Social Change and Psychosocial Adaptation in the Pacific Islands : Cultures in Transition

The Pacific Island oceanic and rim nations include many traditional societies and emerging nations that have experienced abusive histories of colonization, exploitation, and social change and upheaval.

This volume is the product of an international gathering of scholars and healthprofessionalsinHonolulu,Hawaii,forthespeci?cpurposeofdo- menting and understanding the wide-ranging psychosocial consequences of rapid social change among people of Paci?c Island nations. In the wide expanse of the Paci?c Ocean, there are scores of nations and an untold number of cultural traditions. This area has been the scene of rapid social change since the Paci?c Island people began contact with the Western and Eastern worlds through exploration, commerce, and religious mission- ies. These changes led to the collapse and decimation of many groups as challengestotraditionalwaysoflifesoonexceededtheircapacitytoendure and survive. Today, from Australia''s Aboriginal peoples in the South to the Hawaii''s Native Hawaiian (Kanaka Maoli) people in the North, there is a resurgence of cultural pride and efforts to renew ties with past. From Po- nesia (e. g. , Hawaii, Samoa) to Micronesia (e. g. , Chuuk, Pohnpei, Palau) to Melanesia (e. g. , Solomon Islands, New Guinea), the indigenous p- ple of the Paci?c are continuing their struggle to survive amidst a rapidly changingworldinwhichbasicandfundamentalvaluesandlifestyles?nd themselvesincon?ictwithwaysoflifethatemphasizealienvaluessuchas individuality, materialism, competition, and change. These words are not meant to idealize the traditional cultures of the Paci?c Island people for they have often been characterized by aggression, hostility, and destr- tion of one another in the course of their history. Yet, it is clear that never hastherebeensuchsomanyandsopotentexternalforceschallengingtheir existence. Westernization can now be found throughout the Paci?c Islands with the exception of a few isolated regions in Melanesia and Micronesia.