Acculturation and multiculturism Flashcards
Acculturation
Comprehends those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent changes in the original cultural patterns of either or both groups
–> Changes that an individual experiences as a result that one’s cultural or ethnic group is undergoing
Acculturating groups
Ethnocultural groups: voluntary contact and sedentary mobility (Friesland in NL)
Indigenous people: involuntary contact and sedentary mobility (Native American Indians)
Immigrants/sojourners: voluntary contact and migrant mobility
Refugees: involuntary contact and migrant mobility
One dimensional conceptualization of acculturation
- Cultural maintenance
- cultural adoption
–> The more you acquire the host culture, the more you lose the heritage culture
–> both cultures change, and individuals from both groups can change as well
Cultural maintenance
Maintaining characteristics of own (heritage) culture
Cultural adoption
Adopting characteristic of the culture of the host society of settlement
Acculturation orientations
Maintenance vs. adaption
Integration: + maintenance / + adaptation
Separation: + maintenance / - adaptation
Assimilation: - maintencance / + adaptation
Marginalization: - maintenance / - adaptation
- maintenance of the original culture
- adaptation to the new/host culture
Integration
high in maintenance and high in adaptation
–> You’re skilled in both cultures, you speak both languages and you think of yourself as belonging to both groups
Separation
High in maintenance and low in adaptation
–> you don’t want to take over the ways of the host society. You want to maintain the culture that is your heritage
Assimilation
Low in maintenance and high in adaption
–> you do not want to maintain your culture of origin, but you are instead set to take over the culture of the host society
Marginalization
low in maintenance and low in adaptation
–> This is the most dysfunctional way of handeling this strategy
The fusion model of acculturation
Cultural maintencance, cultural adaptation and new culture
- limitation: the accultarated choices that you make are not global choices, so you don’t just make one choice. You can drill down basically from the super ordinate level, which is the public and the private domain, to more specific live domains
Domain specificity of acculturation
- superordinate level (public and private domain)
- ordinate level (more specific life domains)
- subordinate level (specific situations)
Acculturation framework
Acculturation conditions + acculturation orientations + acculturation outcomes
Acculturation conditions
- characteristics of the receiving society
- characteristics of the society of origin
- characteristics of the immigrant group
- personal characteristics
Acculturation outcomes
- psychological well-being (stress, mood states, acceptance, satisfaction)
- socio-cultural competence in ‘mainstream’ culture
- socio-cultural competence in ‘ethnic’ culture
Assessment of acculturation
- one statement (unidimensional)
- two statements (bidimensional)
- four statements (four categories based on two dimensions )
- Vignettes
Vignettes
- Likert format repsonses
- a brief description is given of a person who displays a certain acculturation orientation
- participants indicate level of agreement
Acculturation conditions
State ideologies and immigrant policies / attitudes / acculturation strategies
–> influence in interction the outcomes of acculturation processes
- characteristics of the receiving society
- characteristics og the society of origin
- characteristics of the immigrant group
- personal characteristics
Plural societies
Different cultural groups residing together within a shared social and political framework
–> many people still think of their society as unicultural (or strive for such a society)
- melting pot
- multicultural
Melting pot culture
Minorities adapt to the mainstream culture
Multicultural
Ethnocultural groups retain identity
State integration policies
- pluralism
- civic ideology
- assimilation ideology
- ethnist ideology
Pluralism
- pluralist ideology
- fundamental expactation: the immigrant will adopt the public values of the host country
- the state has no mandate in defining/regulating the private values of its citizens, whose individual liberties in personal domain must be respected
- it is considered of value to maintain immigrant culture and language
Civic ideology
- shares two importantfeatures of the pluralism ideology:
1. the expactation that immigrants adopt the public values of the host country
2. the state has no right to interfere with the private values of its individual citizens - no state fund or endorsement can be granted for the maintenance or promotion of the private values of particular groups of individuals (non-intervention in the private values)»_space; unlike pluralist ideology
Assimilation ideology
- expectation that immigrants adopt the public values of the host country
- expectation to abandon their own cultural and linguistic distinctiveness for the sake of adopting the culture and values of the dominant group
- sometimes voluntarily, sometimes imposed assimilation
- setting: state apparatus serves the interest of a particular class or ethnocultural group
- France is often considered assimilationist
Ethnist ideology
- shares two features of the assimilation ideology
1. immigrants must adopt the public values of the host nation
2. the state has a right to limit the expression of certain aspects of private values - sometimes expects immigrants to reject their own ethnocultural identity for the sake of adopting the private values and culture of the dominant host society
- in other cases no expectation to assimilate because no intention of ever accpting immigrants
Immigrant acculturation orientations
Minorities have acculturation orientations
Anomie and individualism –> same as marginalization
Anomie
Lack of norms –> negative variant of immigrant acculturation orientations
Individualism
Positive combination of low maintenance/adoption
Immigrant x host perspective
3 cells which are consensual
10 cells which partly overlap –> problematic (leads to stereotypes and stress)
12 cells don’t overlap –> conflictual (leads to racism, discrimination etc.)
