Acculturation Of Immigrants

As the rate of immigration rises, issues of acculturation and adaption will be ever-increasingly studied by cross-cultural psychologists. Thus far, research has shown that immigrants face an array of issues associated with acculturation processes, for instance having to learn to communicate in a new language (Lay & Nguyen, 1998). In addition to experiencing conflict with family members and other members of their cultural group, newly arrived immigrants also encounter intergroup hostility, prejudice and perceived discrimination for the first time (Abouguendia & Noels, 2001; Hirschman, 1996). Understanding the acculturation strategies of immigrants has led to the conceptualisation of the AIMS model (assimilation, integration, marginalisation

For the purposes of this essay, first-generation immigrants are broadly defined as those born in their home country who immigrate to a new country as adults, and the term second-generation immigrants refers to children born to first-generation individuals in the host country (Abouguendia & Noels, 2001). Generally speaking, first-generation immigrants are often less fluent in the host language, and have a fewer number of host national friends compared with the second-generation group (Tonsing, 2014). Acculturation is defined as the process of change, which occurs when different cultural groups come into continuous first hand contact (Redfield, Linton, & Herskovits, 1936). Such changes include those in values, attitudes and behaviours, which occur at many levels and include both psychological and sociocultural adaptions (Berry & Sabatier, 2010). The AIMS model of acculturation, as mentioned earlier, provides researchers with a method of understanding the adaption strategies of immigrants. Assimilation refers to a preference for the host culture, and little interest with one’s heritage. Immigrants who show a preference for integration aim to maintain their heritage culture, while also affiliating themselves with the host culture. Marginalisation can be easily described as the opposite of integration, for the individual does not participate in either

Of what little research there is already conducted in this field of psychology (Berry & Sabatier, 2010; Abouguendia & Noels, 2001; Tonsing, 2014), the second-generation population studied have commonly been children averaging between the ages of 10 and 19 years. Immigrant status notwithstanding, most, if not all, adolescent children experience the same physical, psychological and biochemical changes associated with puberty. These changes alone will affect the way these children perceive their surrounding environment, and so they may report to experience lower self-esteem and higher feelings of depression than their parents. To my knowledge, there has not yet been any research which has taken this into account, or even considered this aspect of second-generation immigrants’