Rural to Urban Adjustment

173 Pages·2012·4.9 MB·English

RESUME
DOCUMENT
RC 003 014
ED 026 157
By-Abramson, Jane A.
Rural to Urban Adjustment
(Ontario).
Canadian Minister of Forestry and Rural Development, Ottawa
Branch, Edmonton (A1berta).
Spons Agency-Canadian Agricultural and Rural Development Act
Repor t No- ARD AP -37003; ARR -RE-4
Pub Date May 68
Note-172p.
EDRS Price MF-$0.75 HC-$8.70
Economic Factors, Interviews, Participant
Descriptors-*Adjustment (to Environment), Conflict Resolution,
Farm Residents, Rural Urban Differences,
Characteristics, *Predictive Measurement, *Relocation, *Rural
*Urban Immigration
Identifiers-*Saskatchewan
.
in Saskatoon,
with 100 former farm operators living
Personal interviews
understand the nature of the
Saskatchewan, were conducted in an attempt to
to urban surroundings.
rural
adjustment process caused by migration
from
respondents had owned or
in the study were that
Requirements for inclusion
left their farms within 10 years of the
operated a farm for at least 3 years, had
of
and still in the labor force at the time
interview, and were below retirement age
process, and
decision
migration
the
characteristics,
Pre-migration
migration.
determine if urban adjustment could be
post-migration adjustment were analyzed to
developed based on the
predicted prior to migration. A predictive index was
work experience, previous
variables of educational level, previous non-agricultural
and selectivity in choosing a
geographic mobility, type of migration decision process,
new location. (JH)
-
-
,.
ANI,
)
JUSTMENT
URBAN
RURAL TO
U.S. DEPARTMENT Of HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE
OFFICE OF EDUCATION
THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE
PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIbilTING IT.
POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS
STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE Of EDUCATION
POSITION OR POLICY.
RURAL TO URBAN ADJUSTMENT
by
JANE A. ABRAMSON, M.A.
Canadian Centre
for Community Studies,
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
This project was initiated and
financed by the RuraZ DeveZop-
ment Branch, Department of For-
estry and RuraZ DeveZopment,
Ottawa, under the AgricuZturaZ
and RuraZ DeveZopment Act.
ARDA Project #37003
May 1968
Published under the authority of
Minister of Forestry and Rural Development
Ottawa, 1968.
FOREWORD
It is more
Parliament.
ARDA is more than an Act of
planners and researchers;
than policymakers, administrators,
be de-
than resources that need to
more than problems; more
of improving
It is, above all, a means
veloped or reorganized.
the con-
helping them to rise above
the lot of rural people, of
their
and stifle their hopes for
ditions that cramp their lives
children.
demands
this, if it is to work well,
A program such as
communi-
all levels - family,
understanding and co-operation at
needed,
To know what is
and national.
ty, regional, provincial
That
demands research and study.
and how the needs may be met,
been
federal and provincial, has
is why so much effort, both
That is also the reason why as many
put into ARDA research.
have
involved in ARDA, should
people as possible, among those
of the research.
access to the results
administration has undertaken to
The federal ARDA
reports that provide useful
publish and distribute research
deci-
only for those who make the
background information, not
those who
out the decisions and
sions, but for those who carry
in this
The research study reported
them.
are affected by
Govern-
Adjustment, was sponsored by the
volume, RuraZ to Urban
ment of Canada.
/14
V*
110
g
Maurice Sauvé
Minister of Forestry
and Rural Development
Canada
ii
PREFACE
This study provides a much needed understanding of
what happens when families struggle with the decision to give
up farming, and how this struggle carries over and influences
adjustments following migration into an urban milieu.
Students
of urban poverty have been warning us that rural migrants are
destined to become the new urban poor unless corrective measures
are taken.
As a social-psychologist, Mrs. Abramson has studied
the decision-making process involved in a variety of situations
in which choices are made by individuals.
Her data suggest
that the rural migrants of today and tomorrow are likely to be
not only poor but socially and psychologically disadvantaged.
Mrs. Abramson has gone to some trouble in spelling
out the institutional and personal conditions necessary to make
urban adjustment a rewarding experience for the rural migrant.
Although governments have a vital role to play in both institu-
tional and personal decisions to change, they are dependent
upon community action to remove or reduce many crippling dis-
advantages associated with migration.
Governments and communi-
ties must work together in developing new services, providing
demonstrations, undertaking experiments, working out new methods
and stimulating local understanding and support.
This study is one of more than a dozen undertaken by
the Centre for Community Studies and financed by ARDA.
These
studies, taken together, provide a useful overview of the
physical, economic, social and psychological circumstances asso-
ciated with rural development.
W.B. Baker, President,
Canadian Centre
for Community Studies,
May 16, 1966.
iii
CONTENTS
Page
Chapter
1
INTRODUCTION
1
Context of the Research
4
Objectives of the Study
5
Methods of the Study
Limitations of the Study
6
8
FARM SITUATION BEFORE MIGRATION
II
Interplay of Economic, Social and Personal
9
Factors
10
Characteristics of the Farms
10
Location
12
Distance from Services
if
13
Tenure
14
Size
14
Type
14
Off-Farm Employment
15
Farm Income
0
17
Mechanization
19
Level of Living on the Farm
22
Farm Ecology
22
Family Roles
Farm Family's Relation to Animals,
23
Crops and Land
24
Farmer's Sense of Independence
25
Time on the Farm
25
Identification of Self with Farm
26
Social Milieu
29
Social and Economic Changes
31
MIGRANT FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS
III
31
Birthplace
32
Farm Backgrounds..
