Great Expectations and Reality Checks

1
Great Expectations and Reality Checks

• The role of information in mediating migrants
  experience of return
• Rachel Sabates-Wheeler and Linnet Taylor
• Institute of Development Studies, Sussex

2
Research questions

• How does information mediate expectation gaps
  between
• Perceived reality and reality
• Migrant at destination and family at home?
• What are the types and channels of information
  that influence expectations?
• How does asymmetrical information influence the
  return experience?
• What are the key determinants of
  expectation-adaptation by migrants?

3
Literature

• Daniel Lerner (1956) desires and aspirations
  enter traditional society, causing mobile
  personality and leading to physical mobility.
• Carling (2004) migration as a construct
  involving expectations re nature and
  consequences
• De Jong et al (1996, 2000) use value-expectancy
  framework to explain mobility as strategy to
  improve quality of life. Networks are the means
  of mobility family norms and migration
  experience are the cause.
• Gmelch (1980) migrants and those left-behind
  manipulate information for status / to
  incentivise return, causing mismatched
  expectations.

4
Data

• 46 returnee interviews from Ghana in 2005
• 20 returnee interviews from Ghana in 2008
• Semi-structured interviews, snowball sampling
  method using returnee organisations and aiming
  for cross-section by gender, age, profession,
  type of migration.

5
Expectations Formation pre-migration

• Demonstration effects
• Imperfect information flows from destination
• Previous experience
• Trans-national family formation
• External influence

6
Expectations framework - typology

• How do expectations of migrants and those
  left-behind change over time, interact, and
  influence return /reintgration outcomes?
• Adaptation from unrealistic to realistic scenario
  proceeds at different pace for migrant and those
  at home.
• Where process is out of step, latent/apparent
  tensions arise, hindering reintegration.
• Typology
• migrants and families characterized along 2
  dimensions
• 1. Realist/Romantic pre-formed notions of
  destination and home
• 2. Adapted/Non-Adapted ability to adapt

7
Type 1 The Realist

• Reality at destination corresponds to
  expectations (for migrant and family)
• Lacks economic means to fulfil aspirations at
  home
• While from poorer families, takes decision alone
• Little household pressure
• Relatively well educated
• Judicious consumer of information from returnees
• Specific, positive goals and strategy
• Return problems expects an advantage at home,
  but finds reality underwhelming.

8
Type 2 Adapted Romantic

• Poor, migrates with imperfect information
  expectations are not fulfilled
• Lack of fallback position and high dependency
  requires adaptation
• Return experience depends on information flows
  and cost-benefit ratio
• Migrant returns with modest expectations where
  those left behind are uninformed, conflict
  results

Pre-migration
At destination
Expectations /reality
A
Non-migrant expectations
Latent conflict
B
Migrant expectations
Reality
Time
9
Type 3 Non-Adapted Romantic

• Expectations not met by migration
• Younger, better-off, decent lifestyle at home
• Migration is not a survival strategy. Lack strong
  economic motivation less likely to adapt.
• Over-optimistic due to imperfect
  information/demonstration effects of returnees
• Not completely honest with those at home, because
  they are not adapting.
• On return, happy with former life, but may fall
  short of the expectations of those left-behind

10
Findings

• Information is an critical factor in mediating
  the outcomes of migration and return
• More information better adaptation more
  positive outcomes for migrants and those left
  behind
• Complex role of poverty
• Poor less likely to be well informed
  pre-migration
• Once migrated, strong motivator to adapt
• Source of vulnerability for return
• Policy recommendations
• Role for formal information sources for migrants
  and sending communities
• Opportunity to teach migrants skills needed upon
  return, not merely in destination countries

11
Further research

• What type/path of information flows leads to
  optimal migration outcomes for migrants and those
  left behind?
• Is there a difference by gender? (De Jong, 2000
  men move for affiliations, women for comfort/job
  satisfaction)
• New communications technology (cellphones,
  internet)
• significantly changing speed/accuracy of
  information flows?
• Allowing migrants/those left behind to
  triangulate imperfect local information?
• Is transnational mobility changing information
  flows?
• Presence of family at both ends of migration
  journey
• Multiple sources of information on migrants
  progress

12

• And what you thought you came forIs only a
  shell, a husk of meaningFrom which the purpose
  breaks only when it is fulfilledIf at all.
  Either you had no purposeOr the purpose is
  beyond the end you figuredAnd is altered in
  fulfilment.
•  
• T.S. Eliot Little Gidding