Acculturation
Acculturation refers to the process through which individuals or groups adopt the cultural traits or social patterns of another group. This can occur through direct contact, migration, or colonization, and often involves changes in language, customs, and beliefs. In geography, acculturation can be observed in the blending of different cultural practices within a specific region.
7 Key excerpts on "Acculturation"
eBook - ePubCulture and Human Development
The Importance of Cross-Cultural Research for the Social Sciences
- Wolfgang Friedlmeier, Pradeep Chakkarath, Beate Schwarz, Wolfgang Friedlmeier, Pradeep Chakkarath, Beate Schwarz(Authors)
- 2005(Publication Date)
- Psychology Press(Publisher)
...Part V Acculturation 13 Acculturation John W.Berry Introduction Acculturation is the process of cultural and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between cultural groups and their individual members. Such contact and change occur for a variety of reasons, including colonization, military invasion, migration, and sojourning (such as tourism, international study, and overseas posting). Following these initial contacts, Acculturation continues in most societies, particularly in those that are culturally plural, where many ethno-cultural communities maintain features of their heritage cultures. Adaptation to living in these culture-contact settings takes place over time; occasionally it is stressful, but often it results in some form of accommodation, in which both groups in contact experience change. Acculturation and adaptation are now reasonably well understood, permitting the development of policies and programs to promote successful outcomes for all parties. Acculturation Concept The initial interest in Acculturation grew out of a concern for the effects of European domination of colonized and indigenous peoples (e.g., Herskovits, 1938). Research on Acculturation thus became associated with the colonial enterprise, carried out mainly by anthropologists. Later, it focused on how immigrants (both voluntary and involuntary) changed following their entry and settlement into receiving societies. Much of this work was carried out by sociologists and psychiatrists, who often emphasized the negative consequences of Acculturation (e.g., Stonequist, 1937). More recently, much of the work has been involved with how ethno-cultural groups relate to each other, and change, as a result of their attempts to live together in culturally plural societies (e.g., Chun, Balls-Organista, & Marin, 2002)...
eBook - ePub- Paul B. Pedersen, Walter J. Lonner, Juris G. Draguns, Joseph E. Trimble, Maria R. Scharrón-del Río(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
...In situations of sustained intercultural contact, individuals and groups are faced with the issue of how to adjust to cultural values, behaviors, and systems of beliefs that are different from their own. The period of adjustment following intercultural contact is known as Acculturation and is defined as the process of mutual and reciprocal change that takes place as a result of intercultural contact between two or more cultural groups and their individual members within a society (Berry, 1997; Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits, 1936). Although some groups of people, and in fact some societies, face the challenges of Acculturation more than others, it is undeniable that Acculturation is a phenomenon that influences the lives of all people. Therefore, the changes arising from intercultural contact are not confined to people who relocate across cultures (e.g., sojourners, immigrants, refugees). Acculturation affects indigenous peoples who have been subject to involuntary colonization and established ethnocultural communities in multicultural societies, as well as majority groups in societies that are culturally diverse (Berry & Sam, 1997). In this chapter we will consider issues confronted by acculturating people and the implications of these issues for counseling professionals. Conceptualizations of Acculturation The term Acculturation has been used to refer to both changes at the group level and changes in the psychology of the individual (Berry, 1997). At the group level, changes may occur in the social structure of the group or in the group’s economic and value base. At the individual level, changes take place in identity, values, and behavior (Sam, 2006). Acculturation itself is a neutral process, which effectively means that the changes arising from intercultural contact may be positive or negative depending on how the process is experienced by the individual or group...
eBook - ePubEducational Interventions for Refugee Children
Theoretical Perspectives and Implementing Best Practice
- Richard Hamilton, Dennis Moore(Authors)
- 2003(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Another aspect of migration is that it often leads to contact with a different culture. The following section examines the process of adaptation to a different culture from two slightly different theoretical perspectives. The two theories will be described in general terms and then as they relate to refugees. Implications will be discussed in terms of how pre-migration, trans-migration and post-migration affect the process of Acculturation. The term Acculturation refers to the cultural changes that occur when two or more cultures come into contact. The psychology of Acculturation ‘seeks to understand continuities and changes in individual behaviour that are related to the experience of two cultures through the process of Acculturation’ (Berry 1995: 457) and is distinct from the main body of cross-cultural psychology, which concerns itself with comparative examinations of psychological similarities and differences between members of different cultural groups. This latter approach, which links individual behaviour to membership of a culture is also relevant to the treatment of refugees, particularly in relation to trauma, stress and culturally appropriate interventions. Some of the relevant issues have been highlighted in Chapter 2 of this book. This present section limits itself to a discussion of ‘Acculturation’ as defined above and as distinct from ‘displacement’, because migration is not a necessary requirement for cross-cultural contact. Theories of Acculturation When people from more than one cultural group meet, a number of within-and between-group processes come into play that affect the developmental course of individuals and groups and their behavioural adaptations during the process of Acculturation. These adaptations are both the outcome as well as the predictor of development. Acculturation was first studied within anthropology where the focus was primarily on group-level processes (for example, Mickelson 1993)...