host culture x maintain own culture
yes and yes = integration
yes and no = assimilation
no and yes = separation
no and no = anomie/indivudalism–> marginalization
Perceived cultural distance and adjustment
Small but statistically significant negative overall association between perceived cultural distance and acculturation outcomes
- Netherlands likes assimilation
- minority groups want integration
Multicultural ideology
A distinction between multicultural as a demographic feature of modern societies and multiculturalism as an ideology
- Acceptamce of / support for culturally heterogeneous society
Item dealing with Dutch culture
- Dutch favor adopting Durch culture in all domains
- Turkish-Dutch make a sharp distinction between public and private
Acculturation orientations / relationships
Preferences different from:
- majority/minority status
- domain
–> strong positive correlations between multiculturalism attitudes and cultural maintenance
What part of multiculturalism is most relevant in NL
- Cultural diversity good/bad for society
- focus minority / cultural maintenance of ethnic culture and adoption of Dutch culture
- Focus majority / support for cultre maintenance and integration by minorities
- Equal rights and participation in society
Remote acculturation
Modern form of non-migrant acculturation via globalization
Example of remote acculturation
- Jamaica/Jahmericans
‘My culture i don’tknow. My body is in Jamaica but my mind is in America’
‘Jamaican culture is changing. We are embracing more of the American way of life’
Outcomes of remote acculturation
Stronger European American cultural orientation, lower Jamaican orientation, lower family obligations, greater conflict with parents
Remote enculturation
Learning your heritage culture from a distance when you do not or no longer live in that country
Modern form of cultural transmission in light of high rated of global migration
Translationalism
Multiple ties and interactions that link people or institutions across the borders of nation-states
Consistently on the rise
Return migration
85% of the 1 million Greek, who migrated to West Germany between 1960 and 1984, returend home
Every year 40.000 migrants of Turkish origin return to Turky from Germany alone
Return of conservatism
People go abroad, to earn money for example, for a certain period. Once they have met their objectives, they will return evetually. Financial goals an return
Return of failure
People having great difficulties adjusting to the destination context where they are going. They did not achieve what they set out to do. Problem for their social reputation
Return migration outcome
Pre-remigration perception: nostalgia, fronzen culture
- Generational differences –> more acculturative stress than first generation
- Reacculturation: acculturation orientation in former host society relevant
Reacculturation
Acculturation orientation in former host society relevant
Feminism
The belief that women should not be disadvantaged by their sex, that they should be recognized as having human dignity equally with men, and the opportunity to live as fulfilling and as freely chosen lives as men can
Who benefits from multiculturalism
Multiculturalism often assumes cultural group to be internally similar - but there are differences (e.g., gender)
Men likely to profit the most from multiculturalism, particularly when minority groups are patriarchically organized (Patriarchy = social system in which males hold primary power)
Minority rights often are about traditions concerning marriage, children, and inheritance, which is where women are most involved (Okin, 1999) Examples: honor violence, family structure, forced marriage
Multiculturalism might thereby enhance power differences and intra-group oppression (Bilic, 2011; Deveaux, 2006)
“Not all cultural differences deserve to be tolerated (…) For example (…) the culture of honor, the particular custom of group honor, means that women in particular are subject to violence, if they transgressed certain moral boundaries and we see cases like this in Canada, (…) the honor crime. (…) The ideal of Women’s equality bumps up against the aspiration to diversity.”
Orthodox Jews in Israel
- financial support
- no military service
- men focus on the study of the holy scripture
- women facilitate that
- women are responsible for sexual self-control/moral
Veiling
- visible marker of one’s identity as a Muslim and belonging to a group
- a reminder to guard religious behavior
- resisting objectification and sexual exploitation by men
- respect
- preserves intimate relationships
- source of freedom
Muslim feminism
Muslim women who, while embracing Islamic ideology as liberating, are genuinely trying to promote wome’s rights within the confines of Islmic Sharia by proposing a more moderate and more female-centered interpretation of the Koran
Study on veiling in UK
- women had more positive body image
- women were less relian on media messages about beauty ideals
- women placed less importance on appearance
Third culture kids
Children of traveling parents, global culture
Fusion model
Cube with 3 sides
- cultural maintenance
- cultural adaptation
- new culture
Return of retirement
When people reach their retirement age, want to spend their old age in the home country
Return to innovation
This is different type of returning. This is typically carried out by people in the second or third generation. Highly skilled/qualified immigrants. They think their economic opportunities might be better if they would return
