Exploring perceptions of cultural differences in a multicultural and disadvantaged community. A secondary analysis of open-ended response data

Abstract

In Australia, public housing estates are associated with disadvantage, exclusion, stigma and social disorder. Many and the most vulnerable of those who enter Australia under the Humanitarian Programme settle in public housing estates. However, while these places are culturally diverse, there is a lack of evidence of how people are dealing with differences. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of cultural differences in a multicultural and disadvantaged neighbourhood. The research was based on a secondary analysis of qualitative survey data collected to evaluate the progress of an urban regeneration project undertaken in an inner-city high-rise estate in Melbourne. Records of 255 interviews with residents over 18 years of age were examined. Sixty-seven of them expressed views regarding cultural differences, which comprised 94 responses to 13 questions. Three major themes were identified: settlement issues, intercultural interactions, and cultural identities. Findings showed how interactions are influenced by the way migrants experience their settlement process, and by tensions between minority and minority groups. The study concluded on the complexity of cultural differences in a small community where intercultural relations may be facilitated, inhibited, or troubled by the way people position to perceive cultural differences. Services and interventions face the challenge of understanding and interpreting the role of differences in the community life, and to address a variety of issues that arise from everyday encounters with differences. The lack of evidence regarding the impact of cultural differences in communities with concentrations of public housing and the findings of this study suggest further research.