Cilj rada je pruæiti uvid u teorijski okvir istraæivanja migracijskih procesa te πire kontekstualizirati iseljavanje s podruËja Hrvatske. To Êe omoguÊiti bolje razumijevanje rezultata istraæivanja koji se predstavljaju u narednim tekstovima u sklopu tematskog broja Ëasopisa. Pri tome se posebna vaænost obraÊa na osnovne karakteristike iseljeniËkih politika dræava kojih je Hrvatska bila sastavni dio od 19. stoljeÊa, a koje se prepoznaje kao vremenski okvir poËetka modernih masovnih migracija na ovom prostoru
The public opinion towards war veterans is in many cases controversial. On the one hand, they are respected, treated as heroes and valuable members of society, and their war merits were compensated through material, social and symbolical means. On the other hand, they are often marginalized, and their stigmatization is not uncommon: It is most often related to the psychological consequences of war trauma, but also to assumed dubious motives for joining the military (such as improving social and material status, disturbed personality, etc.). It is well-known that self- stigmatization is difficult to bear, so publicly-created negative images, if exaggerated, can have particularly severe consequences on the lives of defenders and veterans. In order to answer that question, an online survey conducted with 749 Croatian veterans from the Homeland War (1991— 1995) sought to fulfill two goals: first, to examine to what extent the veterans adopted the positive and negative images about their population; and second, to determine how it is related to their subjective well-being. The results show that almost all veterans are aware of and emphasize their merits, but they partly accepted negative views of their status. Additionally, it was shown that the mentioned veterans' problems are not related or are only marginally related to their subjective well- -being. The findings are interpreted in a broader context, taking into account the phenomenon of personal compensation of public (macrosocial) deficits, typical of transitional societies.
Croatia, as a traditionally emigrant country, has experienced large population emigrations since the 15th century, and this trend has continued until today. With Croatia's entry into the European Union, the conditions for migrating have changed significantly, and it has never been easier to migrate, with the majority of people emigrating being young people of working age between the ages of 20 and 39. This is also evident from the net migration, that is, the difference in the number of immigrants and emigrants, which has shown a negative trend in the last few years. Knowing and understanding the emigration motives is one of the most important preconditions to being able to influence the factors that encourage young people to emigrate. Therefore, the aim of this research was to determine the main emigration motives and their representation among young emigrants from Croatia through the prism of their attitudes and opinions. The research was conducted as part of the flzaJEDNO srce, jedna dusa, jedna Hrvatska« project, which was encouraged by the Humanitarian Association of Father Mladen HrkaÊ. The research focused on new emigrants to European countries, aged 18 to 40. The results show that, according to their statements and opinions, the motivation of youth from Croatia, in accordance with the theoretical framework, is based on the complementary effect of push and pull factors, whereby the pull factors are perceived as stronger motivational factors for the decision to migrate. This research, in addition to providing and expanding insight into the motivational factors of Croatian youth through their attitudes and opinions, emphasizes the necessity of further research and the expansion of scientific knowledge on which it is possible to base public policies.
According to the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, the net migration in Croatia, i.e., the difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants, has shown a negative trend in the last few years. Even though it is important to know the emigration demographic data, it is also important to include the wider context in the research, i.e., the social factors behind the emigration of youth. Therefore, the main goals of this research were: 1) to determine the average importance of personal and social components of identity and the average representation of self-actualization-related, conventional and hedonistic values orientation among young emigrants, and to compare them to the youth population in Croatia; 2) to examine whether there is a connection between the social identity, value orientations and sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, education) of young emigrants and their migration motivation; and 3) to examine which characteristics of young emigrants are the best predictors of their intention to return to Croatia. The research was carried out as part of the flzaJEDNO srce, jedna dusa, jedna Hrvatska« project, which was encouraged by the Humanitarian Association of Father Mladen HrkaÊ. The research included 934 first- generation emigrants aged 18 to 40 in Europe and 977 young persons aged 18 to 40 from Croatia. The research results show that participants from both groups attach high average importance to the determinants of both aspects of identity, as well as to three value orientations. However, expatriates attach greater importance to all measured identity and value categories. It was also found that older men from the age group of 18 to 40 with a lower level of education and participants with a more pronounced social identity and a more pronounced hedonistic value orientation emigrate most often. In contrast to the migration motivation, the intention to return is expressed more among younger emigrants, with a less pronounced hedonistic value orientation and a more pronounced social identity.
