Policies, programs and outcomes for unaccompanied Vietnamese refugee minors in Australia

Australia's acceptance of refugees from Vietnam was unique in that never before had such a sizeable non-Caucasian intake occurred from such a markedly different cultural background. In fact, the Australian Government's dealings with this particular population led it into policy development in two new arenas: (i) refugee policy, as distinct from general immigration policy, was formulated for the first time, and (ii) settlement policy was finally recognized as being necessary for newcomers to this country, especially when language and cultural differences were pronounced. Yet the relevance of these policies and related programs to the life experiences of refugees, and their impact on the outcomes achieved in resettlement have been poorly understood. In this thesis a model is developed to explain relationships between refugees' life conditions, policies and programs that influence those life conditions, and resettlement outcomes. Three levels of analysis are encompassed by the model: societal, psycho-social and intra-psychic. Three corresponding bodies of theory (theory of refugee resettlement; socialization, role and identity formation; and loss and change) underpin the model. The model is then applied to a particular sub-group of Vietnamese refugees who have been accepted for resettlement by Australia: unaccompanied minors, the majority of whom have been sent out from Vietnam by their parents to build new lives in a 'free' country. Documentation of the life conditions these youngsters have experienced in their home land, during the transition period in refugee camps, and after their arrival in Australia is consolidated in terms of a range of relevant elements specified in the model. The policies and programs that have impacted on their lives in Australia have also been described and analyzed according to dimensions specified in the model. This descriptive and analytic base, in conjunction with the underpinning theories, provided the foundation for the development of a series of general propositions and more specific predictions of likely outcomes of these youngsters' resettlement in Australia. Policy implications of each of these outcome predictions are identified, and prescriptions are developed for the consideration of those with a social planning mandate for this population group. The thesis concludes with a consideration of contributions such a holistic perspective of refugee resettlement can provide for social planners, and the direction and context it provides for a range of future research undertakings