Ethnicity's Identity And Experiences Of Identity

Ethnicity significantly influences the formation of an individuals identity and experiences of belonging. Every cultural background has its own guide of morals and values which places expectations on each individual to follow. The various elements of a certain background influence family life and general structure, greatly influencing a persons formation of identity, and ways an individual may experience belonging. Other impacts that may have an effect on ethnicity for various people today include globalisation, increased mobility and migration.

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Ethnicity is an intrinsic part of one’s life as its the basis of what assists in personal development. Within society today ethnicity continues to denote a form of unity and commonality

If people are denied of their cultural identity this can significantly effect in their identity formation and result in the sense of not belonging. Aborigines of the stolen generations illustrate this loss of culture as they were prevented to practice their rituals resulting in feeling detached to those around them, due to lacking knowledge of the roots of their identity. (refer to RE notes). Ethnicity is a contributing factor to saying that individuals attain a sense of identity. A previous study. of ethnic identity development has shown that through the developmental stage of adolescents they were more likely to report being in a moratorium status in comparison to young adults and adults (Yip, 2013), impacting their experiences of belonging.Furthermore in the film “Looking for Alibrandi”, Josie tells the audience the story of her struggles with her Italian- Australian identity as a young adolescent. She feels quite rebellious towards the Italian way of living, especially due to her nonna’s constant remarks to her mother “yous let her go out like a gypsy”

This process is catalysed by technological, economic and political trends operative in the contemporary world. (Gikonyo Wokabi and Omondi Owino, 2016) Since Western society is becoming more knowledgeable of the issues taking place for other ethnic backgrounds, where its people may suffer greater economically, there’s more opportunity for others to endeavour to assist and improve standards of living. Another positive factor of globalisation is the increase in media coverage drawing attention of the world to human rights violations. (Sites.google.com, 2016)This can further better a certain culture on their views such as violence against women, encouraging proper formation of identity and creating a better experience of belonging. The benefits of globalisation may not be universal. “Globalisation, exposes firms to a wide range of cultures simultaneously.” (Slater, Paliwoda and Slater, 2007) Countries such as Japan has shown to be historically averse to globalisation, and have only slowly changed and evolved to accept and adapt to a more American style approach to business. (Slater, Paliwoda and Slater, 2007) This emphasis the impact of globalisation on ethnicity today as cultures must begin to develop a different attitude towards globalisation in order to change for the better. This change may result in individuals feeling a loss of their own cultural norms and values