migrants and their families are faced with anomie-related challenges. This study suggests a norms-based framework of anti-anomic practice in social work that would help practitioners enhance their cultural and contextual competencies in working with migrants and their communities in the globalised social work milieu. The discussion in this article, however, is limited in that it involves only Korean experiences. Although the concept of anomie is basic to the argument used here, it is not the purpose of this research note to discuss its wider theoretical underpinnings. Furthermore, migrant populations are diverse and individual circumstances vary significantly, and therefore, some aspects of this discussion may not be consistent with the needs and issues of other ethnic migrant groups and communities.