From Welfare to Development: A Conceptual Framework for the Analysis of Dislocated People

Abstract

This chapter discusses a frame of reference for the study of human populations undergoing forced relocation, to reformulate a number of hypotheses as to how communities and individuals can be expected to respond to resettlement, and to point up some of the policy implications of these hypotheses. It argues that people and sociocultural systems respond to forced relocation in predictable ways, predictability being possible because the extremely stressful nature of relocation restricts the range of coping responses available to the majority during the period that immediately follows removal. People still supported by food relief or welfare are obviously still in the transition stage, no matter how long they have been living on the new site. The transition stage rarely lasts less than two years from the date of removal, but the length varies with sociocultural background of the relocatees and the nature of the resettlement process. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.