Immigrants, Refugees and the Acculturation Process Flashcards
Acculturation
experiences and changes that groups and individuals undergo when they come in contact with a different culture.
Immigrants
People who move to another country voluntarily. Decision can take, weeks, months, years, which allows for the people to prepare for the move and the acculturation process.
Refugees
People who are forced to move from their homelands because of war or political oppression. The decision for the move is quick, which does not allow people to prepare for the move or the acculturation process.
Acculturative Stress
Feelings of tension and anxiety caused by the inability to adapt in the new country.
John Berry
Father of research on acculturation
What statuses are in Berry’s model of Acculturation?
- Assimilationist
- Seperationist
- Marginalist
- Integrationist
Assimilationist
An individual who blends in completely w/ the host society, taking on the values of the host society, and rejecting his or her values
Seperationist
Individual who ID’s w/ their original culture of origin and rejects all of the hosts countries values and beliefs
Marginalist
Individual who does not identify with either of the host country or id of origin values & beliefs
Integrationist
- An individual who combines (integrates) their own culture and the host culture
- Thought of to be the most successful in integrating with the host country
Acculturated
Competent in host culture, but maintains own culture as more essential
Laframboise & Associates’ Model of Acculturation
- Assimilation
- Acculturated
- Fusion
- Alternation
- Multicultural
Assimilation in Laframboise & Associates’ Model
Absorption in the dominant culture
Acculturated
Competence in 2nd culture w/o complete acceptance
Fusion
Combining culture of origin with host culture, almost creating a new culture
Alternation
- Regards both culture as equal
- The process of alternating btwn one’s culture of origin and the host culture depending on what the context demands
- Looked as the optimal one
- Equivalent to integrationist in Berry’s model
Multicultural
People with distinct identities joined together within a social structure, cooperate with each other for the common good.
Pre-migration period
time before migration
when acculturation process can begin to take place
Migration period
Going to host country
Post migration period
The period after settling into the host culture, when the stress of migration continues to be experiences and adjustment to the new culture takes place.
Ecological fit/ecological context
The degree to which there is a match between the sociocultural environment in the migrants culture of origin and the country to which they are migrating.
Microsystem
- Relationships amongst family members.
* Usually immediate family, or family who lives in the household.
Mesosystem
•Extends relationships out the family, but is limited to school, extended family, workplace, and the community the individual lives in.
Exosystem
- Major social institutions
* e.g: media, law, social media, the government
Macrosystem
• Cultural norms & societal rules that determine the overall changes and interactions of the society in which we live in.
What 4 factors may predict better adjustment?
- Cultural difference: how much 2 cultures differ in their overall ways of life.
•language: the closer one’s mother tongue is to english, the easier is is for them to learn english.
• culture similarity: the more similar one’s heritage culture is to the host culture, the less acculturated stress they experience. - Culture fit: Degree to which one’s culture is similar to the culture they are coming into
- Attitudes towards their heritage culture.
• Assimilation
• Seperation
• Marginalization
• Integration (Bi-cultural) - Host culture
• Expressed prejudice - reduced motivation to integrate & increases barriers.
• Values diversity - assimilation or integration could occur.
