Enculturation

Construct Definition and Clarification

In 1948 Melville J. Herskovits first described enculturation as the process of socialization into, and maintenance of, the norms of one's indigenous culture, such as the salient values, ideas, and concepts. It includes learning the cultural characteristics, such as language and traditions and customs, which distinguish the members of one group of people from another.

A term that often is confounded with enculturation is acculturation. The term acculturation has been used to describe the process of contact between members of two cultural groups, particularly when groups of people migrate from their countries of origin to other countries. John W. Berry and his colleagues described acculturation as consisting of (a) contact and participation and (b) cultural maintenance. The process of contact and participation is reflected in the extent to which people become involved in other cultural groups or remain primarily among themselves. On the other hand, the process of cultural maintenance is represented in the extent to which cultural identity and characteristics are considered important and maintained.

However, the latter part of the acculturation definition is problematic because it largely overlaps with the definition of enculturation. Although the characterization of acculturation in terms of cultural maintenance may work well for migrants who have been socialized into their indigenous cultural norms before arriving in a new country, it may not accurately describe the experiences of all racial/ethnic minority individuals, particularly those who were born in the new country. These persons, particularly individuals who are several generations removed from migration, may never have been fully enculturated into their ethnic group's cultural norms by their parents and family, who also may have been born in the new country. For these persons, the application of cultural maintenance process may be inappropriate because they might never have been completely socialized into their indigenous cultural norms in the first place. In addition, these persons may be socialized to their indigenous cultural heritage more fully later in life and, hence, engage in the process of enculturation during this time. For these reasons, the term enculturation better captures the diversity of racial/ethnic minority persons in the United States in terms of their generations since migration and the resultant variability in levels of adherence to the norms of their ancestral cultures, in comparison to the cultural maintenance concept within the acculturation construct.

Hence, enculturation is now used to describe the process of (re)socializing into and maintaining the norms of the indigenous culture, whereas acculturation is used to describe the process of adapting to the norms of the dominant culture. Within the field of counseling, enculturation (and acculturation) has been used to study clients' help-seeking attitudes and behaviors and their participation in the counseling process.

Construct Dimensions

In describing enculturation, it is also important to consider the dimensions on which the construct can be observed and assessed. Originally, enculturation (and acculturation) had been characterized as involving changes in two personal dimensions: behaviors and values. The behavioral dimension of enculturation includes language use and participation in various cultural activities (e.g., food consumption), whereas the values [Page 1130]dimension reflects relational style, person-nature relationships, beliefs about human nature, and time orientation. Definitions of enculturation (and acculturation) have continued to grow progressively more comprehensive and integrative. Currently, enculturation is described in terms of changes at three levels of functioning: behavioral, affective, and cognitive.

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