The adjustment of sojourning spouses appears to be critical to the adjustment of their partners in the relocation; yet adjusting to international relocation is often reported to be a challenging process. The present project comprises a systematic review of research on spouse adjustment in international relocations(Study 1) and an empirical study among a sample of 135 Japanese sojourning housewives in Hong Kong(Study 2). Study 1found that adjustment was measured differently in the past research of sojourning spouse adjustment, and multiple individual, interpersonal and situational or environmental factors have been found to be associated with the adjustment of spouse after relocation. Study 2found that personal coping style was associated with psychological adjustment, while a coping style that focuses on problem solving, along with marital satisfaction and sociocultural interaction, emerged as significant predictors of satisfaction with life. Homemaking stressors were found to be negatively associated with psychological adjustment, and a significant interaction effect with marital satisfaction is found. Dyadic trust was found to contribute significantly to psychological well-being, and its effect was fully mediated by marital satisfaction. Overall speaking, existing models of spousal adjustment in expatriation seem to apply to the Japanese population studied. / published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

As the number of mainland migrant mothers in Hong Kong grows, the social tension between migrants and locals increases, reflecting a need to understand the deeper inherent issues leading to the manifestation of this tension. This understanding should go beyond the surface of media portrayal or stereotypical images of migrant mothers. While a great number of local research related to mainland migration issues exists in Hong Kong, few focus specifically on the aspect of motherhood amongst mainland migrant women. Mainland migrant mothers are uprooted from their rural villages to a highly westernized city where they find immense difficulty in transplanting their maternal roots. Although people in Hong Kong are predominately Chinese, it is highly influenced by its colonial past making the culture in Hong Kong a hybrid of westernized Chinese values. This cultural context has great bearings on how migrant mothers interpret motherhood expectations and traditional Chinese values with reference to mother-child relationships. How such dynamic changes in mothering culture affect migrant women’s maternal identities are examined. This research studies the interpretations, rationalizations and strategies involved in the negotiation of maternal identity of financially deprived mainland migrant women in Hong Kong. More importantly, this research appreciates migrant mothers' needs to reconsider Chinese mothering values as they negotiate their identities in a new land. Migrant mothers navigate the westernized-Chinese expectations of local motherhood and redefine what constitutes good mothering, giving new denotations to traditional Chinese values such as xiao, or filial piety. I divided the discussion of this thesis into three domains: (1) to examine mainland migrant mothers in the wider context of Hong Kong, including schools and welfare institutions; (2) to understand how migration and poverty affect maternal identity in terms of their relationships with their children and finally (3) to study migrant mothers' behavior among their own social groups and how social relationships become conducive to their identity negotiation strategies. Hinged upon the practicalities of life, migrant mothers learn to navigate local motherhood expectations with limited resources and little relevant knowledge about the city. This study illustrates the intricate strategies that migrant mothers deploy as they construct identities based not only on the gap between Hong Kong and traditional mainland motherhoods, but also according to changing social context and culture. / published_or_final_version / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Lau, Ying Chui Janice. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-235). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; includes Chinese characters. / Abstract / Acknowledgement / Chapter 1 / Introduction --- p.1 / Background --- p.4 / Defining Female New Immigrants --- p.7 / Literature Review --- p.10 / Methodology --- p.22 / List of Informants --- p.25 / Thesis Structure --- p.27 / Chapter 2 / History of Female Mainland Migrants in Hong Kong --- p.30 / Invisible Female Migrants --- p.31 / Immigration Policy as Identity Marker --- p.35 / Gender Implications in the Immigration Policy --- p.37 / Shifts in Social Policy and Social Capital --- p.41 / Hong Kong Identity: a Gender Perspective --- p.45 / "Class, Popular Culture and Identity Politics" --- p.50 / Conclusion --- p.53 / Chapter 3 / Hongkongness in the Classroom --- p.56 / Learning Hong Kong English --- p.60 / Learning “accentless´ح Cantonese --- p.70 / Learning Proper Behavior --- p.78 / Learning the Hong Kong Spirit --- p.87 / Conclusion --- p.94 / Chapter 4 / Reconstructing Womanhood --- p.96 / Dressing up in Hongkong-Style --- p.100 / Reconstructing a Hongkong-Style Beautiful Face --- p.104 / Learning to be a Wife of Hong Kong Man --- p.109 / Learning to be a Hong Kong Mother --- p.116 / Marital Relationship and Adaptation --- p.119 / Conclusion --- p.137 / Chapter 5 / Empowerment and Disempowerment --- p.140 / Empowerment --- p.141 / Structural Resources --- p.143 / Gain and Loss of Capital --- p.147 / Defining Capital: Social Workers and Class Teachers --- p.152 / Redefining Capital: Mainland Women Migrants´ة Agency --- p.157 / Evaluation of Achievement --- p.163 / Breaking Down of Cultural Boundaries --- p.163 / Discarding Stereotypes --- p.166 / Constructing New Relations --- p.169 / Disempowerment --- p.175 / Conclusion --- p.186 / Chapter 6 / Conclusion --- p.189 / A Uniquely Hong Kong Process --- p.189 / Keeping an Imagined Boundary --- p.195 / Imitating Hongkong-Style Womanhood --- p.199 / Women´ةs Empowerment and Disempowerment --- p.203 / Policy Implications and Recommendations --- p.206 / The Way Ahead --- p.213 / Appendixes --- p.215 / Bibliography --- p.219