- Linda L. Lowry(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
...Acculturation Acculturation Magdalena Bielenia-Grajewska Magdalena Bielenia-Grajewska Bielenia-Grajewska, Magdalena 11 14 Acculturation Magdalena Bielenia-Grajewska Acculturation, adapting to or borrowing traits from another culture, results from the contact between two or more different cultural groups and their members. The encounters with the representatives of other cultures can lead to cultural, psychological, and even physical changes that can be observed at both individual and social levels. As far as the physical influence is concerned, novel dietary preferences or attitudes to physical activities such as sport determine what the acculturated individual looks like. Cultural changes encompass the use of new languages and cultural norms in one’s life, whereas the psychological alterations concern, among others, behavioral changes in the way individuals act. Acculturation is often discussed by taking into account the adaptation of language, customs, or values embedded in a dominant group by a minority community. It should also be stated that a dominant group may adapt the cultural patterns of the smaller group. Types of Acculturation Acculturation can be categorized by taking into account how norms and culture-related concepts are introduced into the communities undergoing contact with other cultures. Acculturation can be categorized as forced (imposed) or unforced (voluntary). This categorization is connected to the nature of Acculturation as such and the way new norms are introduced into the life of target communities. When the process of Acculturation is friendly, it leaves participants the right to decide whether to engage or not in these processes...
eBook - ePubNarrative Identity
Transnational Practices of Pashtun Immigrants in the United States of America
- Trevor Castor(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Pickwick Publications(Publisher)
...However, it is important to acknowledge the political context in which recent Acculturation studies are often situated. Although man has been experiencing Acculturation for millennia, the academic theory is rooted in social science. Anthropologists’ initial interest in Acculturation theory was to understand the effects that European contact had on indigenous peoples. J.W. Powell has the first recorded use of the word in his book Introduction to the Study of Indian [Native American] Languages (1880): The force of Acculturation under the overwhelming presence of millions of civilized people has wrought great changes. Primitive Indian society has either been modified or supplanted, primitive religions have been changed, primitive arts lost, and, in like manner, primitive languages have not remained unmodified. 91 Powell’s use of the word Acculturation remained relatively unaltered by researchers until the Memorandum for the Study of Acculturation offered the following definition: 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. 92 The significant difference between Powell’s use of the word and the definition given in the memorandum is the recognition that Acculturation can mean culture change in “either or both groups.” In other words, Acculturation is a bidirectional process as opposed to Powell’s unidirectional view. Powell was unaware or unwilling to admit that the researcher and/or the host/majority society was also changed by encountering diverse cultural practices. While the early recognition of the bi-directional process of Acculturation is not readily apparent in ethnographies produced in foreign fields, the same cannot be said for research conducted among immigrant communities in the United States by sociologists...
eBook - ePub- Hector Grad, Amalio Blanco, James Georgas, Hector Grad, Amalio Blanco, James Georgas(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Garland Science(Publisher)
...Oleska 48, 45–951 Opole, Poland. E-mail: [email protected] Acculturation and Ethnic Identity: The Remigration of Ethnic Greeks to Greece James Georgas & Dona Papastylianou The University of Athens, Athens, Greece Psychological adaptation refers to changes at individual and group levels that accompany migration (Berry, 1994). Acculturation refers to culture change resulting from continuous, immediate contact between two cultural groups (Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits, 1936). Psychological Acculturation refers to changes in an individual whose cultural group is undergoing Acculturation (Berry, 1980, 1994; Graves, 1967). One of the psychological consequences of psychological Acculturation is changes in ethnic identity. A significant contribution to the theory of psychological Acculturation has been Berry’s concept of Acculturation strategies. By this term, Berry, employing a model of conflict reduction, argues that there are a variety of adjustment tactics characteristic of the process of psychological Acculturation (Berry, 1976, 1980, 1984). The psychological changes in the individual undergoing Acculturation are related to the conflict: the degree of maintenance of one’s ethnic identity versus the degree of seeking inter-ethnic contact and adopting elements of the ethnic identity of the host society. Berry has described four Acculturation strategies. Assimilation refers to the “melting pot” concept of relinquishing one’s ethnic identity and identifying completely with the host culture. Integration refers to maintaining synchronously aspects of one’s ethnic identity and the identity of the host culture. Separation refers to maintenance of one’s ethnic identity and rejection of identification with the host culture...
eBook - ePubHispanic Marketing
The Power of the New Latino Consumer
- Felipe Korzenny, Sindy Chapa, Betty Ann Korzenny(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...This process elevates self-esteem and, when paired with brand attributes, it can create long-lasting brand relationships. At the time of writing this volume the so-called immigration debate is acrimonious, and it is hard to predict how the larger society will behave toward immigrants in the near future. Nevertheless over the past 30 years or so there has been a tendency by the majority of US society to embrace diversity, and the cultural esteem of Hispanics has been elevated by wider acceptance and respect. Greater and more visible Hispanic achievements have contributed to this increased acceptance. The likely outcome is that integration in a multicultural framework is the trend of the future. Most Hispanics have no reason for forgetting their original culture at this point. Hispanics appear to see more social and economic value in preserving key elements of their heritage. But let us not make the mistake of thinking that such preservation is a copy of what Latin Americans experience in their countries; it is the preservation of the synergistic cultural identity of being Latino in the US. Acculturation as a process “How groups and individuals orient themselves to and deal with this process of culture contact and change” is considered Acculturation. 24 Assimilation is one of the possible outcomes of the Acculturation process when individuals do not feel an attachment to their original culture and attribute strong value to the host culture. Another outcome of the Acculturation process can be biculturalism or integration with the host culture. That can happen when the individual holds his or her original culture in high esteem and also appreciates the host culture. As discussed earlier, the host culture also plays an important role in how individuals acculturate. If they are valued by the host culture, and this host culture also values diversity, then multiculturalism takes place...
