THE MANAGEMENT OF STRESS BY INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES : A STUDY OF THE SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESS OF ADJUSTMENT TO REDUNDANCY

Abstract

This study investigates individual and family response to a situation of stress operationalized as the retrenchment of civilian workers accompanying British military withdrawal from Malaysia. Data for the study derive from structured interviews with 226 male civilian employees retrenched from the military base in Penang. In the analysis of the data, individual and family response to the situation is organized into three areas: the process of looking for work, economic and social adjustment to the new employment situation, and the psychological effect of the changes attendant upon the adjustment process. Men approached the task of job-seeking with varying degrees of flexibility and personal effort, and in the process of looking for work they sought and received assistance from various sources. The variation in job-seeking; was partly explained by socio-economic status, represented in this sample by two major occupational groups, office workers and manual workers. Two elements of socio--economic status operative in the process of job-seeking were levels of social participation and of social influence. Job-seeking behaviour was influenced to a lesser extent by individual incentive, aspiration and previous employment experience. Economic resources also directly related to socio-economic status, and influenced the manner in which individuals and families weathered the economic reversals which were the common feature of the new employment circumstances. Men with greater resources were better able to withstand income reduction though their losses were severe. .Social adjustment to new conditions involved, in general, changes to wage-earning patterns within the family. Such changes predominantly affected children. Circumstances of families were not much improved when family reorganisation required children to stop school at relatively low levels. The likelihood of family change seemed to depend upon the severity of income loss, the number of dependents and family aspirations for children. Dependence on sources outside the immediate family was uncommon and family tensions leading; to family breakdown were rare. In general, families displayed good levels of adjustment and respondents did not manifest signs of distress. Good adjustment was facilitated by strong family resources, defined as material accumulation, children with relatively high levels of education and high levels of family integration. These resources modified the effects of economic reversals and other changes. Psychological suffering occurred when families experienced a combination of regressive change and when their resources were inadequate.