This special issue of the journal, which is part of a global research initiative on psychology and poverty reduction, focuses specifically on the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers. Application of contemporary constructions of relative poverty and social exclusion to understanding asylum and humanitarian refuge emphasises the relative financial and social disadvantages experienced by many of these forced migrants, which may lead subsequently to them having negative experiences of resettlement and poor mental health and overall wellbeing. We argue that governments need to be cognisant of the poverty pitfalls of forced migration and to examine carefully their policies on social inclusion to ensure that current and future humanitarian and climate change refugees arriving on their shores are not forced into relative poverty.

This article considers the popular concept of culture shock from three perspectives. The first is from the academic perspective, considering how researchers from different disciplines (anthropology, education, psychiatry, psychology, sociology) attempted to operationalise the concept and understand the process behind it. It represents 50 years of research using different methodologies and trying to answer different questions about the experience of travel for many reasons. This section of the article also considers issues concerned with the ‘overseas’ student; of which there are ever more travelling abroad to study. They can have serious culture shock difficulties. This is followed by a short section on migration in the South Pacific and the consequences for large and small countries, particularly that of sojourning, migration and refugees. The final section is a personal statement and reflection on culture shock and how I came to write two books and around a dozen papers on the topic.

The Pacific region is one of the most culturally diverse areas of the world; societies within this region are also culturally diverse. For both these reasons, intercultural relations and acculturation phenomena are at the forefront of psychological interests there. This paper first situates these phenomena in their ecological and cultural contexts, in which human diversity and individual behaviour can be examined and understood as adaptations to these contexts. Then the notion of differentiation in psychological and sociocultural phenomena is discussed, linking them to the concept of social capital. The processes involved in acculturation and intercultural relations are then described, and linked to the concept of differentiation. The argument is presented (with an empirical example from research with immigrant youth) that the more differentiated are a person's psychological life, as well as their social and cultural engagements, then the better adapted they are to living interculturally. Suggestions for policy and programme development and implementation are made: these include advancing the multicultural way of living together, and of accepting the need for mutual accommodation.

This study follows on from previous work (Pedersen et al., 2008) that examined the situation of the stateless asylum seeker, Wasim. In the present study, a blog discussion stemming from an editorial about Wasim (Adams, 2008) was analysed. Participants were identified as ‘Do-Gooders’ and ‘Do-Badders’; categories that indicate their orientation to asylum seeker debates (labels originated from the blog itself). We identified several features of the blog discussion. While similar themes and discursive devices were used by the two groups, they were used very differently. The Do-Gooders were more likely to offer accurate information about asylum seekers or Wasim and to show humanitarian concerns for Wasim and others like him. The Do-Badders were more likely to display emotion, show the ‘Phillip Adams Effect’ (addressing the author of the editorial, Phillip Adams, in their submissions) and name-call. However, there was no significant difference with respect to whether participants addressed Wasim's situation specifically rather than focusing on the general issue of asylum seekers. The blog demonstrates, in microcosm, the divided orientation of Australians regarding asylum seekers.

Refugees from Sudan are the fastest growing community in Australia. Australian mental health professionals have to be prepared to offer services to this ethnic group along with the other mainstream and diverse consumers. In order to offer culturally competent services, these mental health professionals are required to be familiar with this emerging community. As such, a review was undertaken with two main goals. Firstly, the review aimed to educate Australian mental health professionals about the demographics and culture of Sudan, the traumas encountered as a result of the civil war, factors leading to massive exodus and the difficulties of the transit and postmigration phase. Secondly, the review intended to inform Australian mental health professionals about the possible acculturation stress that is manifested in the form of intergeneration and role conflict and marital difficulties. The review highlights limitations on the number of studies addressing acculturation stress of Sudanese refugees and even fewer on the impact it has on relationships. Future research directions are discussed.