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Ng, Philomena. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-221). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii-iv / Table of Content --- p.v-vii / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction --- p.1 / Background / The Issue / Research Problem / Summary of the Framework / Chapter Chapter Two --- Literature Review --- p.21 / The Socio-cultural context in Hong Kong / Self or Subjects/Subjectivity? / The Construction of Subjectivity through the Lens of Cultural Citizenship ´ؤ The Us and Other Distinction / Understanding the Agentic Subject through the Lens of Cultural Citizenship / Ideology/Discourses VS the Exercise of Agency / Construction of Subjectivity and the Exercise of Agency Through Narrations / Conclusion / Chapter Chapter Three --- Methodology --- p.50 / My Epistemology Position / Topic / Definition of Core Terms / Research Questions / Purpose of My Research / Data Sources and Methods / Validity and Reliability / Generalizability / Chapter Chapter Four --- Background of my informants --- p.72 / Introduction / Background of my informants / Summary of the main characteristics of my informants / Chapter Chapter Five --- Empirical Chapter: The Making of Cultural Citizenship of Group1 --- p.102 / Introduction / In-group and Out-group within the female migrants community / Their In-group / The Construction of Out-group ´ؤ Hongkongeses / How do they perceive their own identity? Hongkongese? Mainlanders? Or something else? / Their Connections with Hong Kong / Active Resistance: Agency exercised at home / Conclusion / Chapter Chapter Six --- Empirical Chapter: The Making of Cultural Citizenship of Group2 --- p.141 / Introduction / In-group / Hong Kong people: out-group or in-between in-group and out-group / How do they perceive their own identity? Hongkongese? Mainlanders? Or something else? / Their connections with Hong Kong / Exercising their agency to ward off the enforced identities / Subsuming to the dominated discourse about CSSA recipients / Conclusion / Chapter Chapter Seven --- Data Comparison and Discussion --- p.170 / Introduction / Sense of Community of Group 1 and 2 / Why Did They Draw the Boundaries in Such a Way? / Assessing the Agency of the Female Migrants / Conclusion / Chapter Chapter Eight --- Concluding Chapter --- p.191 / My Interviewing Experiences and Self-reflexivity / Limitations / Implications/Contributions / Unanswered Questions or Some Interesting Points for Further / Studies / Conclusion / List of References --- p.213 / Appendix1 --- p.222 / Interview guidelines/questions

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work