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IN-MIGRATION AND INTEGRATION IN A SMALL COMMUNITY
Abstract
The inquiry was a community study which focused on the processes of adaptation, community integration and the development of a sense of community among the in-migrant population in one small town (Loganville) in Nebraska. Previous research works suggested a number of relevant variables which could be presumed to affect the response patterns of the community and the in-migrants to each other. Variables selected for investigation included: pre-migration attitudes, social class status, local/cosmopolitan orientation, rural/urban backgrounds, parental status, church attendance and community employment. Comparisons were also made between three different types of in-migrants who varied in terms of their "status of entry": in-migrant strangers (persons who had little or no previous contacts with the community), in-migrant relatives (persons who had married native residents), and returned natives. Symbolic Interactionism provided the basic theoretical framework for the study. Participant observation, the administration of a lengthy questionnaire to eighty-one residents, local newspaper articles, public records, and community informants provided data relevant to the research. Community responses of identification, introduction and invitation were selective. In-migrants of higher occupational prestige were more positively received than those who held more lower status operations. Returned natives and in-migrant relatives were initially more openly accepted within Loganville than in-migrant strangers, especially if the latter were perceived as "different" in some way by the locals (e.g., divorced, non-Nebraskan). The positive or negative nature of pre-migration attitudes was a key factor affecting the overall character of the in-migrants' experiences in Loganville. In-migrants who held negative pre-migration attitudes encountered the greatest amount of difficulty in adapting to the community, were not as easily integrated, and were less likely to develop a sense of community as those who held positive feelings about their Loganville move. Local/cosmopolitan orientations and rural or urban backgrounds were not as strongly related to the processes of adaptation and community integration. The development of positive informal social bonds was significant for the integration of in-migrants and their sense of community. Organizational involvements were important avenues for nurturing social ties, especially among in-migrant females. Areas of employment served similar functions for in-migrant males. Regular church attendance and having school-aged children also facilitated the emergence of social bonds by providing in-migrants with sources of community contacts. Social class and status of entry were two important variables for understanding the selective participation of in-migrants in the organizational and informal social life of Loganville. In-migrants primarily participated in voluntary associations and informal social networks in which group members shared a comparable social class and status of entry. In-migrant strangers were noted to "seek their own kind." Returned natives and in-migrant relatives were generally incorporated into native-dominated social networks. Social interactions within such networks frequently served to reinforce feelings of being "outsiders" among in-migrant relatives which created difficulties regarding the integration of these persons within the community. Over time, the majority of Loganville in-migrants became integrated into the formal and informal spheres of community life. Likewise, a sense of community developed for most of these persons. It was concluded that, if both the community and the in-migrants are reciprocally responsive, the small town in-migration phenomenon may serve positive functions. In-migrants may derive the psychological benefits associated with a feeling of community and the small towns to which they migrate have more secure futures.
Subject Area
Social structure
Recommended Citation
KARLEN, JEAN CLAIRE SCHULTE, "IN-MIGRATION AND INTEGRATION IN A SMALL COMMUNITY" (1981). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8118165.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8118165