The present article offers an overview of the historical influences, conceptual assumptions, and major findings and issues associated with the study of culture and psychopathology. The article traces continuing reductionistic resistance to the incorporation of cultural considerations in the etiology, expression, and treatment of psychopathology to historical and contemporary forces. These forces include ‘cultural context’ of Western psychiatry and psychology, which choose to locate the determinants of behaviour in the human mind and brain. A definition of culture that acknowledges its internal and external representations is offered, and steps in the cultural construction of reality are proposed. Within this context, the risks of imposing Western cultural views universally are noted, especially attempts to homogenise classification and diagnostic systems across cultures. ‘Culture-bound’ disorders are used as example of Western bias via the assumption that they have ‘real’ disorders, while the other cultures have disorders that are shaped by culture. Cultural considerations in understanding the rate, etiology, and expression are presented, including recommended criteria for conducting epidemiological studies across cultural boundaries, especially ‘schizophrenic’ disorders as this problematic diagnostic category is subject to multiple cultural variations. The article closes with discussions of ‘cultural competence’ and ‘multilevel’ approaches to behaviour.

In recent years there has been an increase in Black African immigrants to Australia; however, there is no social psychological research that directly examines community attitudes towards this group. Here, the findings of a community survey in Western Australia are reported using data collected from 184 Australian participants. We were particularly interested in prejudiced attitudes and the function of attitudes towards Black African immigrants. On prejudice, a reliable and valid instrument measuring attitudes towards Black African immigrants was constructed. On functions, the most frequently reported function of attitude was ‘value-expressive’ (‘My attitudes give expression to my values’), followed by experiential-schematic (‘Helps me to make sense of the world’) and indirect experiential-schematic (‘Media, friends and family help me to make sense of the world’). While there was no significant difference between immigrant-accepting versus immigrant-rejecting participants on the value expressive or the experiential schematic functions, rejecting participants scored higher on the indirect experiential schematic function, highlighting the salience of second-hand information. The participants' most important reason for potentially changing their own attitudes towards Black African immigrants, however, were direct experience (experiential-schematic), followed by values (value expressive) and indirect experience (indirect experiential-schematic), two functions that were equally important. Qualitative open-ended interviews about attitudes converged with these themes, and added ‘integration’ by assimilating Australian culture, and not being involved in criminal activities (which highlights again a role for the media). We discuss these findings and derive a clear direction for anti-prejudice strategies at community and government levels.

Resettlement programs for people from a refugee background must respond to a variety of concerns as people from diverse backgrounds and often longstanding periods of upheaval and hardship enter their new resettlement communities. Host countries approach the demands of resettlement through varying programs and policies and those differences across countries can profoundly affect the newcomers' experiences. The current study employs quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the individual and contextual factors that influence the resettlement experience for adults from Sudan being resettled in Queensland, Australia. Ninety Sudanese adults were recruited through snowball sampling techniques for the quantitative study, with 10 individuals purposefully selected to complete the semistructured qualitative interview. In the quantitative sample, 25 to 30% of participants reported significant symptoms of psychological distress and frequent experiences of discrimination, and the majority of participants reported integration (identifying with both Australian and Sudanese cultures) as their method of acculturation. Participants reported feeling initially welcomed into Australia, with positive influences including bonding and bridging capital, which helped them in their adaptation, and negative influences including problems with the resettlement programs and experiences of discrimination. The findings underscore the importance of sociopolitical context on refugee experiences of the resettlement process.

Cultural influence on the effects of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control (PBC) on behavioural intentions can vary with types of behaviours. The current study compared American and Korean undergraduates for the effects of each of the Theory of Planned Behaviour components on intentions to sign an organ donor registry and to have family discussion about organ donation. For intentions to sign, results showed that attitudes were a stronger predictor among Americans than Koreans and that PBC was a significant predictor only among Koreans. While attitudes and subjective norms were similarly related to Americans' intentions to sign, subjective norms were more strongly related to Koreans' intentions to sign than attitudes and PBC. For intentions to have family discussion, Americans considered subjective norms to a greater extent than Koreans did. While subjective norms and PBC were more important than attitudes were among Americans, PBC was more important than subjective norms and attitudes among Koreans. Theoretical and practical implications of these and other findings are discussed.