32
Previous Mobility
33
Migration Age
34
Health
36
Family Composition
37
Retention of Farm Ownership
38
Education
39
Occupational Experience
41
Membership in Formal Social Organizations
44
Clustering of Disadvantages
iv
Chapter
Page
IV
DECISION PROCESS IN MIGRATION
46
Motives and Attitudes
47
Reasons for Leaving the Farm
49
Employment Expectations in the City
50
Choosing a New Location
53
Types of Decision Processes
55
Long-Term Attempts at Problem Solving..
1.
56
Short-Term, Low-Conflict Decision
2.
Process
57
Long-Term, High-Conflict Decision
3.
Process
58
V
ADJUSTMENT TO URBAN ENVIRONMENT
61
Length of Time since Respondents Discontinued
Farming
63
Employmerf
63
Additional Education or Training since
Migration
70
Income
71
Housing
76
Social Integration
80
Adjustment to the Physical Setting
84
Psychological Problems
85
Changes in Attitudes toward Farm and City
87
VI
PREDICTICN OF URBAN ADJUSTMENT BEFORE MIGRATION
92
Development of an Index of General Urban
Adjustment
94
Problems of Adjustment Encountered by the
Three Adjustment Groups
95
Relation between Duration of Urban Residence
and Adjustment
99
Relation between Age and Adjustment
100
Relation between Education and Adjustment
100
Relation between Non-Agricultural Work
Experience and Adjustment
101
Relation between Previous Mobility and
Adjustment
103
Relation between Attitudes toward the Farm
and Adjustment
103
Relation between Selectivity in Migration
and Adjustment
106
Relation between Adjustment of Other Family
Members and Respondents' Adjustment
106
Factors Not Significantly Related to
Adjustment in the Present Study
108
A Feasibility Experiment with a Predictive
Index to Urban Adjustment
108
v
Page
Chapter
111
SUMMARY
VII
Characteristics of the Farm and Community
111
Situation before Migration
Personal Characteristics of Migrants
115
at the Time of Migration
117
Migration Decision Process
Process of Adjustment to the Urban
119
Environment
122
Current State of Adjustment
Prediction of Urban Adjustment before
123
Migration
Appendix
126
AUTHOR'S COMMENTS
I
146
INDEX OF GENERAL URBAN ADJUSTMENT
II
147
PREDICTIVE INDEX TO URBAN ADJUSTMENT
III
148
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
IV
158
REFERENCES
Figure,
11
Location of the Respondents' Former Farms
1
Respondents'
Location in Saskatoon of the
2
113
Homes, Spring, 1965
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table
Page
Percentage of Farms at Various Distances
1
from Services
13
Respondents' Gross Income from Sale of
2
Farm Products
16
Respondents' Net Income from Farm and
3
Non-Farm Sources
17
Comparison of Mechanization of Respondents'
4
Farms with that of Commercial Farms in
Saskatchewan - 1961
18
Comparison of Farm Home Amenities of Two
5
Groups of Farmers
20
Kinds of Help Given or Received from
6
Neighbours and Relatives
27
Participation in Farm Community Activities
28
7
Comparison of Migrants' Ages at Time of Moving
8
with Saskatoon Males in Labour Force
33
Respondents' Cash Balance from Sale of Farm
38
9
Education of Respondents Compared with Saskatoon
10
Males Aged 20-65
38
Work Done by Respondents before Leaving
11
the Farm
41
Respondents' Pre-Migration Memberships in
12
Voluntary Organizations Compared with Farmers
in Two Census Division 16 Areas and U.S.
Rural Farm Residents
42
Church Affiliation before Migration
13
43
Respondent's Age at Removal Related to
14
Pre-Migration Non-Farm Job Experience
44
Age at Removal Related to Respondent's
15
Educdtion
44
Education Related to Respondent's Pre-Migration
16
Non-Farm Job Experience
45
Reasons Given for Migration
17
51
vii
page
Table
Respondents' Employment Expectations before
18
52
Migration
Respondents' Reasons for Choosing Saskatoon
55
19
Respondents' Unemployment Experiences
65
20
Employed Respondents Compared with Employed
21
68
Men in Saskatoon
Respondents' Post-Migration Education or
22
70
Training
Respondents' Annual Family Incomes in 1965
23
72
Compared with Saskatoon Incomes, 1961
Employment of Wives in Various Income Groups
73
24
Annual Family Incomes Compared with Length
25
74
of Urban Employment.
Respondents' City Incomes Compared with Gross
26
75
Income on Farm
75
City Income by Respondent Age Group
27
76
City Income by Respondent Educational Group
28
Comparison of the Number of Rooms in Farm
29
79
and City Homes
Comparison of Informal Visiting with Relatives
30
83
and Friends in the Country and in the City
Respondents' Attitude toward the City by
31
88
Length of Off-Farm Residence
Respondents' Attitude toward Farm Life
32
89
by Length of Off-Farm Residence
Number of Problem Areas Mentioned
33
96
by Adjustment Groups
Reported Difficulties of Adjustment Groups
97
34
Relation between Duration of Urban Residence
35
99
and Adjustment
100
Relation between Age and Adjustment
36
Relation between Education and Urban
37
101
Adjustment
Relation between Non-Agricultural Work
38
102
and Adjustment
Relation between Pre-Migration Expectations
39
102
about Earnings and Adjustment
viii
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