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Abstract

This study examined the personal characteristics and processes of thriving in a
group of young men during a geographically dislocating transition. The concept
of thriving broadened the traditional vulnerability and coping focus of transition
research, to one that incorporated positive learning and growth. The challenging
circumstances surrounding geographic dislocation provided the context for these
characteristics and processes to be examined and explained.
The study was conducted with 24 young male, elite athletes drawn from the
Australian Football League who were required to relocate to take up their player
contracts. A partially mixed, sequential design was employed, firstly to identify
the features of the participant group. Despite their homogeneity on a range of
instruments, the outcome variations were not adequately explained.
Subsequently, the particular characteristics and processes that contributed to
thriving were examined. From the results, a comprehensive analysis of the
experience of the geographically, dislocating transition identified a principle group
of 16 characteristics (concepts) and associated processes. Based on variations
in these identified concepts, the study's participants clustered in one of three
groups (categories): those who were thriving, surviving or languishing in regard
to the challenge of the geographically dislocating transition.
Thriving was further examined in relation to a theoretical framework of transition
as a cyclical process. This was explained as a dynamic exchange across stages
of transition, rather than as a standard linear model. While the transition was
recursive, the stages were disjunctive and at the same time interconnected.
Thriving explained by this model required the resolution of tasks associated with
the concepts at each stage. For each of the categories the concepts were the same however the resolution of the associated tasks was more problematic. The
recursive process of learning gave the thriving participants a significant
advantage. They had a positive trajectory on the thriving transition cycle and
their ability to progress was enhanced by the satisfactory resolution of issues at
each stage of the challenge. Those whose tasks were poorly resolved or
unresolved were less able to thrive as the transition unfolded. This study
provided new insights into the characteristics and processes of thriving in a
geographically dislocating transition. Thriving was observed as a cyclic, staged
process where the trajectories of passage, and adjustment strategies, exerted a
significant influence on the outcomes.
To advance the learnings from this research and to broaden the application of
possible interventions, the direction of future research should extend the
methodology to other groups in transition, and to a wider range of transition
challenges.

Item Type:	Thesis - PhD
Authors/Creators:	Harris, MW
Copyright Holders:	The Author
Copyright Information:	Copyright 2009 the Author
Additional Information:	Thesis (PhD)--University of Tasmania, 2009. Includes bibliographical references
Item Statistics:	View statistics for this item

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