Acculturation

Acculturation

Transcript

• 00:01

  When the school bell rings, it's a signalfor these students at Heart Mountain in Wyomingto change classes.The school curriculum meets the standardof the state where the center is located,mathematics, American history, geography,the fundamentals of an American education.This is a class in mathematics and a rhythm class

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  of fifth grade pupils.In the modern school, many subjectsare added to reading, writing, and arithmeticas part of the school work.Some of the teachers are Caucasian,some are evacuees, Americans of Japanese ancestors.The first graders in this class, taught by an evacuee teacher,are making colored drawings which

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  will decorate the walls of their barracks buildingclassroom, the same kinds of beautifully clumsy drawingsthat can be found in almost any first grade.

As with assimilation, frequent study of acculturation stretches back to early the 20th century. in 1935, the social science research council tasked robert redfield, ralph linton, and melville j. herskovits with reviewing previous work on acculturation and assessing the implications of the term. for these scholars, acculturation is the phenomenon wherein groups of individuals encounter those from a different culture, resulting in changes in cultural patterns for one or both groups. acculturation can result in acceptance, adaptation, or reaction. the first outcome, acceptance, signals the dominance of one culture over another⇔assimilation of values and behaviors. the second outcome, adaptation, sees both cultures being transformed as a result of contact. last, reaction is seen in contra-acculturative movements. redfield and colleagues intended for the term to be neutral regarding the direction of ethnic change for one or both groups. in practice, acculturation typically implies change in one group in the direction of becoming more like the other, dominant group.

Acculturation is a two-way process that includes both how individuals see their cultures and how they are incorporated into and viewed by the dominant society. Some past scholarship has treated ethnic identity maintenance as being contrary to acculturation. However, more recent scholars have discussed ethnicity alongside acculturation. Measures of acculturation include both attitudinal and behavioral changes, ranging from shifts in individual psychology and perceptions to outcomes such as language use and health. Some research has considered more specific outcomes such as smoking or shopping behaviors and their relationship to acculturation. Acculturation is viewed as a process that can yield multiple outcomes rather than a single pathway resulting in what has been described by S. Alexander Weinstock as becoming more American-like.

Factors influencing acculturation processes and outcomes can be understood as situational, structural, or personal factors. The former may include contexts of immigration as well as experiences of discrimination in or incorporation into a new society. Considerations of acculturation are important for understanding the incorporation experiences of Asian Americans, the fastest growing racial group in the United States.