As there is no research on forced migration of African migrants to New Zealand, in particular on the interrelations among psychological motives to migrate and psychological acculturation preferences, the present study aims to address this gap. One hundred and five forced and voluntary African migrants to New Zealand completed a questionnaire, which included two measures (a) the Psychological Motives to Migrate (Tharmaseelan, 2005) and (b) the Psychological Acculturation Index (Mace, 2004). Demographic information, including data on the New Zealand government immigration categories through which the migrant gained entry and length of time in New Zealand, was also collected. Multivariate analyses indicated that motivations to migrate do matter when it comes to acculturation preferences. Further, it was found that psychological motives to migrate were better predictors of acculturation preferences than the government immigration categories. Specifically, voluntary migrants (those motivated by ‘family life improvement’ and ‘exploration’) preferred to adapt to New Zealand culture, while forced migrants (those motivated by ‘escaping’) had a higher preference to maintain their culture of origin. Duration of time in New Zealand was correlated with acculturation preferences. Implications of the findings point to the importance of assessing motivations to migrate from a psychological perspective.

Australia is fortunate to welcome approximately 13,000 humanitarian entrants per year, most of whom have experienced protracted violence, hardship and life in refugee camps. The majority of humanitarian migrants were raised in cultural contexts very different to that of Australia, contributing to the increasing diversity of this region. With this diversity comes a responsibility to ensure every Australian receives culturally appropriate mental healthcare. Those who are forced into migration have experienced trauma and the stress of acculturation often compounds this trauma. This study investigated the experience of trauma from the perspectives of Sudanese-Australians. Grounded theory methodology was employed to extract themes from interviews with 15 Sudanese-Australians aged between 19 and 49 years. Results demonstrated four overarching themes: support, religion, strength and new possibilities. The data within these themes are compared and contrasted with previous literature that has examined notions of trauma, distress and growth in western populations. Conclusions drawn from these results highlight the need to build inclusive practices that support diversity into existing trauma services in Australia.

The present study had several aims: to examine horizontal/vertical individualism/collectivism in a New Zealand Māori sample; to determine whether these cultural orientations contribute to academic self-enhancement; and to investigate if self-enhancement affects intentions to continue studies in higher education. A quantitative questionnaire was distributed to a nonprobability convenience sample of 71 Māori university students. All participants had either studied within the past year or were currently studying, and were recipients of a Māori-specific bursary for higher education studies. Results revealed the sample scored high on measures of horizontal collectivism and academic self-enhancement. ANOVAs showed some significant differences between our sample and other cultural samples on some of the cultural orientations. A series of standard multiple regressions revealed that combined, the cultural orientations predicted academic self-enhancement, although only horizontal collectivism made a significant negative contribution. Academic intentions were not predicted by self-enhancement. The findings have implications for policy development and educational strategies oriented toward enhancing the academic success of Māori in higher education.

This qualitative study highlights the experiences of ten Serbian refugees who migrated to South Australia from former Yugoslavia as a result of the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. Multiple semi-structured interviews were employed to examine participants' experiences before, during and after the conflicts. Eight stages of the refugee journey were identified: prewar peaceful co-existence, outbreak of war, fleeing towards refuge in Serbian-held territory, realisation that the pre-war life cannot be regained, dissatisfaction with the family's transition situation, decision and application to emigrate, migration and resettlement in Australia, and adaptation to life in Australia. A number of factors were found to influence each stage of the refugee journey (e.g., social, practical and health challenges, age, and negative Serbian stereotypes). From these findings, three adaptation patterns — active integration, passive integration, and segregation — were identified as specific to the participants in the current study.

This article focuses on mental health assessment of refugees in clinical, educational and administrative-legal settings in order to synthesise research and practice designed to enhance and promote further development of culturally appropriate clinical assessment services during the refugee resettlement process. It specifically surveys research published over the last 25 years into the development, reliability measurement and validity testing of assessment instruments, which have been used with children, adolescents and adults from refugee backgrounds, prior to or following their arrival in a resettlement country, to determine whether the instruments meet established crosscultural standards of conceptual, functional, linguistic, technical and normative equivalence. The findings suggest that, although attempts have been made to develop internally reliable, appropriately normed tests for use with refugees from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, matters of conceptual and linguistic equivalence and test–retest reliability are often overlooked. Implications of these oversights for underreporting refugees' mental health needs are considered. Efforts should also be directed towards development of culturally comparable, valid and reliable measures of refugee children's mental health and of refugee children's and adults' psychoeducational, neuropsychological and applied memory capabilities.